Sub Saharan African Music

 Hi guys! Today I’ll be going on a trip (virtually.. We’re going to have many virtual trips this semester so please bear with me) around Sub Saharan Africa and see what we’ll discover. Let’s go!

The story of the Balafon:

When learning about the different types of instruments used in West and South Africa, I was really curious to know what other instruments there were and discovered the Balafon. The balafon is a xylophone and it is usually associated with the Griots. It’s made up of a bamboo frame with wooden keys which is usually kiln baked so that there is no moisture left and has gourds underneath to add more resonance to the instrument. The gourds are also cut out and have to be tuned to the wooden keys which is a huge skill because most balafon players depend on electronic tuning. Below is a video of a balafon solo performed by Naby Camara.

Toumani Diabate: 

I was fascinated by the beautiful performance on the kora by Toumani Diabate and knew I had to add him onto this blog entry. There really wasn’t much I could find on Diabate’s life but I wanted to share his contribution on kora and how it made him an international star today! Toumani Diabaté was born into a family of musicians and his father, Sidiki Diabate, is the legendary musician of all. Diabate taught himself how to play the kora at an early age due to his father being gone on tour so often. As he was developing the skills of a Kora performer, he was strongly influenced by Malian tradition and other genres such as jazz and flamenco. Diabete ended up making his debut in 1989 with his first ever kora-solo album, Kaira, and it made him a star in his homeland and became an international performer. Below is a video of Toumani and his father performing Jarabi, one of his songs from the album, Kaira.

African Clothing:

When it comes to learning different cultures, I am always impressed by the clothing: whether it’s the color, how it’s used, or even the history, it never ceases to amaze me! This article states that the evolution of dress in Africa is actually pretty difficult to find, due to lack of written documentation and actual historical evidence. But what we do know is that these clothes are pieced together from various sources such as traditional robes, oral history, and artifacts. We know that clothing in Africa was used little to none due to the hot climate in most of Africa so men usually just wore an apron and women wore wraps around their breasts or waists. One thing I found intriguing from this article was the use of Ankara. Ankara is this vibrant colorful material that originated from Dutch to use in Indonesian textiles but then made its way to West Africa. Ankara is used as a form of expression in many different ways: marital status, popular culture, and different beliefs. Below are pictures of different kinds of Ankara fabric.