Recording in the Belgian Congo Author(s): Alan P. Merriam Source: The African Music Society Newsletter, Vol. 1, No.

5 (Jun., 1952), pp. 15-17 Published by: International Library of African Music Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30250306 Accessed: 28/05/2010 14:56
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RECORDING

IN THE BELGIAN CONGO

15

RECORDING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO

ALAN P. MERRIAM

on ethnomusicological researchin My wife and I have been carrying the Belgian Congo and Ruanda Urundi since our arrivalin Africa in late August, 1951, under post-doctoral grantsgiven by the Belgian American EducationalFoundationand the VikingFund. Our work is being pursued here in co-operation withl'Institut en Afrique pour la Recherche Scientifique Centralthrough whom we have receivedmost of our equipment. We are using the Magnecord,3-inputamplifier PT7P, coupled with the Magnecord power unit PT63-AH, with three EV 635 and one EV 650 microphones. Our poweris suppliedby a Kohler generator, 110 volts,60 cycle,AC. The equipmentis carried in wooden crates lined with foam rubber, and is operatedfromthe back of a panel deliverytruck. Besides the actual rewe are carrying a 35 mm. camera for colour slides, a cordingequipment and a movie camera. Mrs. Speed Graphic for black and white pictures, Merriamis doing the photography, her work upon musicians concentrating and musicalinstruments. While our originalprojectwas to workin the Mayombeon the Congo's west coast in orderto establishthe relationships betweenthe music of that area and the African-derived music of the New World, certainconditions made it expedientfor us to come firstto the eastern Congo and thence workour way slowlyback towardsthe Mayombe. Thus the first six months of researchhave been carriedon among the Bashi people, and in Ruanda Urundi. Bashi The Bashi live along the westernshore of Lake Kivu, roughlyfrom Costermansville to the edge of Kalehe territory some 58 kilometres to the north. Althoughliving along the lakeshore,they are more an agricultural than fishing people; the latteroccupationis practisedextensively by the Bahavu who live farther north. We wereinterested in the Bashi because of their supposed physical and cultural relationship with the Bahutu of withthe music Ruanda, and thuswishedto be able to make latercomparison of the latterpeople. With the Bashi we recorded123 songs,samplingfromthreedisparate one in the flatcoastal area betweenthe lake areas, one near the lakeshore, and the mountains, and one in the mountainregion. The recording proincludedsongssung by men,women,girls,boys,and mixedgroups, gramme as well as the musicalinstruments knownto the Bashi. These latterincluded the kasayi and likembe,more universally known by the name sanza, the lulanga,or eight-string "harp," held in the lap and playedwiththe sides ratherthan the ends of the fingers, the nzenze,a two-string instrument with a gourd resonator, and the mulizi,or end-blown flute. In additionwe were able to make a studyof the construction of the variousmusicalinstruments, and the techniques of playingthem,as well as to make a collectionwhich has alreadybeen sentto Americafor future study. Three major musicalproblems seemedto emergefromthe sampling;(1) the almostcompleteabsence of drumsand drumming traditions; (2) the frustrations currently being suffered by the Bashi people, as evidencedby the song texts;(3) the apparentclose associationof the mulizi with the cattle illustration of the integration of complex, which presentsan interesting musicinto otheraspectsof culture.

16

JOURNAL

OF

THE

AFRICAN

MUSIC

SOCIETY

Urundi
In Urundi we were, unfortunately, extremely pressed for time, and were thus able to record only very briefly,taking a total of 115 songs. In view of our necessary hurry,we tried to select parts of the country which would give a fairly accurate survey. We firstchose the area around Rubura which is very near the Ruanda border; this, we hoped, would indicate whether the influence from Ruanda was heavy or slight. In this case, it seemed to be light, for a marked distinction in several aspects of music was noticeable. From Rubura, we moved south to Kayanza where we recorded the drums of a ranking chief, as well as a sampling of other types of music. Again moving south, we recorded the drums of Mwambutsa, the Mwami of Urundi, and continued with other types of music at Kitega and Kivimba, all of these places being within what is generally considered to be the cultural centre of Urundi. From the Kitega area we moved east of Ruyigi where we hoped to be able to ascertain whether musical influences from Tanganyika were operative. In this particular case, no such influences were apparent. Ruanda Our results from Ruanda have been the most extensive of any area undertaken thus far, including a total of 489 songs recorded in seven of the eight territories,which represents a thorough sampling of the social music of that country. In this area the problem dealt with the music of three differentsubracial stocks, the Hamitic, representedby the Batutsi, the Bantu, represented by the Bahutu, and the pygmoid, represented by the Batwa. The main area of concentration was the question of the musical differencesamong these three groups, and the influences which each musical tradition may have had upon the others. With these aims in mind we selected Gitwe near Nyanza as a base, mainly because of its fairly central location in Ruanda. In this particular area we recorded for the most part with the Bahutu; in order to expand our survey we also travelled west to Mugote and Akirabo where we spent a short time making a further sample. In working with the Batutsi, we were forced to travel somewhat more extensively from our base, working to the west of Gitwe with two important chiefs, ranging as far north as Kigali, and recording also in Nyanza, Astrida, Kansi and other nameless places along the road. In this connection also, we recorded the Royal Drums of the Batutsi owned by the Mwami, as well as the drums of the Queen Mother; for comparative purposes, of course, it was essential that we record both. This much of the Ruanda work was carried out in November, 1951. From January 4 to February 15, 1952, we carried out a second phase of the work, expanding our territory tremendouslyand using the material previously recorded as a guide. We first gave our attention to the Mutara in the north-eastcorner of Ruanda, where we worked with the Batutsi and Bahutu, but perhaps more important, were able to begin recording with some of the cultural and musical variants, the Bahima and Abahororo. From the Mutara we went south of Kigali to the Bugesera where the work was confined to the three major peoples, and thence to Kibungu in the far eastern part of Ruanda. There we recorded with the Abayovu, and had a brief taste of the music of the Abanyambo who are for the most part a fishingpeople of Tanganyika territory. From here our travels took us to where we worked with the forest Batwa, called "Bambuti" Ruhengeri territory by the other residents, and the Abagogwe, a still more-or-less independent Batutsi group. Finally, we finished our work in Kisenyi territoryrecording with the Abagoyi. In Ruanda we recorded not only the music of men, women, girls and boys, but also that of all the musical instruments known to us. These included the umunahi, or musical bow, the inanga, virtually the same instrument as the Bashi lulanga, the amakondera, or orchestral horn made of gourds, the ihembe, or antelope horn played in connection with war and

The Mbira Player.

Recording African Music. Komukomu, Chopi xylophonist and composer, one of Africa's outstanding musicians, Banguza's village, Zavala District, Mozambique.

RECORDING

IN THE BELGIAN CONGO

17

hunting songs,the umwirongi, verycomparableto the Bashi mulizi,or endblown flute, the iningiri, a single-stringed instrument played witha bow and or rattle,and inzogera,or the ikinyuguri, probablyof Uganda provenience, bell. which are not based upon an analyticalstudyof the Any conclusions mustperforce music recorded, be tentative. However,it seems fairlyclear that the three sub-racialstocks of Ruanda are musicallyindependent, and that the musical traditions line of historical a distinct of each represent is the traditionalBatutsi music which development.Most independent standsapart not onlyfromBahutuand Batwa but fromthe musicof Negro Africa as a whole. Its closest relationship seems to be with the music of the Middle East, and probablywith the Arabic, althoughthese hypotheses must undergoconsiderableinvestigation in the futurein purely musical terms. Bahutu music has been most heavily influenced by the other two Ruanda musicaltraditions; Batwa musicseemsto be fairly unaffected finally, by either Batutsi or Bahutu. This, of course, is a general summary, overlooking regionalvariations. In our travelsthus far we have drivenover 5,000 miles,and recorded some 740 songs. We shall leave late in Februaryfor the Ituri Forest to Azande and Mabudu, workwiththe Ewe pygmies, as well as the Mangbetu, and the Ekonde people. From beforegoingin earlyAprilto Coquillhatville of our here,we shall move on to the Mayombearea in whichthe remainder timein Africawill be spent.

AFRICAN MUSIC CLUBS

by A. NKHATA
A broadcast given front Lusaka, Central African Broadcasting Station. Reprinted by kind permission of the Information Office,Lusaka. Good evening. This is Alick Nkhata talking to members of the Listeners' Club. The talk this evening was to have been given by Edwin at African Representative Council I have Mlongoti but as he is interpreting been asked to talk instead. I am very pleased to be able to do this because I want to talk to you about music clubs. Though I am speaking mainly to the Listeners' Club I hope that any other Africans listening will also think about what I have to say because this subject concerns,all Africans. I have recently spent two years with the African Music Society, touring Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, recording African songs. I am not going to talk to you about this tour but I want to mention one very important thing which we noticed. The thing we noticed was this : That everywherein Bantu Africa the Africans are losing interestin their own music. This is very noticeable in the towns where the Africans no longer have any use for their traditional songs. Now the time has come when we must take steps to preserve our music. It is no good just talking about this; we must find a way to protect our music from the foreign elements which are creeping in. Did you know that we in Africa, and particularly HERE in Northern Rhodesia, possess one of the richest folk musics in the world? We are now in danger of