Update on D.K. Wilgus Access and Preservation Project (WAPP)
Thanks to all the passionate digitizers on board here at the Archive. WAPP is well on its way with over 100 reels already digitized. For more information on the project, click here.
Radio Show
The Archive's radio show, “Sounds from the Vaults of the Ethnomusicology Archive", will resume later in fall 2006. Details will be announced later in the quarter.
Special Summer Visitors
In summer 2006, Rob Bamberger visited the Archive. Rob is conducting a nation-wide, congressionally-mandated study on the current state of audio archives. The report will specifically focus on digital preservation and the effects of copyright on access to these materials in nonprofit institutions. We are anticipating a copy of the final report to be electronically published as early as Spring 2007. For more articles relating to these topics, please visit The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.
New deposits
Jim Gimzewksi cellular sound recordings, papers, and related materials
(Collection ID: 2006.01)
Ever wondered what a cellular percussion band sounded like? And no, I’m not talking about cell phone ringers. Jim Gimzewski, a professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCLA, has pioneered the field of sonocytology (the study of cell sound). Along with Andrew Pelling (the first person to receive a Ph.D. in sonocytology), Gimzewski has recorded the sonic landscape of yeast cells. For a more detailed explanation, click here. The Archive was fortunate to receive this collection of nascent recordings earlier this year. To listen to some sample audio clips, click here. In the future, Gimzewski hopes sonocytology will aid in the diagnoses of cancers and other diseases.
Archive Recording Reviews
In this issue of the EAR you will find a review by Lara Loewenstein and Regina Sewell. If you are interested in reviewing Archive recordings for the EAR please contact us for more information at archive@arts.ucla.edu.
Title:Ko Sira
Published/distributed: New York, New York: Nonesuch, 1993
Publisher Number: 79576-2 Nonesuch
Performer: Oumou Sangare
Archive Call Number: ARCD 424
by Lara Loewenstein
Sangare performs a modernized version of wassoulou, which is a style of music that originated in southwest Mali. Instruments that are used in traditional culture, such as the djembe and a shaker, make an appearance on Ko Sira. However, Sangare modernizes the music by adding a guitar and bass, and replacing the fiddle that is traditionally used with a modern violin. For the most part, the percussion plays a background role in the music with the various chordophones taking the lead roles with respect to the instruments. This results in a very sweet and smooth acoustic sound. Neither the modern nor the traditional instruments play a larger role, and the blending of them is pleasing and almost surprising.
What is immediately noticeable on this album is Sangare’s voice. She has a gorgeous alto voice that has the capability of sounding both strong and seductive. Many of her songs are about the problems women face in Mali due to inequities inherent in the culture – such as polygamy and arranged marriages. However, even though she advocates for positive change, she doesn’t advocate radical change – she still upholds traditions. This is noticeable on the track, “Sigi Kuruni,” in which she encourages a young bride to respect her mother and husband for the sake of the marriage. This attitude also comes across in the style of her music; she performs in a traditional style, but adds modern instruments.
Sangare grew up in Wassoulou, a southern province of Mali where nearly 90 percent of the musicians were women. She was not born into a musician’s family, but rather chose the profession. This in itself is also important to her philosophy. She does not emphasize the modern or the traditional, but rather, through her music, shows how she chooses to combine the two. That people have this choice is what is most important to her.
Overall the album is magnetic. Sangare’s voice blends with the choice of instruments in a way that draws the listener into the experience. It is not necessary to understand the lyrics of her songs, nor to understand even the topic she is to appreciate the water smooth quality of her music. The mixture of the modern and the traditional make the music more accessible to modern audiences and the fact that the album is so laid back is refreshing. The 8 tracks on the album come together to form a pleasing 50-minutes album.
============================================================================
Title: Yoruba Drums from Benin, West Africa
Published/distributed: Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian/Folkways, 1996
Publisher number: SF 40440
Performer(s): Various
Archive Call Number: ARCD 351
by Regina Sewell
Yoruba Drums from Benin, West Africa assembles various drum ensembles from distinct Yoruba sub-cultural regions within Benin. Recorded in the regions of Pobé, Sakété, Adjarra, Atchoukpa, and Kétou, the compilation consists of 19 field recordings totaling approximately 70 minutes worth of music commonly played for orisha worship and other ritual performances. The recordings are divided up into sections based on the particular sub-group recorded: Bata Repertoire for Egungun in Pobé, Rhythm for Shango in Pobé (Bata ensemble), Bata Repertoire for Shango in Sakété, Three Rhythms of the Dundun Ensemble from Adjarra, Two Rhythms of the Dundun Ensemble from Atchoukpa, Repertoire for Gelede in Kétou, and Repertoire for Oro and Ifa in Kétou.
Commentator Marcos Branda Lacerda provides an extensive description and analysis of the Yoruba groups and a background on their beliefs. The large groups of Yoruba found in Benin today are attributed to the migrations of descendents that left Ile-Ife in modern day Nigeria to expand their kingdoms in the west coast of Africa. Having established their residency in the west, the Yoruba continued to practice their cultural and worship of the orishas (deities). As legends state, orishas are Yoruban ancestors who are associated with the power of nature or activity. Lacerda describes the orisha ceremony as an expression of dedication and devotion to the deity whom the Yoruba believe to be the devotee’s or initiate’s spiritual intercessor. Through the spiritual power of the drum, worshipers are entranced in a whirl of dancing and spectacle that evokes the physical presence and nature of their orisha.
The Yoruba drumming included on this CD represents the polyrhythmic accompaniment typically found in these ritual music and dance practices of the Yoruba sub-groups. Master drummers in these groups are all male who have been brought up in the drumming tradition that incorporates blessings of the drums in libations and sacrifices. Typically, these ensembles are made up of membranophone (drums); however, in any piece for the orisha Ogun, an iron bell is added to the ensemble to symbolize Ogun as the god of metal. From track one “Ako” to track nineteen “Oro,” the drumming is rhythmically steady with the lead drum, iya ilu, playing intricate rhythmic breaks. “Aluja,” track two, played by the Pobé, is a piece in repertoire for the orisha Shango, god of thunder and lightning. The iya ilu and the supporting drums ako and omele create a dense, repetitious texture carried throughout the piece by a fast tempo that is emblematic of Shango’s tyrannical and violent personality.
In “Rhythm for the Night” music for Gelede in Kétou, the bata ensemble consists of an ako, two omele, and a lead drum called akpala. Gelede is a masquerade ritual practiced primarily in Yoruba sub-groups such as Kétou. Although men are the primary participants, women play an important role as a medium of equilibrium in a socially patriarchal society. It is also performed to appease the sorceress Iyalase and her destructive power. As in the “Aluja” piece, the drumming is consistent, repetitive, and polyrhythmic. This piece is characterized by continuous rhythms varied at periodic intervals.
The ethnomusicology researcher may find this compilation to be extremely useful as an introduction to the study of Yoruba ritual music. The accompanying liner notes are somewhat dated due to the use of the word “cult” when referring to the Yoruba rituals. However, the historical information and the specific musical examples of bata drumming patterns are accessible and allow the listener to focus on specific aspects of ritual drumming that are important to determining distinctions between the pieces.
