Recording in the Belgian CongoAuthor(s): Alan P. MerriamSource: The African Music Society Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 5 (Jun., 1952), pp. 15-17Published by: International Library of African MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30250306Accessed: 28/05/2010 14:56

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RECORDING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 15

RECORDING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO ALAN P. MERRIAM

My wife and I have been carrying on ethnomusicological research in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda Urundi since our arrival in Africa in late August, 1951, under post-doctoral grants given by the Belgian American Educational Foundation and the Viking Fund. Our work is being pursued here in co-operation with l'Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Central through whom we have received most of our equipment. We are using the Magnecord, 3-input amplifier PT7P, coupled with the Magnecord power unit PT63-AH, with three EV 635 and one EV 650 microphones. Our power is supplied by a Kohler generator, 110 volts, 60 cycle, AC. The equipment is carried in wooden crates lined with foam rubber, and is operated from the back of a panel delivery truck. Besides the actual re- cording equipment we are carrying a 35 mm. camera for colour slides, a Speed Graphic for black and white pictures, and a movie camera. Mrs. Merriam is doing the photography, concentrating her work upon musicians and musical instruments.

While our original project was to work in the Mayombe on the Congo's west coast in order to establish the relationships between the music of that area and the African-derived music of the New World, certain conditions made it expedient for us to come first to the eastern Congo and thence work our way slowly back towards the Mayombe. Thus the first six months of research have been carried on among the Bashi people, and in Ruanda Urundi.

Bashi The Bashi live along the western shore of Lake Kivu, roughly from

Costermansville to the edge of Kalehe territory some 58 kilometres to the north. Although living along the lakeshore, they are more an agricul- tural than fishing people; the latter occupation is practised extensively by the Bahavu who live farther north. We were interested in the Bashi because of their supposed physical and cultural relationship with the Bahutu of Ruanda, and thus wished to be able to make later comparison with the music of the latter people.

With the Bashi we recorded 123 songs, sampling from three disparate areas, one near the lakeshore, one in the flat coastal area between the lake and the mountains, and one in the mountain region. The recording pro- gramme included songs sung by men, women, girls, boys, and mixed groups, as well as the musical instruments known to the Bashi. These latter inclu- ded the kasayi and likembe, more universally known by the name sanza, the lulanga, or eight-string "harp," held in the lap and played with the sides rather than the ends of the fingers, the nzenze, a two-string instrument with a gourd resonator, and the mulizi, or end-blown flute. In addition we were able to make a study of the construction of the various musical instruments, and the techniques of playing them, as well as to make a collection which has already been sent to America for future study.

Three major musical problems seemed to emerge from the sampling; (1) the almost complete absence of drums and drumming traditions; (2) the frus- trations currently being suffered by the Bashi people, as evidenced by the song texts; (3) the apparent close association of the mulizi with the cattle complex, which presents an interesting illustration of the integration of music into other aspects of 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 first chose 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 different sub- racial stocks, the Hamitic, represented by 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 differences among 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 tremendously and using the material previously recorded as a guide. We first gave our attention to the Mutara in the north-east corner 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 fishing people of Tanganyika territory. From here our travels took us to Ruhengeri territory where we worked with the forest Batwa, called "Bambuti" by the other residents, and the Abagogwe, a still more-or-less independent Batutsi group. Finally, we finished our work in Kisenyi territory recording 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 instru- ment 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, very comparable to the Bashi mulizi, or end- blown flute, the iningiri, a single-stringed instrument played with a bow and probably of Uganda provenience, the ikinyuguri, or rattle, and inzogera, or bell.

Any conclusions which are not based upon an analytical study of the music recorded, must perforce be tentative. However, it seems fairly clear that the three sub-racial stocks of Ruanda are musically independent, and that the musical traditions of each represent a distinct line of historical development. Most independent is the traditional Batutsi music which stands apart not only from Bahutu and Batwa but from the music of Negro Africa as a whole. Its closest relationship seems to be with the music of the Middle East, and probably with the Arabic, although these hypotheses must undergo considerable investigation in the future in purely musical terms. Bahutu music has been most heavily influenced by the other two Ruanda musical traditions; finally, Batwa music seems to be fairly unaffected by either Batutsi or Bahutu. This, of course, is a general summary, overlooking regional variations.

In our travels thus far we have driven over 5,000 miles, and recorded some 740 songs. We shall leave late in February for the Ituri Forest to work with the Ewe pygmies, as well as the Mangbetu, Azande and Mabudu, before going in early April to Coquillhatville and the Ekonde people. From here, we shall move on to the Mayombe area in which the remainder of our time in Africa will be spent.

AFRICAN MUSIC CLUBS by

A. NKHATA

A broadcast given front Lusaka, Central African Broad- casting 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 Mlongoti but as he is interpreting at African Representative Council I have 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 everywhere in Bantu Africa the Africans are losing interest in 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

Article Contentsp. 15p. 16[unnumbered][unnumbered]p. 17

Issue Table of ContentsThe African Music Society Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 5 (Jun., 1952), pp. 1-62Front MatterEditorial [pp. 3-4]Representative's Notes [pp. 5-7]African Drama in the Transvaal [pp. 8-10]Mushenge et la cour du niymi [pp. 11-13]The Music of the Swazis: A Note [pp. 14-14]Recording in the Belgian Congo [pp. 15-17]African Music Clubs [pp. 17-20]Les Danses Negres [pp. 21-30]The Indigenous Gold Coast Music [pp. 30-34]Sur un Xylophone Ibo [pp. 35-38]Northern Gold Coast Songs [pp. 39-42]Rumbas Congolaises et Jazz Americain [pp. 42-43]Music and Dancing in Nigeria [pp. 44-45]Obituary: Dr. C. C. P. Anning, C.B.E [pp. 45-45]Notes and News [pp. 46-49]Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 50-50]Review: untitled [pp. 50-50]Review: untitled [pp. 50-52]Review: untitled [pp. 52-53]

Recent Additions to the African Music Research Library [pp. 54-55]Correspondence [pp. 56-61]Back Matter