FTX-805 - ULUMBUNDUBUNDU

African Instruments - Xylophones

A selection of outstanding recordings made by the late Dr.Hugh Tracey in the 50's & 60's feature 17 pieces with detailed information added by Dr Tracey. Together with the "Mbira" (thumb piano) , the Xylophones take pride of place in the music of Africa They vary between small ensembles to the large Chopi Timbila orchestras, of which more complete concert recordings are available on Folktrax 810 and 811.

PENTATONIC XYLOPHONES

1. (Valley Tonga) ULUMBUNDUBUNDU - Seed time played on Chikorekore 4 loose note xylophone by Timo iSadimbi, at Sineiwaic Village, Zambesi Valley, Zambia, 1957. This instrument which consists of four short logs of wood placed across the player's thighs as he sits on the ground, is played at the time of sowing the winter crops in April and May. Once the gardens are planted the notes are discarded and burnt as firewood, new ones being cut and tuned the following year. The village where this was recorded is now over 300 feet deep below the waters of the Kariba Dam. TR-46 (Al) -1'11"

2. (Nyoro) MUSINGASINGA YAKORA EGALl. - Dance tune with Ntara loose note xylophone. By Misaki Muswankuli and three men at Kigumba, Uganda 1950. TR-133 (Al 0). This 16-note pentatonic xylophone played by four men, three on one side, all playing the same melody in three octaves, and the fourth on the opposite side playing a contra-melody . Each part can be distinctly heard in the recording - 1'22"

3. (Ganda) NANDIKULAMUDE - Tune on a traditional song, with 17 note Akadinda xylophone. By the Madinda gaKabaka, 3 xylophone players. At the Lubiri Palace, Mengo Hill, Kampala. Uganda, 1952. TR-137 (B3). The notes of this instrument of one of the Royal Bands of the Kabaka of Uganda, are placed across two freshly cut banana stalks and held in place laterally by lugs beneath each note and short wands pierced into the stalks to separate individual notes from each other. The tuning of the central octave was : 624, 560, 464, 364, 312 vps - 1'22"

4. (Dhola) OKACHI -Kwobyalumbe dance tune on Ndara 13 loose-note xylophone by five men with leader Ondongo at Lukiko, Tororo, Uganda 1950 TR-130 (A5). This xylophone is played, they say, at funerals, and for other parties, by five players together, three sitting on one side and two on the other. The leader is called Jachiogo, and his four companions, Jegini. As with the other Uganda xylophones the notes are supported on banana stalks Tuning: 480, 404, 340, 80, 256, 240 vps - 1'37"

5. (Zande/ Bandiya) KONDO NATIPALA BAKO - Dance tune for the forefathers, on loose note Kponingbo xylophone. By Nakule and two players, at Gatanga, Buta, Northern Zaire, 1952. TR-123(Al). This 9 note instrument is similar to that found in Uganda and is played by three men in distinctive Zande style. The music accompanies attractive ring dances in which the dancers, both men and women, complete rhythmic cycles of steps as they move around an anti-clockwise direction. Tuning: 664, 568, 496, 392, 360, 332, 284, 248, 196 vps - 2'08"

6. (Nyanja/ Mang'anja) MKAZI WA MULOMO (The talkative woman) - Tune on the Magogodo loose note xylophone by Lonesi Chewane and Joni Hetara at Katunga, Chikwawa District, Malawi. 1958. TR-89 (B10). A brilliant tune played by two boys about 12 years old. Their instrument had about ten notes whose position on the supports may be changed at will to facilitate the playing of different tunes - 2'59"

HEXATONIC XYLOPHONES

7. (Kanyoka) KALUBAMBU TAMBO ABIBONGO - Ilunga vensa dance tune with two xylophones, slit rum, 3 membrane drums and rattles, by Kasadi Celestin and Kanyoka men and women, at Panda, Likasi, Zaire 1957. TR-15 (A5). The two Marimba xylophones were called male and female, the female, and not the male, being the lower pitched of the two. The male had 13 notes and the female 9. The female Marimba was assembled left handed with bass notes on the right . Tuning of central octave: 392, 328, 292, 260, 240, 224, 196 vps - 2'33"

8. (Lozi) MULALA KARIMUKWA PANGA. (Mulala stole money) - Siamboka dance song with 9 Silimba xylophone by 5 Lozi men rec at Nchanga, Chingola, Zambia, 1957. TR 67 (B9). This Silimba xylophone is built on a rough frame with crossed legs at each end, raising it about 3 feet above the ground. Each slot has a separate resonator with open mirliton buzzer. Tuning: 412, 356, 312, 272, 256, 228, 206, 178, 136 vps - 2'45"

9.(Luba) MUTOMBOKO & LUWENDO - Two ceremonial tunes for a chief, on 2 Silimba xylophones with drums by 6 Luba men, from Bena Mpiana, Gandajika, Kasai, Zaire, 1957. TR-39 (Al & 2). The Silimba xylophone of the Luba, like the Marimba of the Kanyoka are also called male and female, the male being Madimbo tendo (14 notes) and the female Madimbo ntako (9 notes).Tuning: 388, 320, 288, 260, 240, 220, 194 vps - 2'50"

HEPTATONIC XYLOPHONES

10. (Chopi) LAWANANI MICHANGA SIKA TIMBILA AMAKONO (Come together and make music for the new year) - Mzeno movement, the Great Song, of the Ngodo orchestral dance of Banguza by Komukomu we Simbi and five players, on Timbila xylophones from Zavala, Mozambique 1943 ~ TR-204 (B 1). This movement, which by tradition is expected to display the composer's best work of the year, is featured towards the end of the Ngodo which may have as many as fourteen or fifteen movements all told. In this the dancers, who also do the singing, gradually approach the xylophones and, at the given signal, declaim the poetry of the composer-leader, verse by verse, to the muted accompaniment of the xylophones - 3'58"

11. Demonstration of the left and right hand melodies of the ground or subject upon which the previous item was based. TR-210 (A2) performed by Komukomu we Simbi, 1943. The art of Chopi xylophone playing depends greatly upon the ability of the player to interweave the two melodies of the right and left hands into a complete whole. By holding first the left and then the right hand beater while the other continues to play, the melody of either hand can be distinguished. The ground forms the subject of Chopi compositlons (as in 17th century European music) against which concordant descants and counter subjects are performed - 0'55"

12. MTSITSO WO MBIDI - Second orchestral introduction with 15 Timbila xylophones led by Komukomu weSimbi the village xylophone orchestra of Regulo Banguza at Banguza' s village, Zavala District, Mozambique. A Ngodo or xylophone dance may have up to four or five of such Mtsitso or introductions played before the entry of the dancers. TR-5 (A7). 1955 - 3'09"

13. CHIBUDU - An Intermezzo by Komukomu we Simbi and 15 players. Sometimes between movements of the Ngodo, when the dancers have been dancing wildly, the xylophone orchestra will play over a melody, casually, while waiting for the dancers to recover their breath. Such interludes are usually performed with one beater only, although as the music progresses, as in this case, more and more players respond to the mood and play with both hands. TR-207 (B3) 1949 - 2'26"

14. MTSITSO WO KHATA~ First orchestral introduction by Katini we Nyamombe and 5 players of the Timbila xylophones Regulo of Zavala, Katini. TR 209 (Al) 1943 - 1'12"

15 & 16. An introduction followed by a cadenza by the composer. TR 209 (A7) 1943 - 0'18" & 3'24"

17. HINGANYENGISA MASINGITA (Listen to the mysteries) - Mzeno movement of the Nogodo orchestral dance of Regulo Zavala, by Katini weNyamombe and 5 players of Timbila xylophones. This Mzeno is the climax of one of the many complete Ngodo composed by this musician. Unaided by any form of written music, the Chopi musicians regularly compose new songs and melodies for their dances, until, as with Katini, at least a hundred or more compositions stand their credit, the older ones being discarded and forgotten as they are replaced by the new. TR-209 (A7) 1943 - 1'08"

18. (Lunda) KACHANCHA. Maza dance tune on 3 Dujimba xylophones with drums by 5 Lunda men. from Dihaya, Kasai, Zaire 1957. TR-48(A4). The three instruments were called Dujimba dwa (7 notes) . jimba dwapakachi (8 notes) and Dujimba dwamukuma (9 notes) ~ Unlike most African xylophones on which the notes are set out in due order from treble to bass, these instruments display their notes in an irregular order, presumably to facilitate playing. The scale was 364, 340, 316, 272, 236,206, 182 vps. The Maza dance, they said, was performed in the old days with a captive in their midst. At the final 'Ho" of the dance, the captive's head was severed with a single blow - 2'20"

The playing of xylophones in Central and Southern Africa is confined to those regions where there are suitable trees for their construction. Instruments vary, from simple logs of wood placed across a pair of banana stalks, to expertly made frame-xylophones of well seasoned selected wood, carefully tuned to the local scale for playing in large ensembles. The name Marimba is the one most usually associated with this class of African instrument, and, in fact, is one of the varieties found on the South East coast. It is considered to be the prototype of the South American instrument of that name, having been imported from the Zambezi basin in the early sixteenth century. The playing of the "Timbila" Chopi xylophones was accurately described by a Portuguese Jesuit priest, Father Andre Fernandes, on the 5th December 1562, which gives the most complex form of African xylophone music an established history of over 400 years.

Xylophones are usually played in small ensembles, though frequently with drum accompaniment which is inclined to overshadow the melodic virtue of the instrument. Among the Chopi of Mozambique, the instrument and its music achieve classical proportions, comparable in many ways to the Gamelan ensembles of Java. Together with the Mbira family of small plucked reed instruments the many varieties of African xylophones take pride of place as music-makers on this continent.