Showing posts with label uganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uganda. Show all posts

Ethnic Uganda Music Instrument - The Baganda and the Basoga Lyre

The Baganda and the Basoga lyre is made of lizard skin and laced with to a non-sonorous skin in the same manner as the harp and drums.
The strings are tied into a piece of wood and inserted into a hole where the two arms meet of the lyre meet.

The 'Ganda lyre' (endongo) has one hole, the 'Soga instrument (entongoli) has two pieces of cloth, barkcloth or banana fibers wrapped around the yoke. The strings are wound round and round this material until it acts as a tuning peg.

The strings on the bowl lyre are not arranged in progressive order, as they are on the arched harp and the zither.
The highest note in the scale is third from the left and the lowest, fifth. Strings 7, 2, 4, 1 and 5 are octaves.

Ethnic Music Instrument , Engalabi from Uganda

The traditional Fumbo has a reptile skin nailed to the wood, however the government due to environmental reasons has long discouraged this practice. The engalabi from Buganda region, which is played in music theatres, plays an important part in the ceremony called "Okwabya olumbe".

This is the installation of a successor to the deceased, thus the saying in Luganda "Tugenda mungalabi", meaning we are going to the engalabi, that is, long drum.
The rule in playing the drum is the use of bare hands.

ENNANGA (Arched harp) Busoga, Buganda - Ehtnic Harpist from Uganda

The movable rings achieve the ideal sound on the ennanga, placed just below the tuning pegs. The strings vibrate against these rings and produce a buzzing sound. This sound is also heard on some of the lyres and sansa.
The strings on this instrument are arranged in progressive order from high to low note. The first, second and third strings from octaves with the sixth, seventh and eighth strings respectively.

The 'Ganda harpist occupied a high social position, performing solely for the Kabaka and a few important chiefs. He was the only musician allowed to amuse the royal ladies in their private rooms.
Nowadays it is popular as the adungu and widely used in Catholic and Protestant rural churches.