Pygmy music
The Pygmies are a broad group of people who live in Central Africa, especially in the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Music is an important part of Pygmy life, and casual performances take place during many of the day's events. Music comes in many forms, including the spiritual likanos stories, vocable singing and music played from a variety of instruments.
Some of the Pygmies, specifically the Mbenga (Aka/Benzele and Baka) in the west and the Mbuti (Efé) in the east, are particularly known for their dense contrapuntal communal improvisation. Simha Arom (2003) says that the level of polyphonic complexity of Mbenga–Mbuti music was reached in Europe in the 14th century.
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[edit] Formal Classification
Formally, Mbenga–Mbuti Pygmy music consists of at most only four parts, and can be described as an, "ostinato with variations," or similar to a passacaglia, in that it is cyclical. In fact it is based on repetition of periods of equal length, which each singer divides using different rhythmic figures specific to different repertoires and songs. This interesting case of Ethnomusicology and Ethnomathematics creates a detailed surface and endless variations of not only the same period repeated, but the same piece of music. As in some Balinese gamelan music, these patterns are based on a super-pattern which is never heard. The Pygmies themselves do not learn or think of their music in this theoretical framework, but learn the music growing up.
Pygmy styles include liquindi, or water drumming, and instruments like the bow harp (ieta), ngombi (harp zither) and limbindi (a string bow).
[edit] Western Popularization
Colin M. Turnbull, an American anthropologist, wrote a book about the Efé Pygmies, The Forest People, in 1965. This introduced Mbuti culture to Western countries, many of whose inhabitants were intrigued by the seemingly simple lifestyle they led. Turnbull claimed that the Mbuti viewed the forest as a parental spirit that could be communicated with via song.
Some of Turnbull's recordings of Efé music were commercially released, and inspired more ethnomusicological study, such as by Simha Arom, a French-Israeli who recorded a kind of whistle called hindewhu, and by Luis Devin, an Italian ethnomusicologist who studied in depth the musical rituals and instruments of Baka Pygmies, also by taking part in their secret rite of initiation. Some tracks were then used by Bill Summers, Herbie Hancock's percussionist, in the song "Watermelon Man" (see hocket).
In 1992, the popularization of Pygmy music spread with the release of Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez's Deep Forest. Though the fusion of New Age spirituality with sampled Pygmy music and soft techno was heavily criticized by music purists, the album was a multi-million selling success. Soon after its release, controversy continued amid accusations that none of the money made from recording was given to the Pygmy performers. Despite the controversy, a percentage of the proceeds from each album were donated to the Pygmy Fund set up to aid Zaire's Pygmies.
Also in 1992 Martin Cradick and Su Hart were staying and recording Baka in Cameroon. The result of this voyage was the creation of the band Baka Beyond and the release of their collaboration with the Baka musicians, "Spirit of the Forest" alongside the album "Heart of the Forest", a collection of traditional songs and music. Proceeds from both these albums have returned to the Baka musicians through the charity Global Music Exchange which continues to work with the Baka helping them in their rapidly changing environment.
[edit] Other Pygmies
Polyphonic music is only characteristic of the Mbenga and Mbuti. The Gyele/Kola, Great Lakes Twa and Southern Twa have very different musical styles.
[edit] Discography
- Aka Pygmy Music. Recorded by Simha Arom. Philips 6586 016. Part of the UNESCO Collection (Musical Sources I-2); reissued as Auvidis D 8054.
- Ba-Benzélé Pygmies. Bärenreiter BM 30 L 2303. Part of the UNESCO Collection (third in the Anthology of African Music); reissued as Rounder CD 5107.
- Cameroon: Baka Pygmy Music (1977). EMI/Odeon 3C 064-18265. Part of the UNESCO Collection (Musical Atlas, #18); reisssued as Auvidis D 8029 (1990).
- African Rhythms (2003). Music by Aka Pygmies, performed by Aka Pygmies, György Ligeti and Steve Reich, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Teldec Classics: 8573 86584-2. Liner notes by Aimard, Ligeti, Reich, and Simha Arom and Stefan Schomann.
- Music of the Rainforest Pygmies. Historic recordings made by Colin M. Turnbull. Lyrichord: LYRCD 7157.
- Echoes of the Forest: Music of the Central African Pygmies. Recordings by Colin M. Turnbull, Jean-Pierre Hallet and Louis Sarno. Ellipsis Arts: Musical Expeditions CD 4020
- Heart of the Forest: Music of the Baka Forest People of South-East Cameroon. Recordings by Martin Cradick and Jeremy Avis. Hannibal Records: HNCD1378.
- Baka in the Forest: traditional songs of the Baka women recorded live in the Cameroon rainforest.. Recordings by Su Hart. March Hare: MAHA CD29.
[edit] See also
Pygmy groups
Researchers who studied Pygmy music:
[edit] Further reading
- Abram, Dave. "Sounds From the African Rainforest". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 601–607. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
[edit] External links
- African Pygmies Pygmy music and culture, with audio recordings and soundscapes
- Philadelphia CityPaper.net: 20 questions Louis Sarno an interview by Deni Kasrel, June 13–20, 1996 regarding BaBenzl Pygmies
- Deep Forest music site - with music samples
- Baka Forest People - many music samples, photos and videos of Baka music
- Baka Beyond site - with links to access Baka recordings
