(mellow music)
Hello again, it's Kofi Anang again, from Ghana.
Now, today, I am having fun introducing
all these instruments to you guys
Today I brought an unusual instrument
from South Africa.
This is a... this particular one
that I have here is from Zimbabwe
and it's called Mbira.
Now, Mbira,
has got a new form of Mbira
here called Kalimba.
And I will introduce that after I introduce the Mbira to you
And this is what it looks like, in the front,
it's wood, solid wood
with metal keys on it.
Now, a long time ago, when it started,
the keys weren't metal.
They were made up of bamboo,
bamboo keys we used before we started using metal.
So this is an old type of instrument.
A long time ago, when they're playing,
even now, some people tune it to their voices.
So it's an in a pentatonic scale
it's not in a European scale.
And that's Mbira.
And now some people tune it into different keys
and stuff like that.
But before, people tuned it to their voices
so they can sing with it.
Mainly, what they use this Mbira to do is
to tell stories with them.
They play, most of the players tell stories,
and this is what accompanies their story.
I'm gonna play you a short song that I created
on this Mbira.
(melodious overtones)
(rhythmic melodies)
Okay, not to forget
I would like to remind you
this is what we call a selfish instrument.
Usually to play it, to entertain a large audience,
You have to put in a gourd
to resonate the sound, to make the sound bigger.
But I didn't bring a gourd today
to put it in.
So you can see that it's very soft.
So only the player can really enjoy the real music.
When you are sitting far away,
you can really barely hear...
you can hear, but you can barely hear it.
So that's what we would call it
the selfish instrument
'cause only the player enjoys most of the time
because it's on a flat board.
So now I'll introduce you to something
that this guy by name
Hugh Tracey came up with.
This is called Kalimba.
And Kalimba, the European guy
by name of Hugh Tracey
went to South Africa and saw the Mbira,
and fell in love with it.
So he found out that
it was not in European keys,
so he can't really play a guitar, piano and so...
Organ, or something to accompany it.
So he came up with something
that can be tuned to European key that he can play with it.
So this is why he came up with this.
And this, also, the difference between this and that,
that is on a flat board.
This has got a box
like a guitar,
so you don't have to put in a gourd and it's loud.
Okay.
I'm going to play you another something
on Kalimba, so you can really see the difference
between, or the sound between the Mbira and Kalimba.
(melodious pitches)
And this is the key of G.
(melodious pitches)
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
(rhythmic pitches)
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
(melodious pitches)
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama Ayama Ayama ♪
♪ Ayama oh oh Ayama ♪
Thank you for listening, thank you.
Now, I'm going to introduce you
to our next traditional drumming
that you know
we have a traditional song called Kpanlogo.
Kpanlogo is from the city of Accra
and it started in 1963.
This guy by name Otoo Lincoln
invented this new form of traditional drumming
and he named Kpanlogo.
And Kpanlogo simply means "Lolo"
first it started "Lolo."
"Lolo" means to weave.
And it came from the way you dance, this...
The movement that you do to this particular rhythm
It's like a weaving kind of movement.
So he named it Lolo,
but eventually from Lolo became Kpanlogo.
So that's how Kpanlogo came about.
And I will show you.
So, I'm going to teach you
so you can sing along
as I play
but I'm going to sing with you first.
Before I show you on a drum how it goes.
♪ Do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
♪ Do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
♪ Do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
♪ Do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
So as you can listen to it,
I'm using "do" and "pantan".
So I'm going to use one more alphabet
to go in between them
♪ Do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti do pantan pantan ♪
♪ Do pantan do ♪
You see? You rounded it
If you close the gap, so you don't stop anymore,
It just goes around the circle now,
♪ Do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
this is the way it sounds on our drum
(rhythmic drum beats)
So, this was without the "piti".
Now, we're going to add a "piti" to it.
So, what we just did,
♪ Do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
Now, we goin' add "piti" to it.
Listen to it now
♪ Do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti ♪
(rhythmic drum beats)
♪ Piti ♪
♪ Piti do pantan pantan do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti ♪
(rhythmic drum beats)
♪ Do pantan do ♪
♪ Piti ♪
(rhythmic drum beats)
♪ Piti ♪
(rhythmic drum beats)
♪ Piti ♪
(rhythmic drum beats)
♪ Piti ♪
(folkloric drum beats)
(percussive rhythms)
(soft fading beats)
Thank you, thank you very much.
Well,
I'm glad that we went through this today
once more, learning about traditional
drumming from Ghana.
And that is called what? Kpanlogo
From where? Accra, Ghana.
On West Coast of Africa
And my name is Kofi Anang, and I'm glad you joined me today,
And hopefully we'll get to see each other again.
Thank you, and have a good day.
Bye bye
(mellow music)