Manding Instruments | The West African Guild

Instruments from the Manding Regions
of West Africa

KORA

THE KORA

The Kora is a west African harp played by the Mandinka people of west Africa. The strings run in two divided ranks, making it a double harp. They do not end in a soundboard but are held in notches on a bridge, making it a bridge harp. They originate from a string arm or neck and cross a bridge directly supported by a resonating chamber.

The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style, it bears a closer resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar techniques. The player uses only the thumb and index finger of both hands to pluck the strings in polyrhythmic patterns (using the remaining fingers to secure the instrument by holding the hand posts on either side of the strings). Ostinato riffs ("Kumbengo") and improvised solo runs ("Birimintingo") are played at the same time by skilled players.

Kora players have traditionally come from griot families (also from the Mandinka nationalities) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. The instrument is played in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and the Gambia. A traditional kora player is called a Jali, similar to a 'bard' or oral historian. Most West African musicians prefer the term 'jali' to 'griot', which is the French word.

Traditional koras feature 21 strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. Modern koras made in the Casamance region of southern Senegal sometimes feature additional bass strings, adding up to four strings to the traditional 21. Strings were traditionally made from thin strips of hide, for example antelope skin - now most strings are made from harp strings or nylon fishing line, sometimes plaited together to create thicker strings.

By moving leather tuning rings up and down the neck, a kora player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. These scales are close in tuning to western Major, Minor and Lydian modes.

HISTORY:

Djeli Madi Wuleng is traditionally linked to the origins of the kora in the early 19th century. However, the earliest European reference to the kora in Western literature is in Travels in Interior Districts of Africa (1799) by the Scottish explorer Mungo Park. The most likely scenario, based on Mandinka oral tradition, suggests that the origins of the Kora may ultimately be linked with Jali Mady Fouling Cissoko, some time after the founding of Kaabu in the 16th century.

Nowadays, increasingly, koras are made with guitar machine heads instead of the traditional leather rings. The advantage is that they are much easier to tune. The disadvantage is that this design limits the pitch of the instrument because string lengths are more fixed and lighter strings are needed to lift it much more than a tone. Learning to tune a traditional kora is arguably as difficult as learning to play it, and many people entranced by the sound while in Africa buy a kora and then find themselves unable to keep it in tune once they are home, relegating it to the status of ornament. Koras can be converted to replace the leather rings with machine heads. Wooden pegs and harp pegs are also used, but both can still cause tuning problems in damper climates unless made with great skill.

In the late 20th century, a 25-string model of the kora was developed, though it has been adopted by only a few players, primarily in the region of Casamance, in southern Senegal. Some kora players such as Seckou Keita have double necked koras, allowing them to switch from one tuning to another within seconds, giving them increased flexibility.

The French Benedictine monks of the Keur Moussa Abbey (Senegal), who possibly were the first to introduce guitar machine heads instead of leather rings in the late seventies, conceived a method based on scores to teach the instrument. Brother Dominique Catta, choirmaster of the Keur Moussa Abbey, was the first Western composer who wrote for the kora (solo pieces as well as duets with Western instruments).

An electric instrument modeled on the kora (but made primarily of metal) called the gravikord was invented in the late 20th century by instrument builder and musician Robert Grawi. It has 24 strings but is tuned and played differently than the kora. Another instrument, the Gravi-kora, a 21 string electro-acoustic instrument, was later developed by Robert Grawi especially for kora players who wanted a modern instrument. Its playing and tuning are the same as the traditional kora. The gravi-kora has been adopted by kora players such as Daniel Berkman, Jacques Burtin, Le Chant de la Forêt (The Song of the Forest), suite for kora, gravi-kora, flute and viola,and Foday Musa Suso, who featured it in recordings with jazz innovator Herbie Hancock, with his band Mandingo, and on Suso's New World Power album.

THE BALAFON

The balafon (bala, balaphone) is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the idiophone family of tuned percussion instruments that includes the xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel, and the vibraphone. Sound is produced by striking the tuned keys with two padded sticks.

Believed to have been developed independently of the Southern African and South American instruments now called the marimba, oral histories of the balafon date it to at least the rise of the Mali Empire in the 12th century CE. Balafon is a Manding name, but variations exist across West Africa, including the Balangi in Sierra Leone[1] and the Gyil of the Dagara, Lobi and Gurunsi from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Similar instruments are played in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo denoting the instrument as palaku.

A balafon can be either fixed-key (where the keys are strung over a fixed frame, usually with calabash resonators underneath) or free-key (where the keys are placed independently on any padded surface). The balafon usually has 17-21 keys, tuned to a tetratonic, pentatonic or heptatonic scale, depending on the culture of the musician.

The balafon is generally capable of producing 18 to 21 notes, though some are built to produce many fewer notes (16, 12, 8 or even 6 and 7). Balafon keys are traditionally made from béné wood, dried slowly over a low flame, and then tuned by shaving off bits of wood from the underside of the keys. Wood is taken off the middle to flatten the key or the end to sharpen it.

Fixed-key variationsIn a fixed-key balafon, the keys are suspended by leather straps just above a wooden frame, under which are hung graduated-size calabash gourd resonators. A small hole in each gourd is covered with a membrane traditionally of thin spider's-egg sac filaments (nowadays more usually of cigarette paper or thin plastic film) to produce the characteristic nasal-buzz timbre of the instrument, which is usually played with two gum-rubber-wound mallets while seated on a low stool (or while standing using a shoulder or waist sling hooked to its frame).

Performance variationsAs the balafon cultures vary across West Africa, so does the approach to the instrument itself. In many areas the balafon is played alone in a ritual context, in others as part of an ensemble. In Guinea and Mali, the balafon is often part of an ensemble of three, pitched low, medium and high. In Cameroon, six balafon of varying size perform together in an orchestra, called a komenchang. An Igbo variation exists with only one large tuned key for each player. And while in most cases a single player hits multiple keys with two mallets, some traditions place two or more players at each keyboard. Often balafon players will wear belled bracelets on each wrist, accentuating the sound of the keys.

HISTORY

The Susu and Malinké people of Guinea are closely identified with the balafon, as are the other Manding peoples of Mali, Senegal, and the Gambia. Cameroon, Chad, and even the nations of the Congo Basin have a long balafon traditions.

EtymologyIn the Malinké language Balafon is a compound of two words: Balan is the name of the instrument and fô is the verb to play. Balafon therefore is really the act of playing the Bala.

Bala still is used as the name of a large bass balafon in the region of Kolokani and Bobo Dioulasso. These Bala have especially long keys and huge calabashes for amplification. Balani is then used as the name of the high pitched, small balafon with small calabashes and short (3 to 4 cm long) keys. The Balani is carried with a strap and usually has 21 keys, while the number of keys on a Bala vary with region.

Griot balafonists of GuineaThe balafon, kora (lute-harp), and the ngoni (the ancestor of the banjo) are the three instruments most associated with griot bardic traditions of West Africa. Each is more closely associated with specific areas, communities, and traditions, though all are played together in ensembles throughout the region. Guinea has been the historic heartland of solo balafon. As griot culture is a hereditary caste, the Kouyaté family has been called the keepers of the balafon, and twentieth century members of this family have helped introduce it throughout the world.

Sacred ritual usageIn some cultures the balafon was (and in some still is) a sacred instrument, playable only by trained religious caste members and only at ritual events such as festivals, royal, funerial, or marriage celebrations. Here the balafon is kept in a temple storehouse, and can only be removed and played after undergoing purification rites. Specific instruments may be built to be only played for specific rituals and repertoires. Young adepts are trained not on the sacred instrument, but on free-key pit balafons.

The Sosso BalaThe Sosso Bala is a balafon, currently kept in the town of Niagassola, Guinea that is reputed to be the original balafon, constructed over 800 years ago. The Epic of Sundiata, a story of the formation of the Mali Empire, tells that a griot named Bala Faséké Kouyate convinced Sosso king Sumanguru Kante to employ him after sneaking into Sumanguru's palace and playing the sacred instrument. Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire overthrew Sumanguru, seized the balafon, and made the griot Faséké its guardian. This honor is said to have passed down through his family, the Kouyatés, and conveys upon them mastership of the balafon to this day. Regardless of the truth of this story, the Sosso Bala is an instrument of great age, and was named by UNESCO as one of the Nineteen Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001.

THE KONTING

Konting Xalam Ngoni | Manding Musical Instruments

Konting, also known as the Xalam (Wolof)/Konting/Kontingo (Mandinka)/Ngoni/Koni is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. It is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but it is believed that in antiquity the instrument originated in Ancient Egypt.

The Konting is commonly played in Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Northern Nigeria, Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; it is also known in other languages as bappe, diassare, hoddu (Pulaar), koliko (Gurunsi), kologo (Frafra), komsa, kontigi (Hausa), koni, konting (Mandinka), molo (Songhay/Zarma), ndere, ngoni (Bambara), and tidinit (Hassaniyya Arabic).

The Konting, in its standard form, is a lute chordophone with one to five strings. The wooden body (soundbox) membranophone of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle. The strings are typically made of two or three tightly wound strands of low-gauge nylon. These strings are fixed to the instrument's wooden neck by long and narrow leather strips and to its wooden bridge by cotton strings. By moving these strips, the instrument's tune can be adjusted. The Konting usually has two main melody strings that are fingered by the left hand (akin to the strings of a guitar) and two to three supplementary strings of fixed pitch. Most Konting players construct their own instruments, although they usually call on woodworkers (lawbe) to carve the body, neck, and bridge.

In most Wolof-speaking parts of Senegal, the Konting has three principal tunings, all of which involve tuning the two main strings a perfect fourth apart. In the first tuning (ci suuf or low), the main strings are tuned 1 and 4 ( 1 being the fundamental of a major scale), with three supplementary strings being tuned an octave higher to 1´, 2´, and 3´. The second tuning (ci kow or high) uses the same string intervals but the fundamental is placed a minor second above the higher melody string, meaning that the open main strings now play the role of 3 and 6, with the supplementary strings acting as 3´ and 4#, the highest supplementary string usually being ignored. In the third tuning (ardin), the fundamental is a minor third above the lowest main string and the main strings are tuned 6 and 2, with supplementary strings tuned to 5 and 1´. The third supplementary string is either ignored or is tuned to 6 or 2´. If playing in an ensemble, the ardin xalam's main strings are tuned a minor third below the cu suuf xalam, and the ci kow xalam is tuned a major third above the ci suuf xalam to ensure that the fundamentals of each xalam coincide. (Thus, if the ci suuf xalam's lowest note were C, the ardin’s lowest note would be a low A and the ci kow xalam’s lowest note would be E.)

In most areas the Konting is played by male griots, or praise singers who are born into the profession. It most often acts as a solo or duo instrument to accompany praise songs and historical recitations, and in some areas it may form part of a larger group including kora, percussion, and balafon. It is traditionally heard at weddings, infant naming ceremonies, and (always with amplification) is now a common member of ensembles, popular mbalax groups, and ndaga variety shows.

Important past and present Senegalese Konting masters include Sàmba Jabare Sàmb, Ama Njaay Sàmb, Abdulaay Naar Sàmb (all from the Jolof), Abdulaay Soose (from the Saalum), and Bokunta Njaay (from the Bawol). The best known Malian ngoni players are Banzumana Sissoko, Bassekou Kouyaté, Mama Sissoko, Moriba Koïta, Sayan Sissoko, and Fuseini Kouyate.

DUNDUN

Dundun (Malinké: ['du.nun]; plural dunun) (also spelled dundun or doundoun) is the generic name for a family of West African drums that developed alongside the djembe in the Mande drum ensemble.

A Dunun is a rope-tuned cylindrical drum with a rawhide skin at both ends, most commonly cow or goat. The drum is played with a stick. Depending on the region, a plain straight stick, curved stick with flat head (similar to the stick used for a tama), or a straight stick with a cylindrical head attached at right angles near one end may be used to strike the skin.

Traditionally, the drum is played horizontally (placed on a stand or worn with a shoulder strap). For a right-handed player, the right hand plays the skin and the left hand optionally plays a bell that may be mounted on top of the drum or held in the left hand. The latter style is popular in Mali and originally from the Khassonké people.

Three different sizes of dunun are commonly played in West Africa. The Dundunba is the largest dunun and has the lowest pitch. Typical size is 60–70 cm (24–28 in) in length and 40–50 cm (16–20 in) in diameter. "Ba" means "big" in the Malinké language, so "Dundunba" literally means "big Dunun".
The sangban is of medium size, with higher pitch than the Dundunba. Typical size is 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length and 30–40 cm (12–16 in) in diameter.
The Kenkeni is the smallest dunun and has the highest pitch. Typical size is 45–50 cm (18–20 in) in length and 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in diameter. Dunun are always played in an ensemble with one or more djembes.

The names of the drums are onomatopoeic, meaning that they sound like the thing they describe. This is common for West African instruments. Shekere (gourd rattle), sege sege (metal djembe rattle), kese kese (woven basket rattle), and kenken (a bell played with dunun) are Malinké onomatopoeic terms for other instruments that are commonly played together with dunun and djembe. Dundunba, sangban, kenkeni, kensedeni, and kensereni are Malinké terms. (Kensedeni and kensereni are synonyms for kenkeni.) In Mali and northeast Guinea, the dundunba and sangban are often both referred to as jeli-dunun (also spelled djeli-dunun) because they were traditionally played by the jelis (French: griots). Among the Bamana people in Mali, dundunba and sangban are also known as konkoni. There, the drums are headed with goatskin instead of the cowskin used elsewhere.[citation needed] The name djun djun is a common western misnomer. There is no such word in the Malinké language and this term should not be used. A dunun player is generically known as a dununfola (literally, "one who plays dunun"). Specifically, the kenkeni, sangban, and dununba players are referred to as kenkenifola, sangbanfola, and dununbafola, respectively.

There are two primary playing styles for dununs. The traditional style has each player using a single drum resting on its side, either on the floor or on a stand, and striking the head with one mallet and a bell mounted on top with the other. A melody is created across the interplay of the three dununs. For the other style, known as ballet style as it is used in the National Ballets, one player has command of the three dununs standing on the floor, allowing a more complex arrangement for the dance.

There are wide variations on how the dunun is played throughout West Africa. In Mali they are sometimes played with just one dunun and a bell that is held in the hand. In some regions of Guinea the dunun is played with no bells, or only two dunun are played. In some regions of Mali up to five dununs are played at the same time. In Hamanah, (Guinea) three dununs with bells are played. This style is one of the most known in the west, due to the influence of Mamady Keïta, Famoudou Konaté, Mohamed Diaby, Bolokada Conde, and other players from Guinea. It is formed of three dununs of different sizes; the kenkeni (smallest), sangban (medium) and dununba (largest). The kenkeni has the highest pitch and usually holds the rhythm together with a simple pattern. The sangban typically has a more complex part which defines the rhythm. The dununba often serves to add depth with deep, widely spaced notes. These drums provide a rhythmic and melodic base for the djembe ensemble.

In Bamako (Mali), a style of playing with two dunun developed. Both so called konkoni, have goat skin and are played without the bell. The konkoni with the highiest pitch keeps the accompaining rhythm and the konkoni with the lowest pitch keeps the lead melody and solos. In the Khasonke region of Mali, the biggest of the dununs has the leading role - making solos and leading the song.

SABAR

The sabar (from the Serer people in origin) is a traditional drum from the West African nation of Senegal (also played in the Gambia). It is generally played with one hand and one stick. The sabar was used to communicate to other villages. The different rhythms correspond to phrases and could be heard for over 15 kilometers. Sabar is also recognized as the style of music played while using this drum.

Sabars are most closely associated with the Wolof poeples in Northern Senegal, but can be found all over Senegal and in the Gambia. There are seven different drums that make up the sabar ensemble which are the Sabar, nder, chol, talmbat, mbung mbung and tungune. Each of these drums is used to play a different part in a complex, complete sabar rhythm.

THE BOLON

Bolon | Instruments from the Manding Regions of West Africa

Bolon is a bass harp close to n’goni or kora. It’s made from a calabash as a resonator covered with antelope skin or goat. The curved handle is made of wood. The strings are traditionally twisted gut, now replaced by nylon, attached to a piece of sheet metal cut rattle surmounting the handle. The bolon has 4 strings. Its deep bass sound blast adding to the metal rattle is breathtaking. It’s the ideal accompanist to the N’goni. Habib Sangaré is playing Bolon.