Chivoti

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Chivoti , also kivote , is one of the rare transverse flutes in Africa , which is played by the Digo and other Mijikenda ethnic groups in southern Kenya on the coast of the Indian Ocean . With the Digo, the bamboo flute is part of the ensemble accompanying the entertainment dance sengenya , which institutionalized groups of men, women and girls perform at festive events and family celebrations.

distribution

Transverse flutes are only found sporadically in eastern and southern Africa. The Kuria on the east bank of Lake Victoria play variants of the ibirongwe made of reed or bamboo , which was described by John Varnum in 1970 (there in more detail on the spread of transverse flutes in Africa). The African transverse flutes occur only in isolation in individual areas where longitudinal flutes are played. In East Africa this includes the bamboo flute mlanzi ( mulanzi ) of the Gogo in central Tanzania . It may have reached the interior of the country from the East African coast in the 19th century with trade caravans from the Arab-influenced Swahili culture. The 90 centimeter long ludaya ( lusweje ) of the Bagisu in eastern Uganda without finger holes is made from the flower stalk of a lobelia species ( Lobeliackenii ). It's the only flute in the country and could be a simple replica of a European piccolo that Catholic missionaries brought with them in the 19th century.

Hugh Tracey notes a non-African origin for the 38 centimeter long quibocolo with six finger holes in the Congo , of which he made sound recordings in 1934. Percival Robson Kirby studied musical instruments in southern Africa in the 1930s. He assumes a European origin for the flutes there. The Bakalanga in western Zimbabwe and northeastern Botswana play the reed flute nyele (with the Shona nyere ) with three finger holes, which is closed at both ends , an instrument used by young cattle herders. A small flute was the missing today igemfe the Zulu in South Africa. The transversely blown, closed at the bottom Schilfrohrflötenhöhle shitloti in Tsonga corresponds to the tshitiringo in Venda , while the umtshingosi the Swazi remains open with two to three finger holes in the Game below.

For the chivoti , Roger Blench believes that an origin from India is possible because it has similarities with the Indian bamboo flute bansuri ( bansi ). In contrast to their possible, standardized models, the size and mood of the African flutes are quite different in individual cases.

Among the over the flutes of the more common longitudinal flutes in Kenya is the muturiru the Kikuyu four- to eight finger holes. It consists of a green branch about 30 centimeters long, the lower end of which is open. The Luo in the east of Lake Victoria play the odundu , also asili , a reed flute with five holes. As with the Kikuyu, young Luo men used to want to attract the attention of women by playing the flute. The Iteso in Uganda and neighboring Kenya play the 30 centimeter long auleru with four finger holes by blowing over a V-shaped notch on the upper edge. At 47 centimeters longer and otherwise similar, the mulele of the Tachoni, a subgroup of the Luhya in western Kenya. The Turkana in north-west Kenya call their longitudinal flutes ebune or elamaru . As with the muturiru , the soft pulp is removed from the inside of a green twig and the resulting tube is then dried in the air. The Turkana flute, which can reach a length of up to 85 centimeters depending on the needs of the player, is played by shepherds and can be heard as an early morning wake-up call.

Design

The chivoti , like the umwere - the largest variant of the ibirongwe , around 58 centimeters long - consists of a cylindrical bamboo tube section, the length of which in the Digo instrument is around 23 centimeters with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters. The bottom end is open while the blown top end is in the place of a natural bamboo knot. The mostly oval blowing opening measures 1.75 centimeters in width, it can also be circular or rectangular. To make the play tube slimmer, it is scraped off with a knife down to a wall thickness of 0.3 centimeters. The six finger holes are arranged at irregular intervals averaging 1.25 centimeters. The tone sequence of an examined flute was g 1  - a 1  - c 1  - d ♯ 2  - f 2  - g ♯ 2 .

The play tube can be decorated with brightly colored beads that hang down on a cord from the lower end. The colors white, black, blue and red for the Digo are based on the symbolic colors of the sengenya dance groups. Most musicians make their own flute.

Style of play

Mijikenda is a generic term for nine culturally closely related ethnic groups belonging to the Bantu on the Kenyan coast and the adjacent coastal strip in Tanzania. Besides the Digo in Kwale County in southern Kenya , at least the Rabai, Duruma and Giriama play the flute chivoti .

Sengenya dance ensembles are particularly widespread among the Digo and in differently cultivated forms among other Mijikenda groups. The usual accompanying ensemble at sengenya Digo consists of six drums: two PuO ( chapuo ) said questionable-celled tubular barrels of slightly different coat diameters, two slightly larger cylinder drums, nchirima , and two perpendicular played drums bumbumbu, standing on three short feet. In addition to the chivoti, the wind instrument used is the 30 or more centimeter long conical double-reed instrument (cone oboe) nzumari ( zomari ), whose Swahili name is derived from the Arabic wind instruments mizmar and zummara . It is blown with circular breathing . In addition, there is an idiophone serve in the form of a stainless steel plate with a curved rim ( patsu, upatsu or ukaya ) similar to an Indian thali and a Yemeni cream , which is used in the kitchen as a serving bowl and sets the pace in the ensemble. In addition, the small, paired vessel rattles nzuga are used. They complement the beats of the plate. Another percussion instrument used in Digo dances is the kayamba raft rattle .

The leading role is taken over by the master drummer who plays the two nchirima and the bumbumbu . Two puo players are standing next to him, and the patsu player is sitting on either side of him . The percussion group is flanked by the chivoti and nzumari winds. After the percussion instruments have started with a simple basic rhythm that is soon overlaid by the more complex rhythmic structures of the master drummer, the chivoti begins with the melodic arrangement, which is based on three musical themes. If there is an nzumari , the wind instruments regularly take turns to form the melody. The wind instruments only play together with the drums. The drummers don't sing while they play. The choir at the dance performances is made up of male or female dancers who respond to the choir members among the dancers. The wind instruments only start when the singers have finished a song and while the drummers continue playing.

The dancers come in two rows of men and women. The dance style described as soft includes rocking steps and shaking the shoulders. The sengenya ensembles perform for entertainment at private family celebrations such as weddings, on national holidays and on Ramadhani celebrations at the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roger Blench, p. 13
  2. ^ Gerhard Kubik : Music history in pictures: East Africa. (Volume 1: Musikethnologie. Delivery 10) Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1982, pp. 134, 138
  3. ^ Peter R. Cooke: "Ludaya". A Transverse Flute from Eastern Uganda. In: Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council , Vol. 3, 1971, pp. 79–90, here p. 89
  4. ↑ Laura E. Gilliam, William Lichtenwanger (Ed.): The Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection. A Checklist of the Instruments . Library of Congress, Washington 1961, p. 87 ( online at Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Percival Robson Kirby : The Musical Instruments of the Native Races of South Africa . (1934) 2nd edition. Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg 1965
  6. ↑ Otukile Sindiso Phibion: “Bakalanga” Traditional Music Instruments (Zwilidzo zwa ntolo two Bakalanga) . In: Botswana Notes and Records, Vol. 38, 2006, pp. 74-88, here pp. 81f
  7. ^ Percival Robson Kirby, 1965, pp. 122-126
  8. ↑ George W. Senoga-Zake: Folk Music of Kenya. Uzima Publishing House, Nairobi 1986, pp. 158-162
  9. ↑ Asante Darkwa, 1991, pp. 49-51
  10. ↑ George W. Senoga-Zake, 1986, pp. 160f
  11. ↑ Malcolm Floyd: A Bibliographical Index of Kenyan Musical Instruments. In: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 58, May, 2005, pp. 132-159, here p. 141; Roger Blench, 2009, p. 13
  12. ↑ Kenyan Traditional Dance (Kayamba) Performed by Digo Tribe, “Lawakera”. Youtube video (Digo dance group on the south coast of Kenya with several kayamba , flute chivoti and ndzuha bells )
  13. ↑ Valerie A. Briginshaw: Giriama and Digo dance styles. In: Journal of International Library of African Music , Vol. 6, No. 4, 1987, pp. 144-154, here p. 149
  14. ↑ Asante Darkwa, 1991, pp. 51f