Ibirongwe

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Ibirongwe , also irigogwe , is one of the transverse flutes that is not very common in Africa and is played by the Kuria ethnic group in East Africa . The distinguished in the three variants on the size ikibiswi, Ikere and umwere occurring ibirongwe of reeds or bamboo with four finger holes is a day that has become rare entertainment instrument of semi-nomadic cattle herders and is used in particular, the male-only ceremonies.

distribution

Bone flutes are among the oldest African musical instruments and were found practically all over the continent. Contrary to the statement by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (1933) that flutes - at least those with an open lower end - are widespread in Africa, Roger Blench (2009) lists only a manageable number of existing African flutes. Regardless of this, natural horns are blown across in some regions . In Islamic North Africa, only the two reed transverse flutes gasba ( qasaba, qasba ) in Western Sahara and nay in Egypt occur, which are also played together with frame drums in religious music, while gasba in the Maghreb and generally nay or shabbaba are longitudinal flutes.

Some flutes with two to four finger holes are known from West Africa, for example a short flute with two finger holes among the Bambara , the longer tami fle of the Mandinka , the tuniru with three finger holes in Sierra Leone and the lontore of the Bissa in Burkina Faso with four finger holes. The Bassari in the southeast of Senegal play a bamboo transverse flute ( idyore ) (apart from the longitudinally blown notched flute himan ) , which is closed by the natural knots at both ends and has two finger holes.

The dilele (also umpindo ) of the Baluba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was described from central Africa . This reed flute has three finger holes on the top and two on the bottom. The flute is suitable for transmitting spoken language with it. While the dilele is played by men - according to tradition, to encourage warriors during battles - the odin of the Eton is a rare melody instrument in Cameroon with which women accompany their chants. Of the Ekonda (Konda) in northwestern Congo, an approximately 50 centimeter long, nose-blown flute called bolukulu with two finger holes is known. In 1934 Hugh Tracey made sound recordings of a 38 centimeter long quibocolo in the Congo . Tracey notes a non-African origin of the instrument, which consists of a wooden play tube with six finger holes.

Some names of South African flutes have been handed down from the first half of the 20th century: the shitiringo with three finger holes in the Venda , the reed flute umtshingosi with three finger holes in the Swazi or the igemfe in the Zulu with two to four finger holes. The far end of all three flutes is closed. The few African flutes are always to be found isolated in individual regions, in the vicinity of which longitudinal flutes are played.

Of the transverse flutes played in East Africa, the mlanzi ( mulanzi ) made of bamboo should be mentioned, which occurs with the Gogo in central Tanzania . The pentatonic tuned flute is played to accompany singing, especially praise songs ( nindo ) and to ceremonial dances. It is possible that in the 19th century trade caravans brought the mlanzi from the Arabic-influenced Swahili culture of the East African coast inland. In eastern Uganda , the Bagisu use the ludaya ( lusweje ), which is around 90 centimeters long and without finger holes, which is made from the flower stalk of a lobelia species ( Lobeliackenii ). It is unlikely that the Bagisu took over Uganda's only flute from neighboring ethnic groups. It could be a simple replica of a European piccolo that Catholic missionaries brought with them in the 19th century.

The chivoti of the Digo , Duruma and Rabai ethnic groups are known from Kenya . The chivoti , made of a short bamboo tube, has five or six finger holes and is open at the far end. The length of the Digo flute is about 23 centimeters, with an outer diameter of 2.5 centimeters. The Gusii , who are related to the Kuria, but mainly engaged in agriculture , used to own a transverse flute that can no longer be heard today.

In two of the three flutes of Kuria both ends with beeswax are closed, they thus belong to the gedackten Flutes with grip holes for which in the Hornbostel-Sachs one occurrence in under the number 421.121.32 Malaya and East Bengal is specified. Sibyl Marcuse (1964) only vaguely names America, Asia and the South Seas as areas of distribution, but not Africa. In contrast, John Varnum did not find any transverse flute closed at both ends outside of Africa in literature.

Design

The iborongwe is produced in three different sizes. The two smaller forms are made from a reed grass found on the banks of rivers and swamps. The pith is pressed out with a series of initially thin, then thicker wooden sticks. The blow hole and finger holes are called amabanga , they are burned into the tube with the tip of a spear heated over a fire. In all three flutes, the blow hole is located relatively exactly 2.3 centimeters from the upper edge, while the arrangement of the finger holes seems rather random. Some play tubes are decorated with black stripes that have been burned in with a hot spearhead.

With about 34 centimeters and a narrow bore the smallest flute is the ikibiswi . According to other sources, an ekibiswi is 20 centimeters and an emborogo is 25 centimeters long. The flute is the only one in the group that is open at the lower end and has four finger holes evenly spaced and produces the tone sequence b 2 , d 2 , e 2 , f ♯ 2 and a 3 on an examined specimen . By overblowing , the notes can be generated an octave above.

The medium-sized ikere with a length of 40 centimeters is closed at both ends. Above the non-playable root note a ♭ 2 , b ♭ 2 , e ♭ 2 and f 2 follow . Characteristic of the small and medium-sized flute is an increased distance between the second and third finger holes.

The large umwere, which is closed at both ends, consists of a bamboo tube section of around 58 centimeters between the nodes with a diameter of 3.7 centimeters. In the root series there are d ♭ , b ♭ 1 , c 1 , e 1 and f 1 . When overblowing, the notes are created twelve pitches above. However, neither the exact dimensions of the flutes nor the tone scales are standardized; the flute makers determine it according to their ideas, so that musicians often have to get used to when they are supposed to play someone else's ibirongwe .

Style of play

The musician holds the flute horizontally to one side. The small and medium flutes require little breath pressure and are easy to play. The umwere , on the other hand, is much more strenuous to blow and is mainly used by older men. Usually it is overblown into the first upper register, the keynote series can be heard less often. As a musical instrument reserved for men, boys learn to play from their peers and their fathers. Young men play their bride on the ikibiswi , in adulthood they switch to the larger flutes. Elderly men blow the flutes during circumcision ceremonies. In the past, a small ivory flute was occasionally used on special occasions such as circumcisions and initiations .

First and foremost, ibirongwe belong to the entertainment culture of the semi-nomadic cattle herders. The Kuria are traditionally cattle herders like the Maasai , who live east of the Kuria to the north of Tanzania, as well as the Sukuma , whose settlement area extends to the south bank of Lake Victoria . The Kuria connects a common mythical origin and a similar language with the Gusii, who practice agriculture in the north and are therefore socially further away from the Kuria. Cattle-breeding, carried out exclusively by men, is at the center of social order and cultural norms. In this context, men play the ibirongwe for their own entertainment and in a group while drinking beer in the evening (from Pombe ) on the pasture or in the housing estate ( boma ). John Varnum complained in 1970 that there are practically no young people making music with the ibirongwe anymore and that many older men testified that they had lost touch with the flute after finishing school.

The flutes of the Kuria belong to an instrument, inter alia, the vessel flute enko that Naturhörner esegere and induru, the practically disappeared music sheet entono and pumpkin vessel rattle erisege and ibibirya comprises. The main instrument of the Kuria is the eight- stringed bowl lyre iritungu , which is slightly smaller than the otherwise similar bowl obokano of the Gusii.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Moritz von Hornbostel : The Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments (Continued) . In: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 6, No. 3, July 1933, pp. 277-311, here pp. 278, 281
  2. ↑ Roger Blench, p. 11f
  3. ^ Sénégal. Bassari - Diola. CD produced by Charles Duvelle. Prophet 02, 1999, title 8
  4. ↑ Jos goose Emans, Barbara Schmidt-Wrenger: Music History in Pictures: Central Africa . (Volume 1: Musikethnologie . Delivery 9) Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1986, p. 154
  5. ↑ 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 )
  6. ↑ Roger Blench, p. 13
  7. ^ Gerhard Kubik : Music history in pictures: East Africa. (Volume 1: Musikethnologie. Delivery 10) Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1982, pp. 134, 138
  8. ^ 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
  9. ↑ Asante Darkwa: Sengenya Dance Music: Its Instrumental Resources and Performance. In: Asante Darkwa: African Music, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1991, pp. 48-54, here pp. 49f
  10. ^ Sibyl Marcuse : Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. Doubleday, New York 1964, keyword Cross flute , p. 133
  11. ↑ John P. Varnum, 1970, pp. 464f
  12. ↑ George W. Senoga-Zake: Folk Music of Kenya. Uzima Publishing House, Nairobi 1986, p. 158
  13. ↑ John P. Varnum, 1970, p. 466
  14. ↑ Malcolm Floyd: A Bibliographical Index of Kenyan Musical Instruments. In: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 58, May, 2005, pp. 132-159