BaraBara.fm [v.3] - A Journey into the Sound of Kenya » KENYA WEST: Nyanza Region – Victoria Sea

The Ohangla Session

Agnieszka — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:57:05 +0000

The recording session we did at the home place of Jack Nyadundo on the 11th march was the first reording for the barabara-project at all. you can see some pictures here.
Jack Nyadundo and his young band are playing a style called “Ohangla”. At the moment “Ohangla” is really the latest craze in Kisumu. It is played in all of the clubs. People dance a very hot style to the rythms and the kenyan women shake their “hips” in an uncredible flexible way: they can move their bumcheeks in every directions!
It was fun to meet Nyadundo and his band. Finally Sven had to play the main drum. Later on Nyadundo advised him to go round in circle while the rhythm had do go on. Sven failed and the crowd laughed lustily.
During the next days of our Nyanza trip together with Tabu, Patrick and George we realized that a certain kind of buoyant spirit is something that all of the people at the Nyanza region radiated even though most of them lived in an extremly poor backround.

Listen here to the track that Sven created based on the original recordings.

Six Finished Nyanza Tracks (Extracts)

Agnieszka — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:04:43 +0000

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Ogoya-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Ogoya Nengo}
Ogoya Nengo Video

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Nyatiti2-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Okumo Korengo}
Okumo Korengo Video

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Koyo-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Owino Koyo}
Owino Koyo Video

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Ohangla-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Jack Nyadundo Orchestra}
Jack Nyadundo Photos

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Olith-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Olith Ratego}

http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Nyatiti1-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Joseph Oganga}
Joseph Oganga Video

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Okumo Korengo

Agnieszka — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:23:49 +0000

The kenyan guitar-like instrument called Nyatiti is one of the most important instruments of the Nyanza Region. On march 11th we met with two different Nyatiti players. First we went to the village of Joseph Oganga. (Watch the video) Later on Oganga joined us to visit one of his friends, who is also a great musicians. The last days I worked out a three-minutes track based on the recordings we did with Okumo Korengo. There is also a great video of the recording session, Agnieszka did this day.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Nyatiti2-Ausschn.mp3 ^{Korengo Extract}

It s Not The Real Ohangla

Agnieszka — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:53:50 +0000

This is a longer version based on the recordings we did in Kisumu on march 10th. As I have already written before, Ohangla Music is totally hip in Kisumu. It s really the big thing at the moment. They are playing Ohangla in all of the clubs and of course everybody is dancing to the straight four- on-the-floor-beats the drummers are playing over and over.
Obviously the following example sounds a little bit different from what I have posted before. Nevtertheless I hope you gonna like it.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Ohangla-Ausschn.mp3 ^{kisumu extract}

Ogoya Nengo Long Version

Agnieszka — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:40:46 +0000

Here comes a longer version of Ogoya Nengo. After listening to her takes over and over again and again, I am still so impressed by her singing. What a voice !
For the middle section of the song I used the recordings we have done before we left the village. Everybody was dancing and singing. The husband of Ogoya played the solo drum accompanied by an amazing percussion trio. Watch the video, Agnieszka did on this unique day.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Ogoya24_8.mp3 ^{ogoya nengo longer version}

Joseph Oganga Extract

Agnieszka — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:41:43 +0000

And this is a longer version based on the recordings we have done with Joseph Oganga right before we met with Owino Koyo on march 11th. I think the version is still a little bit to cheesy and a little bit to soft. May be it´s a good idea to record a pretty loud drum part for the middle section of the song.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Nyatiti1-Ausschn.mp3 ^{joseph oganga extract}

Owino Koyo long version

Agnieszka — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:12:53 +0000

This is a longer version based on the recordings we did on march 11th with Owino Koyo in his small village just a stone´s´throw away from the lake victoria.
Both the video of the recording session and the first audio example are of course still available.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/oldman08_14.mp3 ^{owino koyo longer version}

Ogoya Nengo Video

Agnieszka — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:21:51 +0000

Here come a fiew scenes from the session with Dodo player and singer Ogoya Nengo. It was a fun day with a lot of interesting and nice happenings such as praying, talking, eating and dancing with the people from Ogoya’s village. It ended up with a big party featuring Ogoya’s husband in a traditional dress…

Listen what Sven did with this material below.

Crazy Shaker Man

Agnieszka — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:22:18 +0000

If you watch the video of the recording session we did on march 12th in Rongo Village you won´t be surprised that our working title of this session is called “the crazy man recordings”….
It was our last session at the Nyanza region. A few days later we went to the east coast of Kenya.
During the last days I tried to notate some of the melodies, the musicians in Rongo Village were singing. I played these melodies on a very high xylophone to create a kind of a funny fugue based on the melodies we have recorded. For the pretty ironic beat I played some straight figures with brushes on different sheets of papers and again I used my wooden bassdrum.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/crazyman-skizze.mp3 ^{Rongo Man}

Nyatiti Recording at Aluny Village

Agnieszka — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:45:47 +0000

March 11th was one of the most exciting days during our stay. In one day we met with Ogoya Nengo, Joseph Oganga, Owino Koyo and last but not least Okumo Korengo.
We came upon Korengo at Aluny Village, a very small dorp close to the village of Oganga.
Both Oganga and Korengo are fantastic Nyatiti players. At a first glance their way of playing sounds pretty the same but the longer you listen to their music the more you realize how different they play.

Korengo plays the Nyatiti much smoother than Oganga and his singing is much more relaxed and more laid back. I couldn´t say which style I prefer. May be you do.
On top of the recordings we did at Aluny Village, I played some brushgrooves on different sheets of paper and some heavy bass-like marimba ostinatos. I also recorded some string-like sounds at my piano using different ribbons and horsehair.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/Nyatiti2.mp3 ^{Okumu Korengo}

Nyatiti Player Joseph Oganga

Agnieszka — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:45:26 +0000

A new video snippet of our visit at Joseph Oganga’s garden, where he played Nyatiti, an instrument which reminds of a guitar. A few days ago Sven posted a new adaption (see below) of the Nyatiti Player singing on top of his own performance. It was a very cool expirience for us, especially when we noticed that Joseph accentuates his play with sounds and facial expressions that are so different from the gestures of the western singers and musicians. Take a look by yourself:

Ogoya Nengo

Agnieszka — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:32:24 +0000

During the last days I worked out a track-idea based on the recordings we did on march 11th in the small village of the female singer Ogoya Nengo.
After an incredible welcome-ceremony, Ogoya asked us to enter her home. In a split second the atmosphere changed totally. The music stopped and everybody inside of the room began to pray. Solely all the cows, sheep and cocks outside didn´t change at all….
Fortunately my small recording machine was switched on during the prayer. Of course I asked somebody after the ceremony if I could use this recording one day and he said yes.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/6-15ogoya.mp3 ^{Ogoya Nengo}

Ohangla Turkey

Agnieszka — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:00:14 +0000

On Thursday I began to work on the Ohangla Recordings. The introduction that you listen to is based on an atmosphere that I recorded in front of Jack Nyandundo´s house. It features an old gackling turkey, (0:12, 0:16, 0:22)
The introduction beat is played on stones. Of course it is recorded at my home place but I think it comes out of the atmosphere pretty directly and homogeneously.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/5-31ohanglaintro.mp3 ^{Ohangla Introduction}
The days before, I primarily sifted all of the kenyan recording material. It s very hard to decide which recordings I won´t use for the album. Except for the occasional ones they are absolutely unique. Because of our experiences that we of course connect to the recordings it is difficult not to use anything.

Nyatiti Remix

Agnieszka — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:02:51 +0000

The day before I recorded the old man, we met with the traditional nyatiti player Joseph Oganga. Usually Oganga is singing while he accompanies himself by playing nyatiti.
Whenever I asked him either to sing or to play nyatiti he was a bit irritated. Playing Nyatiti without singing he couldn´t avoid to whistle in between or to create weird sounds with his mouth. And whenever I asked him to sing the song a cappella his hands coudtn´t stand still. Instead of playing nyatiti his hands flourished most of the time.
Three days ago I recorded some beats and atmospheres on top of the recordings we did in Oganga´s village. First and foremost I used my kalimba and played some simple beats with my fingers on the back of the instrument. Hitting the instrument the metal tongues of the kalimba begin to ring which always creates a nice chord in a minor. I also recorded some simple marimba lines.
http://www.barabara.fm/videoblog/music/nyatitiman.mp3 ^{Example No.2}