1.
Musical instrument
–
A musical instrument is an instrument created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument, the history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment, Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications. The date and origin of the first device considered an instrument is disputed. The oldest object that some refer to as a musical instrument. Some consensus dates early flutes to about 37,000 years ago, many early musical instruments were made from animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-durable materials. Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world, however, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin. By the Middle Ages, instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia, development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures of North, Central, and South America shared musical instruments. By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in areas and was dominated by the Occident. Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, Instruments can be classified by their effective range, their material composition, their size, etc. However, the most common method, Hornbostel-Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of instruments is called organology. Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodies—for example, by using objects to create music from sounds. Primitive instruments were designed to emulate natural sounds, and their purpose was ritual rather than entertainment. The concept of melody and the pursuit of musical composition were unknown to early players of musical instruments. A player sounding a flute to signal the start of a hunt does so without thought of the notion of making music. Musical instruments are constructed in an array of styles and shapes
Musical instrument
–
Anne Vallayer-Coster, Attributes of Music, 1770. This
still life painting depicts a variety of French Baroque musical instruments, such as a
natural horn,
transverse flute,
musette,
violin, and
lute.
Musical instrument
–
Found in
Slovenia, the
Divje Babe Flute is considered the world's
oldest known musical instrument
Musical instrument
–
Two
Aztec slit drums, called teponaztli. The characteristic " H " slits can be seen on the top of the drum in the foreground.
Musical instrument
–
Ancient Egyptian tomb painting depicting lute players,
18th Dynasty (c. 1350 BC)
2.
Marimba
–
The marimba is a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars struck with mallets to produce musical tones. Resonators suspended underneath the bars amplify their sound and this instrument is a type of idiophone, but with a more resonant and lower-pitched tessitura than the xylophone. The marimba was developed in Central America by African slaves, and descended from its ancestral balafon instrument, Marimba is now the national instrument of Guatemala and Costa Rica. Modern uses of the marimba include solo performances, woodwind and brass ensembles, marimba concertos, jazz ensembles, marching band, drum and bugle corps, contemporary composers have used the unique sound of the marimba more and more in recent years. A player of the marimba can be called a marimbist or a marimba player, xylophones are widely used in music of west and central Africa. The name marimba stems from Bantu marimba or malimba, xylophone, the instrument itself is present, but is called balafon or heri in Mali and/or Guinea, while its known as gyil among the Akan peoples in and around Ghana. The word marimba and derivative words is used widely in East, other sources credit the creation of the marimba and the kalimba to Queen Marimba of the Wakambi people, who live south of Lake Victoria. In the Swahili language imba means song, Marimba, is said to be the mother of song and the creator of all the instruments, including the marimba. Mama means mother in Kiswahili, so it makes sense that the word mother would be combined with the word for song. The karimba is also said to have created by Queen Marimba. In much of East & Central Africa the karimba is seen as a version of the marimba. Diatonic xylophones were introduced to Central America in the 16th or 17th century, the first historical record of Mayan musicians using gourd resonator marimbas in Guatemala was made in 1680, by the historian Domingo Juarros. It became more widespread during the 18th and 19th centuries, as Mayan, in 1821, the marimba was proclaimed the national instrument of Guatemala in its independence proclamation. The gourd resonators were later replaced by harmonic wooden boxes, variants with slats made of steel, glass or bamboo instead of wood appeared during the 19th century. In 1892, Corazón de Jesús Borras Moreno, a musician from Chiapas, expanded marimba to include the chromatic scale by adding another row of sound bars, the name marimba was later applied to the orchestra instrument inspired by the Latin American model. In the United States, companies like Deagan and Leedy company adapted the Latino American instruments for use in western music, metal tubes were used as resonators, fine-tuned by rotating metal discs at the bottom, lowest note tubes were U-shaped. The marimbas were first used for music and dance, such as Vaudeville theater. Clair Omar Musser was a proponent of marimba in the United States at the time
Marimba
–
Classical marimba, model Antonko AMC-12
Marimba
–
"The Marimba" from "The Capitals of Spanish America" (1888)
Marimba
–
Folk and popular marimba
Marimba
–
Contra Bass Marimba: range of G1–G3
3.
Xylophone
–
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. The term xylophone may be used generally, to all such instruments such as the marimba, balafon. The term is popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the lithophone and metallophone types. The bars of metal sound more high pitched than the wooden ones, the modern western xylophone has bars of rosewood, padauk, or various synthetic materials such as fiberglass or fiberglass-reinforced plastic which allows a louder sound. Some can be as small a range as 2½ octaves but concert xylophones are typically 3½ or 4 octaves, the xylophone is a transposing instrument, its parts are written one octave below the sounding notes. Xylophones should be played with hard rubber, polyball, or acrylic mallets. Sometimes medium to hard rubber mallets, very hard core, or yarn mallets are used for softer effects, lighter tones can be created on xylophones by using wooden-headed mallets made from rosewood, ebony, birch, or other hard woods. Concert xylophones have tube resonators below the bars to enhance the tone, frames are made of wood or cheap steel tubing, more expensive xylophones feature height adjustment and more stability in the stand. In other music cultures some versions have gourds that act as Helmholtz resonators, others are trough xylophones with a single hollow body that acts as a resonator for all the bars. Old methods consisted of arranging the bars on tied bundles of straw, ancient mallets were made of willow wood with spoon-like bowls on the beaten ends. The instrument has obscure, ancient origins, according to Nettl, it originated in southeast Asia and came to Africa c. AD500 when a group of Malayo-Polynesian speaking peoples migrated to Africa, one piece of evidence for this is the similarity between East African xylophone orchestras and Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestras. This, however has been questioned by ethnomusicologist and linguist Roger Blench who posits an independent origin in Africa, the xylophone-like ranat was used in Hindu regions. Java and Bali use xylophones in gamelan ensembles and they still have traditional significance in Africa, Malaysia, Melanesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and regions of the Americas. The term marimba is also applied to traditional folk instruments such as the West Africa balafon. Early forms were constructed of bars atop a gourd, the wood is first roasted around a fire before shaping the key to achieve the desired tone. A skilled maker can produce startling amplification, the mallets used to play dibinda and mbila have heads made from natural rubber taken from a wild creeping plant. This usually doubles an already rapid rhythmic pulse that may also co-exist with a counter-rhythm, the Mbila is associated with the Chopi people of the Inhambane Province, in southern Mozambique
Xylophone
–
Xylophone with different type of mallets
Xylophone
–
Cameroon, ~1914
Xylophone
–
Kulintang a Kayo, a
Philippine xylophone
Xylophone
–
Timbila
4.
Switzerland
–
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
Switzerland
–
Founded in 44 BC by
Lucius Munatius Plancus,
Augusta Raurica was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.
Switzerland
–
Flag
Switzerland
–
The 1291 Bundesbrief (Federal charter)
Switzerland
–
The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colors are shown the subject territories.
5.
Percussion
–
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater, struck, scraped or rubbed by hand, or struck against another similar instrument. The percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments, the percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and tambourine. However, the section can also contain non-percussive instruments, such as whistles and sirens, percussive techniques can also be applied to the human body, as in body percussion. On the other hand, keyboard instruments, such as the celesta, are not normally part of the percussion section, Percussion instruments may play not only rhythm, but also melody and harmony. Percussion is commonly referred to as the backbone or the heartbeat of an ensemble, often working in close collaboration with bass instruments. In jazz and other popular ensembles, the pianist, bassist, drummer. Most classical pieces written for full orchestra since the time of Haydn and Mozart are orchestrated to place emphasis on the strings, woodwinds, however, often at least one pair of timpani is included, though they rarely play continuously. Rather, they serve to provide additional accents when needed, in the 18th and 19th centuries, other percussion instruments have been used, again generally sparingly. The use of percussion instruments became more frequent in the 20th century classical music, in almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word swing is spoken. Because of the diversity of instruments, it is not uncommon to find large musical ensembles composed entirely of percussion. Rhythm, melody, and harmony are all represented in these ensembles, music for pitched percussion instruments can be notated on a staff with the same treble and bass clefs used by many non-percussive instruments. Music for percussive instruments without a pitch can be notated with a specialist rhythm or percussion-clef. The word percussion has evolved from Latin terms, percussio, as a noun in contemporary English it is described in Wiktionary as the collision of two bodies to produce a sound. Hornbostel–Sachs has no high-level section for percussion, Most percussion instruments are classified as idiophones and membranophones.1 Concussion idiophones or clappers, played in pairs and beaten against each other, such as zills and clapsticks. 111.2 Percussion idiophones, includes many percussion instruments played with the hand or by a mallet, such as the hang, gongs and the xylophone. 21 Struck drums, includes most types of drum, such as the timpani, snare drum, (Included in most drum sets or 412. Stringed instruments played with such as the hammered dulcimer
Percussion
–
Yoruba drummers: One holds
omele ako and
batá, the other two hold
dunduns.
Percussion
–
Orchestral percussion section with
timpani,
unpitched auxiliary percussion and pitched
tubular bells
Percussion
–
Djembé and
balafon played by
Susu people of
Guinea
Percussion
–
Concussion idiophones (
claves), and struck drums (
conga drum)
6.
Idiophone
–
An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the instrument as a whole vibrating—without the use of strings or membranes. It is the first of the four divisions in the original Hornbostel–Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. The early classification of Victor-Charles Mahillon called this group of instruments autophones, most percussion instruments that are not drums are idiophones. Hornbostel–Sachs divides idiophones into four main sub-categories, the first division is the struck idiophones. This includes most of the percussion instruments familiar in the West. They include all idiophones made to vibrate by being struck, either directly with a stick or hand or indirectly, various types of bells fall into both categories. The other three subdivisions are rarer, other classifications use six main sub-categories, Concussion idiophones are instruments that produce sound by being struck against one another. Percussion idiophones produce sound by being struck with a foreign object. Examples of non-vibrating objects are mallets, hammers, and sticks, scraper idiophones are instruments that are scraped with a stick or other foreign objects to give off a sound. Plucked idiophones produce sound by plucking a flexible tongue from within the instrument itself, lastly, friction idiophones are rubbed to increase vibration and sound intensity. Idiophones are made of materials that give off unique sounds, the majority of idiophones are made out of glass, metal, ceramics, and wood. Idiophones are considered part of the section in an orchestra. A number of idiophones that are struck, such as vibraphone bars and cymbals
Idiophone
–
A
Kouxian, a plucked idiophone.
Idiophone
–
Set of
bell plates, range C2-E4, a struck idiophone (played with mallets) or friction idiophone (bowed).
Idiophone
–
Claves (foreground), a struck idiophone.
7.
Griot
–
A griot, jali or jeli is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is seen as a societal leader due to his or her traditional position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of two functions, he or she is sometimes also called a bard. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable, although they are popularly known as praise singers, griots may use their vocal expertise for gossip, satire, or political comment. Griots today live in parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples, Fulɓe, Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs. The word may derive from the French transliteration guiriot of the Portuguese word criado and these story-tellers are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa. In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names, jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar, and iggawen in Hassaniyan. Griots form a caste, meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots. Francis Bebey writes about the griot in his book African Music, A Peoples Art, The West African griot is a troubadour, the griot knows everything that is going on. He is an archive of the peoples traditions. The virtuoso talents of the griots command universal admiration and this virtuosity is the culmination of long years of study and hard work under the tuition of a teacher who is often a father or uncle. The profession is by no means a male prerogative, there are many women griots whose talents as singers and musicians are equally remarkable. The Manding term jeliya is sometimes used for the knowledge of griots, jali comes from the root word jali or djali. This word is also the given to griots in areas corresponding to the former Mali Empire. Though the usage griot is far more common in English, some griot advocates such as Bakari Sumano prefer the term jeli, the Mali Empire, at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended from central Africa to West Africa. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita, whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali today, in the Epic of Sundiata, King Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata a griot, Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is considered the founder of the Kouyaté line of griots that exists to this day, each aristocratic family of griots accompanied a higher-ranked family of warrior-kings or emperors, called jatigi. In traditional culture, no griot can be without a jatigi, and no jatigi can be without a griot, however, the jatigi can accept a loan of his griot to another jatigi
Griot
–
Senegalese
Wolof griot, 1890
Griot
–
A
Hausa Griot performs at
Diffa,
Niger, playing a Komsa (
Xalam).
Griot
–
Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (
Fula people,
Mali), 1890.
Griot
–
Mandinka Griot Al-Haji
Papa Susso performing songs from the oral tradition of the
Gambia on the
kora
8.
Mali Empire
–
The Mali Empire, also historically referred to as the Manden Kurufaba, was an empire in West Africa from c.1230 to c. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, the Manding languages were spoken in the empire. The Mali Empire was the largest in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, by 300 BC, large organised settlements had developed, most notable near Djenné, one of West Africas oldest cities. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun. There are a few references to Mali in early written literature and this area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and resources for the population of hunters. Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba, yet African Muslim scholars like the London-based Nigerian-British cleric, Sheikh Dr. Adelabu. During the height of Sundiatas power, the land of Manden became one of its provinces, the Manden city-state of Ka-ba served as the capital and name of this province. From at least the beginning of the 11th century, Mandinka kings known as faamas ruled Manden from Ka-ba in the name of the Ghanas, wagadous control over Manden came to a halt after internal instability lead to its decline. The Kangaba province, free of Soninké influence, splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own maghan or faama, Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest. The tiny kingdom of Niani was one of several in the Kri area of Manden, in approximately 1140 the Sosso kingdom of Kaniaga, a former vassal of Wagadou, began conquering the lands of its old masters. By 1180 it had even subjugated Wagadou forcing the Soninké to pay tribute, in 1203, the Sosso king Soumaoro of the Kanté clan came to power and reportedly terrorized much of Manden stealing women and goods from both Dodougou and Kri. According to Nianes version of the epic, during the rise of Kaniaga and he was the son of Nianis faama, Nare Fa. Sundiatas mother was Maghan Kon Fattas second wife, Sogolon Kédjou and she was a hunchback from the land of Do, south of Mali. The child of this received the first name of his mother. Combined in the spoken language of the Mandinka, the names formed Sondjata, Sundjata or Sundiata Keita. The anglicized version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular, in Ibn Khalduns account, Sundjata is recorded as Mari Djata with Mari meaning Amir or Prince. He also states that Djata or Jatah means lion, Prince Sundjata was prophesized to become a great conqueror
Mali Empire
–
Mansa Musa depicted holding a
gold nugget, from the 1375
Catalan Atlas
Mali Empire
–
Extent of the Mali Empire (c. 1350)
Mali Empire
–
Mali Terracotta horseman figure from 13th to 15th centuries
Mali Empire
–
The
Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali (Malian).
9.
Manding languages
–
The Manding languages are mutually intelligible dialects or languages in West Africa of the Mande family. The Manding languages, and what distinguishes one from the rest, in addition, the nomenclature - being a mixture of indigenous terms and words applied by English and French speakers since before colonization - makes the picture complex and even confusing. The Mandinka people speak varieties from the first two groups, the differences between the western and eastern branches manifest themselves primarily phonetically. The Manding languages have an oral tradition, but also have written forms - adaptations of Arabic and Latin alphabets. Arabic was introduced into the region with Islam, and the writing was adapted to write in the Manding languages, Arabic script or Ajami is still commonly used for Mandinka. The Latin alphabet was introduced into the region following European conquest and it is used fairly widely, with official versions in many countries, for teaching, literacy and publication. The NKo alphabet, developed in 1949 by Solomana Kante, is designed to write Manding using a common literary standard comprehensible to speakers of all these varieties, a lesser-known alphabet for Bambara was developed in the early 20th century but is not used. Mande languages NKo PanAfrican L10n page on Manding
Manding languages
–
Extent of Manding languages
10.
Sierra Leone
–
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area. Freetown, located in the Western Area, is the capital, largest city and its economic, Bo is the second largest city, and is located in the Southern Province, about 160 miles from Freetown. Kenema, located in the Eastern Province, is the third largest city and is about 185 miles from Freetown, Koidu Town, located in the Eastern Province, is the fourth largest city, and is about 275 miles from Freetown. Makeni, located in the Northern Province, is the fifth largest of Sierra Leone five major cities, Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991 during the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh, since independent to present, Sierra Leone politics has been dominated by two major political parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples party and the All Peoples congress. The current president of SIerra Leone is Ernest Bai Koroma, a member of the APC party, the previous Sierra Leone president was Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, a member of the SLPP party, who was elected president in 1996 and won reelection for his final term in 2002. From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war was fought and this proxy war left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the countrys infrastructure destroyed, and over two million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, then Sierra Leones president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, fulfilled his promise by ending the civil war, with help by the British Government, ECOWAS. More recently, the 2014 Ebola outbreak overburdened the weak healthcare infrastructure and it created a humanitarian crisis situation and a negative spiral of weaker economic growth. The country has a low life expectancy at 57.8 years. About sixteen ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone, each with its own language, the two largest and most influential are the Temne and the Mende people. The Temne are predominantly found in the north of the country, the Krio language unites all the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim country, though with an influential Christian minority, Sierra Leone is regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world. Muslims and Christians collaborate and interact with each other peacefully, religious violence is extremely rare in the country. In politics, the majority of Sierra Leoneans vote for a candidate without regard to whether the candidate is a Muslim or a Christian
Sierra Leone
–
Fragments of
prehistoric pottery from
Kamabai Rock Shelter
Sierra Leone
–
Flag
Sierra Leone
–
An 1835 illustration of liberated Africans arriving in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone
–
The colony of Freetown in 1856
11.
Balafon
–
The balafon is a kind of wooden xylophone or percussion idiophone which plays melodic tunes, and usually has between 16 and 27 keys. It has been played in Africa since the 14th century, it originated in Mali, according to the Manding history narrated by the griots. Balafon is a Manding name, but variations exist across West Africa, including the balangi in Sierra Leone, similar instruments are played in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo denoting the instrument as palaku. Records of the balafon go back to at least the 12th century CE, in 1352 CE, Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported the existence of the ngoni and balafon at the court of Malian ruler Mansa Musa. European visitors to West Africa described balafons in the 17th century largely identical to the modern instrument, the Atlantic Slave Trade brought some balafon players to the Americas. The Virginia Gazette records African-Americans playing a barrafoo in 1776, which appears to be a balafon, other North American references to these instruments die out by the mid-19th century. The balafon has seen a resurgence since the 1980s in the growth of African Roots Music, most famous of these exponents is the Rail Band, led by Salif Keita. Even when not still played, its sound and traditional style has been exported to western instruments. Maninka from eastern Guinea play a type of music that adapts balafon playing style to the imported instrument. In 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 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, the balani is carried with a strap and usually has 21 keys, while the number of keys on a bala vary with region. A balafon can be either fixed-key or free-key, 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, 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, in 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. As 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 one large tuned key for each player
Balafon
–
A fixed-key balafon, showing resonators with membrane holes.
Balafon
–
Children from Burkina Faso performing in Warsaw, Poland during the 5th Cross Culture Festival, September 2009
Balafon
–
Gum-rubber mallets on a balafon
Balafon
–
The gyil of northwestern Ghana
12.
Lobi people
–
The Lobi are an ethnic group that originated in what is today Ghana. Starting around 1770, any of the Lobi migrated into southern Burkina Faso, currently, the group consists of around 160,000 people. Lobiri is the name of the language spoken by the Lobi people, the Mouhoun is important in Lobi myth and symbolizes a dividing line between this world and the next, similar to the River Styx of Roman mythology. The Lobi crossed the Mounhoun centuries ago from east to west and settled in the lands and brought with them deep animist beliefs, according to Lobi legend, the spirits of the deceased must return across the river to rejoin their honorable ancestors in the ancient world. The banks of the Mounhoun are used in rites and fish. The Lobi inhabit parts of southern Burkina Faso, according to the director of the museum in Gaoua which is considered to be the capital of the Lobi, The Lobi is a farmer, a hunter and a herder, but above all he is a warrior. Bakary Ouattara, brother of the founder of the Guiriko empire led an offensive against the Lobi in 1815, and despite setting fire to several villages he was eventually killed by a poisoned arrow. He was succeeded by Karakara who continued with the leading up to the devastating attack in 1850 where they suffered heavily. In June 1898, the French and the British made an agreement that the Lobi country would go under French jurisdiction, attempts at controlling the peoples was difficult and the Lobi became known for their resistance using poisoned arrows in attempting to thwart the French colonial invasion. During the twentieth century some migrated into Côte dIvoire, the Lobi are well documented for their animist beliefs. The worshipping of ancestors and fetishes is distinct in Lobi culture. As he turned his back on the traditions, the fetishes leapt out of the lake onto his back again to reclaim him, Lobi people who convert to Christianity or Islam now usually burn their fetishes. In Lobi animism, Thagba is the creator of all living things and they have no direct contact with Thagba, but are dependent on nature spirits known as thila, invisible intermediaries which can harness their supernatural powers towards good or evil. They set rules zosar which dictate how a Lobi should behave in all aspects of life, in Lobi society there is often a village diviner, a thildar which acts as a village priest in interpreting the rules of the spirits. A particularly intuitive and receptive thildar is capable of interpreting as many as 50 spirits at a time, villages typically have several priests, often individuals which specialize in the interpretation of singular spirits rather than multiple, as a chief thildar may. Lobi dwellings are characterized as large rectangular or polygonal compounds known as maison soukala and they are spaced well from each other and are composed of a single vast mud banco wall and a small entrance. An entrance to a Lobi house is a recent development, traditionally there were ladders constructed from notched branches leading up to the roof. Only the chief of the household can give permission to enter, the roof is broad and flat and forms a terrace which was often used as a lookout point but can also be used as a dormitory
Lobi people
–
A ceramic beer-brewing pot made and used by the Lobi people,
Burkina Faso.
13.
Ghana
–
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km², Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, Ghana means Warrior King in the Soninke language. The territory of present-day Ghana has been inhabited for a millennium, numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, following over a century of native resistance, Ghanas current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. On 6 March 1957, it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent of European colonisation, a multicultural nation, Ghana has a population of approximately 27 million, spanning a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Five percent of the population practices traditional faiths,71. 2% adhere to Christianity and 17. 6% are Muslim and its diverse geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical jungles. Ghana is a country led by a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghanas economy is one of the strongest and most diversified in Africa, following a century of relative stability. Ghanas growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, Group of 24, Ghana was already recognized as one of the great kingdoms in Bilad el-Sudan by the ninth century. Ghana was inhabited in the Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery by a number of ancient predominantly Akan kingdoms in the Southern and this included the Ashanti Empire, the Akwamu, the Bonoman, the Denkyira, and the Mankessim Kingdom. Until the 11th century, the majority of modern Ghanas territorial area was unoccupied and uninhabited by humans. Although the area of present-day Ghana in West Africa has experienced many population movements, by the early 11th century, the Akans were firmly established in the Akan state called Bonoman, for which the Brong-Ahafo Region is named. From the 13th century, Akans emerged from what is believed to have been the Bonoman area, to create several Akan states of Ghana and these states included Bonoman, Ashanti, Denkyira, Mankessim Kingdom, and Akwamu Eastern region. By the 19th century, the territory of the part of Ghana was included in the Kingdom of Ashanti. The Kingdom of Ashanti government operated first as a loose network, prior to Akan contact with Europeans, the Akan Ashanti people created an advanced economy based on principally gold and gold bar commodities then traded with the states of Africa. The earliest known kingdoms to emerge in modern Ghana were the Mole-Dagbani states, the Mole-Dagombas came on horseback from present-day Burkina Faso under a single leader, Naa Gbewaa. The death of Naa Gbewaa caused civil war among his children, some of whom broke off and founded separate states including Dagbon, Mamprugu, Mossi, Nanumba, Akan trade with European states began after contact with Portuguese in the 15th century
Ghana
–
1925 map of pre–existing Ghana
Ghana
Ghana
–
16th – 17th century
Akan Terracotta,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ghana
–
A 1850 map showing the
Akan Kingdom of Ashanti within the
Guinea region and surrounding regions in West Africa.
14.
Burkina Faso
–
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa around 274,200 square kilometres in size. It is surrounded by six countries, Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, in 2014 its population was estimated at just over 17.3 million. Burkina Faso is a country and French is an official language of government. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara, residents of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabé. Before the conquest of what is now Burkina Faso by the French, after gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes. Blaise Compaoré was the most recent president and ruled the country from 1987 until he was ousted from power by the popular youth upheaval of 31 October 2014 and this resulted in a semi-presidential republic which lasted from October 2014 to September 2015. On 17 September 2015 the provisional government was in turn toppled by an apparent military coup carried out by the Regiment of Presidential Security. On 24 September 2015, after pressure from the African Union, ECOWAS, and the forces, the military junta agreed to step down. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara, the bé suffix added onto Burkina to form the demonym Burkinabé comes from the Fula language and means men or women. The northwestern part of todays Burkina Faso was populated by hunter-gatherers between 14,000 and 5000 BC and their tools, including scrapers, chisels and arrowheads, were discovered in 1973 through archeological excavations. Agricultural settlements were established between 3600 and 2600 BC, the Bura culture was an Iron-Age civilization centered in the southwest portion of modern-day Niger and in the southeast part of contemporary Burkina Faso. Iron industry, in smelting and forging for tools and weapons, had developed in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BC, historians began to debate about the exact dates when Burkina Fasos many ethnic groups arrived to the area. During the Middle Ages the Mossi established several kingdoms including those of Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma. Sometime between 1328 and 1338 Mossi warriors raided Timbuktu but the Mossi were defeated by Sonni Ali of Songhai at the Battle of Kobi in Mali in 1483, during the early 16th century the Songhai conducted many slave raids into what is today Burkina Faso. During the 18th century the Gwiriko Empire was established at Bobo Dioulasso and ethnic groups such as the Dyan, Lobi, starting in the early 1890s a series of British, French and German military officers made attempts to claim parts of what is today Burkina Faso. At times these colonialists and their armies fought the local peoples, at times they forged alliances with them, the colonialist officers and their home governments also made treaties amongst themselves. Through a complex series of events what is Burkina Faso eventually became a French protectorate in 1896, the eastern and western regions, where a standoff against the forces of the powerful ruler Samori Ture complicated the situation, came under French occupation in 1897. By 1898, the majority of the corresponding to Burkina Faso was nominally conquered, however
Burkina Faso
–
The cavalry of the
Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable
Mali Empire.
Burkina Faso
–
Flag
Burkina Faso
–
Resistance to the French invasion at
Bobo-Dioulasso in 1892.
Burkina Faso
–
The capital,
Ouagadougou, in 1930
15.
Ivory Coast
–
Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960
Ivory Coast
–
Prehistoric polished stone
celt from
Boundiali in northern Ivory Coast, photo taken at the
IFAN Museum of African Arts in
Dakar, Senegal
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
–
Pre-European kingdoms
Ivory Coast
–
Louis-Gustave Binger of French West Africa in 1892 treaty signing with
Famienkro leaders, in present-day N'zi-Comoé Region, Ivory Coast
16.
Central Africa
–
Central Africa is the core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. All of the states in the UN subregion of Middle Africa, plus those otherwise commonly reckoned in Central Africa, since its independence in 2011, South Sudan has also been commonly included in the region. The Central African Federation, also called the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was made up of what are now the nations of Malawi, Zambia and these states are now typically considered part of Southern Africa. Archeological finds in Central Africa have been discovered dating back over 100,000 years, according to Zangato and Holl, there is evidence of iron-smelting in the Central African Republic and Cameroon that may date back to 3000 to 2500 BCE. Extensive walled settlements have recently found in Northeast Nigeria, approximately 60 km southwest of Lake Chad dating to the first millennium BCE. Trade and improved agricultural techniques supported more sophisticated societies, leading to the civilizations of Sao, Kanem, Bornu, Shilluk, Baguirmi. Around 1000 BCE, Bantu migrants had reached the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, halfway through the first millennium BCE, the Bantu had also settled as far south as what is now Angola. The Sao civilization flourished from ca. the sixth century BCE to as late as the sixteenth century CE in northern Central Africa, the Sao lived by the Chari River south of Lake Chad in territory that later became part of Cameroon and Chad. They are the earliest people to have clear traces of their presence in the territory of modern Cameroon. Today, several groups of northern Cameroon and southern Chad. Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze, copper, finds include bronze sculptures and terra cotta statues of human and animal figures, coins, funerary urns, household utensils, jewelry, highly decorated pottery, and spears. The largest Sao archaeological finds have been south of Lake Chad. The Kanem-Bornu Empire was centered in the Chad Basin and it was known as the Kanem Empire from the 9th century CE onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900. The history of the Empire is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle or Girgam discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth, Kanem rose in the 8th century in the region to the north and east of Lake Chad. The Kanem empire went into decline, shrank, and in the 14th century was defeated by Bilala invaders from the Lake Fitri region, the Kanuri people led by the Sayfuwa migrated to the west and south of the lake, where they established the Bornu Empire. By the late 16th century the Bornu empire had expanded and recaptured the parts of Kanem that had been conquered by the Bulala, satellite states of Bornu included the Damagaram in the west and Baguirmi to the southeast of Lake Chad. The Shilluk Kingdom was centered in South Sudan from the 15th century from along a strip of land along the bank of White Nile. The capital and royal residence was in the town of Fashoda, the kingdom was founded during the mid-fifteenth century CE by its first ruler, Nyikang
Central Africa
–
Abéché, capital of Wadai, in 1918 after the French had taken over
Central Africa
–
Central Africa
Central Africa
–
Lunda town and dwelling
Central Africa
–
Fishing in Central Africa
17.
Kingdom of Kongo
–
At its greatest extent, it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. From c.1390 to 1891 it was mostly an independent state, from 1891 to 1914 it was a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal. In 1914, the monarchy was forcibly abolished, following Portuguese victory against a Kongo revolt. The remaining territories of the kingdom were assimilated into the colony of Angola, the modern-day Bundu dia Kongo sect favors reviving the kingdom through secession from Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. According to Kongo tradition, the origin lies in the very large. A dynasty of rulers from this small polity built up its rule along the Kwilu valley, traditions from the 17th century allude to this sacred burial ground. According to the missionary Girolamo da Montesarchio, an Italian Capuchin who visited the area from 1650 to 1652, seventeenth century subjects of Mpemba Kasi called their country Mother of the King of Kongo in respect of the territorys antiquity. At some point around 1375, Nimi a Nzima, ruler of Mpemba Kasi, made an alliance with Nsaku Lau and this alliance guaranteed that each of the two allies would help ensure the succession of their allys lineage in the others territory. The first king of the Kingdom of Kongo Dya Ntotila was Lukeni lua Nimi. The name Nimi a Lukeni appeared in later oral traditions and some historians, notably Jean Cuvelier. Lukeni lua Nimi or Nimi a Lukeni, became the founder of Kongo when he conquered the kingdom of the Mwene Kabunga and he transferred his rule to this mountain, the Mongo dia Kongo or mountain of Kongo, and made Mbanza Kongo, the town there, his capital. Two centuries later the Mwene Kabungas descendants still symbolically challenged the conquest in an annual celebration, the rulers that followed Lukeni all claimed some form of relation to his kanda, or lineage and were known as the Kilukeni. The Kilukeni kanda or house as it was recorded in Portuguese documents, after the death of Nimi a Lukeni, his brother, Mbokani Mavinga, took over the throne and ruled until approximately 1467. He had two wives and nine children and his rule saw an expansion of the Kingdom of Kongo to include the neighbouring state of Loango and other areas now encompassed by the current Republic of Congo. The Mwene Kongos often gave the governorships to members of their family or its clients, the high concentration of population around Mbanza Kongo and its outskirts played a critical role in the centralization of Kongo. The capital was a settled area in an otherwise sparsely populated region where rural population densities probably did not exceed 5 persons per square kilometer. Early Portuguese travelers described Mbanza Kongo as a city, the size of the Portuguese town of Évora as it was in 1491. By the end of the century, Kongos population was probably close to half a million people in a core region of some 130,000 square kilometers. By the early seventeenth century the city and its hinterland had a population of around 100,000 and this concentration allowed resources, soldiers and surplus foodstuffs to be readily available at the request of the king
Kingdom of Kongo
–
The "Kingdom of Congo" (now usually rendered as "Kingdom of Kongo" to maintain distinction from the present-day Kongo nations)
Kingdom of Kongo
–
Flag
Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom of Kongo
–
João I Nzinga a Nkuwu
18.
Ibn Battuta
–
He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in his Travels. Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands and his journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Middle East, India, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. He claimed descent from a Berber tribe known as the Lawata, as a young man he would have studied at a Sunni Maliki madhhab, the dominant form of education in North Africa at that time. Maliki Muslims requested Ibn Battuta serve as their religious judge as he was from an area where it was practiced. In June 1325, at the age of twenty-one, Ibn Battuta set off from his hometown on a hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca and he would not see Morocco again for twenty-four years. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male and my parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation. He travelled to Mecca overland, following the North African coast across the sultanates of Abd al-Wadid and Hafsid, the route took him through Tlemcen, Béjaïa, and then Tunis, where he stayed for two months. For safety, Ibn Battuta usually joined a caravan to reduce the risk of being robbed and he took a bride in the town of Sfax, the first in a series of marriages that would feature in his travels. In the early spring of 1326, after a journey of over 3,500 km, Ibn Battuta arrived at the port of Alexandria and he met two ascetic pious men in Alexandria. One was Sheikh Burhanuddin who is supposed to have foretold the destiny of Ibn Battuta as a world traveller saying It seems to me that you are fond of foreign travel and you will visit my brother Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind and Burhanuddin in China. Another pious man Sheikh Murshidi interpreted the meaning of a dream of Ibn Battuta that he was meant to be a world traveller and he spent several weeks visiting sites in the area, and then headed inland to Cairo, the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate and an important city. After spending about a month in Cairo, he embarked on the first of many detours within the safety of Mamluk territory. Of the three routes to Mecca, Ibn Battuta chose the least-travelled, which involved a journey up the Nile valley. Upon approaching the town, however, a local rebellion forced him to turn back, Ibn Battuta returned to Cairo and took a second side trip, this time to Mamluk-controlled Damascus. During his first trip he had encountered a man who prophesied that he would only reach Mecca by travelling through Syria. Without this help many travellers would be robbed and murdered, after spending the Muslim month of Ramadan in Damascus, he joined a caravan travelling the 1,300 km south to Medina, site of the tomb of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After four days in the town, he journeyed on to Mecca, rather than returning home, Ibn Battuta instead decided to continue on, choosing as his next destination the Ilkhanate, a Mongol Khanate, to the northeast. On 17 November 1326, following a month spent in Mecca, the group headed north to Medina and then, travelling at night, turned northeast across the Najd plateau to Najaf, on a journey that lasted about two weeks
Ibn Battuta
–
A 13th-century book illustration produced in Baghdad by
al-Wasiti showing a group of pilgrims on a
hajj.
Ibn Battuta
–
Tiles representing the
Kaaba, in
Mecca.
Ibn Battuta
–
Ibn Battuta made a brief visit to the Persian-Azari city of
Tabriz in 1327.
Ibn Battuta
–
Sana'a, Yemen
19.
Xalam
–
Xalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, many believe that it is an ancestor to the African American banjo. Someone who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat, the xalam, in its standard form, is a simple lute chordophone with one to five strings. The wooden body membranophone of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle, by moving these strips, the instruments tune can be adjusted. The xalam usually has two melody strings that are fingered by the left hand and two to three supplementary strings of fixed pitch. Most xalam players construct their own xalams, although they call on woodworkers to carve the body, neck. In most Wolof-speaking parts of Senegal, the xalam has three principal tunings, all of which involve tuning the two strings a perfect fourth apart. In the first tuning, the strings are tuned 1 and 4. In the third tuning, the fundamental is a third above the lowest main string. The third supplementary string is ignored or is tuned to 6 or 2´. In most areas the xalam is played by 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 areas it may form part of a larger group including kora, drums. It is traditionally heard at weddings, infant naming ceremonies, and is now a member of folklore ensembles, popular mbalax groups. Important past and present Senegalese xalam masters include Sàmba Jabare Sàmb, Ama Njaay Sàmb, Abdulaay Naar Sàmb, Abdulaay Soose, the best known Malian ngoni players are Banzumana Sissoko, Bassekou Kouyate, Mama Sissoko, Moriba Koïta, Sayan Sissoko, and Fuseini Kouyate. Akonting Cheick Hamala Diabate Kora Ngoni Cosaan, Senegalese Culture—Xalam and Virtual Xalam Video of Cheick Hamala Diabate performances from Kennedy Center Millennium Stage site
Xalam
–
A
Nigerien Griot playing a Xalam in
Diffa, Niger.
20.
Atlantic Slave Trade
–
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th through the 19th centuries. This was crucial to those western European countries which, in the late 17th and 18th centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires, the Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade in the 16th century. In 1526, the Portuguese completed the first transatlantic voyage from Africa to the Americas. The first Africans imported to the English colonies were classified as indentured servants, like coming from England. By the middle of the 17th century, slavery had hardened as a caste, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, the people were considered merchandise or units of labour, the major Atlantic slave trading nations, ordered by trade volume, were, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch Empire. Several had established outposts on the African coast where they purchased slaves from local African leaders and these slaves were managed by a factor who was established on or near the coast to expedite the shipping of slaves to the New World. Slaves were kept in a factory while awaiting shipment, current estimates are that about 12 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic, although the number purchased by the traders is considerably higher, as the passage had a high death rate. Near the beginning of the century, various governments acted to ban the trade. In the early twenty-first century, several governments issued apologies for the slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade arose after trade contacts were first made between the continents of the Old World and those of the New World, between 1600 and 1800, approximately 300,000 sailors engaged in the slave trade visited West Africa. In doing so, they came into contact with societies living along the west African coast, historian John Thornton noted, A number of technical and geographical factors combined to make Europeans the most likely people to explore the Atlantic and develop its commerce. That leadership later gave rise to the myth that the Iberians were the leaders of the exploration. Slavery was practiced in parts of Africa, Europe, Asia. There is evidence that people from some African states were exported to other states in Africa, Europe. The African slave trade provided a number of slaves to Europeans. The Atlantic slave trade was not the slave trade from Africa, although it was the largest in volume. As Elikia M’bokolo wrote in Le Monde diplomatique, The African continent was bled of its resources via all possible routes
Atlantic Slave Trade
–
Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in
Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769.
Atlantic Slave Trade
–
Group of men, children, and women being taken to a slave market
Atlantic Slave Trade
–
The
Portuguese presenting themselves before the
Manikongo. The Portuguese initially fostered a good relationship with the
Kingdom of Kongo. Civil War within Kongo would lead to many of its subjects ending up as enslaved people in Portuguese and other European vessels.
Atlantic Slave Trade
–
Portrait of an African Slave Woman, probably painted by
Annibale Carracci in the 1580s
21.
Traditional music
–
Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre
Traditional music
–
Béla Bartók recording Slovak peasant singers in 1908
Traditional music
–
Indians always distinguished between classical and folk music, though in the past even classical Indian music used to rely on the unwritten transmission of repertoire.
Traditional music
–
Armenian traditional musicians
Traditional music
–
Assyrians playing
zurna and
Davul, the typically used instruments for their folk music.
22.
World Music
–
The term was popularized in the 1980s as a marketing category for non-Western traditional music. Globalization has facilitated the expansion of world musics audiences and scope and it has grown to include hybrid subgenres such as world fusion, global fusion, ethnic fusion, and worldbeat. To enhance the process of learning, he invited more than a dozen visiting performers from Africa and Asia, the term became current in the 1980s as a marketing/classificatory device in the media and the music industry. There are several conflicting definitions for world music, one is that it consists of all the music in the world, though such a broad definition renders the term virtually meaningless. The term also is taken as a classification of music that combines Western popular music styles with one of many genres of music that are also described as folk music or ethnic music. However, world music is not exclusively traditional folk music and it may include cutting edge pop music styles as well. Succinctly, it can be described as music from out there. It is a nebulous term with an increasing number of genres that fall under the umbrella of world music to capture musical trends of combined ethnic style and texture. As a result, definitions of the genre have become particularly varied, similar terminology between distinctly different sub-categories under primary music genres, such as world, rock and pop can be as ambiguous and confusing to industry moguls as it is to consumers. In a report on the 2014 globalFEST National Public Radios Anastasia Tsioulcas said Even within the music community. Whats more, I believe that in peoples imaginations, world music means a kind of fairly awful, gloppy, hippy-ish. Its a problematic, horrible term that satisfies absolutely no one, the Breton musician Alan Stivell pioneered the connection between traditional folk music, modern rock music and world music with his 1972 album Renaissance of the Celtic Harp. At this time, Stivells contemporary, Welsh singer-songwriter Meic Stevens popularised Welsh folk music, more recently, other Welsh-language bands such as Calan and 9 Bach have achieved international acclaim. The broad category of music includes isolated forms of ethnic music from diverse geographical regions. These dissimilar strains of music are commonly categorized together by virtue of their indigenous roots. World fusion / Worldbeat / Ethnic fusion / Global fusion can also blend specific indigenous sounds with more blatant elements of Western pop. Depending on style and context, world music can sometimes share the music genre. Good examples are Tibetan bowls, Tuvan throat singing, Gregorian chant or Native American flute music, World music blended with new-age music is a sound, loosely classified as the hybrid genre, ethnic fusion
World Music
–
Guinean-born self-taught guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Alpha Yaya Diallo at a festival
World Music
–
Omer Ihsas and Peace Messengers
World Music
–
Delhi 2 Dublin in 2012
World Music
–
Anda Union at a music festival
23.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms
Guinea
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Samori Ture was the founder of the
Wassoulou Empire, an
Islamic state in present-day Guinea that resisted
French colonial rule in
West Africa from 1882 until Ture's capture in 1898.
Guinea
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Flag
Guinea
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President
Ahmed Sékou Touré was supported by the Communist bloc states and in 1961 visited
Yugoslavia.
Guinea
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Monument to commemorate the 1970 military victory over the Portuguese raid. The only objective not accomplished by the Portuguese raid was the capture of Ahmed Sékou Touré.
24.
Guitar
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The guitar is a musical instrument classified as a fretted string instrument with anywhere from four to 18 strings, usually having six. The sound is projected either acoustically, using a wooden or plastic and wood box, or through electrical amplifier. It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers, the guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. There are three types of modern acoustic guitar, the classical guitar, the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of a guitar is produced by the strings vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar. The term finger-picking can also refer to a tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass. The acoustic bass guitar is an instrument that is one octave below a regular guitar. Early amplified guitars employed a body, but a solid wood body was eventually found more suitable during the 1960s and 1970s. As with acoustic guitars, there are a number of types of guitars, including hollowbody guitars, archtop guitars and solid-body guitars. The electric guitar has had a influence on popular culture. The guitar is used in a variety of musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as an instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock, soul. The term is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. The modern word guitar, and its antecedents, has applied to a wide variety of chordophones since classical times. Many influences are cited as antecedents to the modern guitar, at least two instruments called guitars were in use in Spain by 1200, the guitarra latina and the so-called guitarra morisca. The guitarra morisca had a back, wide fingerboard. The guitarra Latina had a sound hole and a narrower neck. By the 14th century the qualifiers moresca or morisca and latina had been dropped, and it had six courses, lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist
Guitar
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Illustration in a
Carolingian psalter from the 9th century showing an instrument of the
chordophone family, most probably a
lute
Guitar
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A
classical guitar with nylon
strings
Guitar
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A guitarra latina (left) and a guitarra morisca (right), Spain, 13th century
Guitar
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Guitar collection in
Museu de la Música de Barcelona
25.
Bass (sound)
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Bass describes tones of low frequency, pitch and range from 16-256 Hz. In musical compositions, such as songs and pieces, these are the lowest parts of the harmony, in choral music without instrumental accompaniment, the bass is supplied by adult male bass singers. In an orchestra, the lines are played by the double bass and cellos, bassoon or contrabassoon, low brass such as the tuba and bass trombone. In many styles of music such as Bluegrass, folk, and in styles such as Rockabilly and Big Band and Bebop jazz. In most rock and pop bands and in jazz fusion groups, in some 20th and 21st century pop genres, such as 1980s pop, hip hop music and Electronic Dance Music, the bass role may be filled with a bass synthesizer. In popular music, the part, which is called the bassline. The bass player is a member of the section in a band, along with the drummer, rhythm guitarist, and, in some cases. The bass player plays the root or fifth of the chord. The bass differs from other voices because of the role it plays in supporting and defining harmonic motion. It does so at levels ranging from immediate, chord-by-chord events to the harmonic organization of a entire work. Basso continuo was an approach to writing music during the Baroque music era, keyboard bass Bass drum Double bass Bass guitar Washtub bass Bassoon Bass clarinet Bass saxophone Tuba Bass trombone Euphonium Sub bass Treble Bass clef Figured bass
Bass (sound)
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Bass voice range.
26.
Bobo Dioulasso
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Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of about 537,728, it is the second largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasos capital. The local Bobo-speaking population refers to the city simply as Sia, there are two distinct dialects spoken of Jula, based on the origins of different peoples who speak this language. The city is situated in the southwest of the country, in the Houet Province, Bobo-Dioulasso is significant both economically and culturally, as it is a major center of culture and music. Three small satellite villages were located beyond this natural border, a number of other independent villages in the surroundings have been absorbed by the developing city and are now within its municipal boundaries and incorporated as part of the city. The two main villages were occupied by the French on September 25,1897 after a brief, soon afterward the French created an administrative settlement near them, on the east side of the We river. This became the headquarters of a district of the same name, during the 1915-16 anti-colonial war, the population in the north and east of district Bobo-Dioulasso took up arms against the French colonial government. The French based their activities in the city in an effort to suppress the insurrection, a colonial military base was established in the southern sector of the city, adding to its growing importance. In 1927 the French razed the old village of Tunuma and the other settlements and it was made available for redevelopment as a residential neighborhood. Sia proper, which today as the Dioulasoba neighborhood, was partly spared this total destruction. It was dramatically modified in 1932 when a large road artery was built through it and this established the framework for the modern city center. The Abidjan Railway reached Bobo-Diouolasso in 1934, increasing its access to markets, transportation, and communications. But the growth of the city as an industrial center halted because of the world economic crisis during the Great Depression. The city started expanding again after World War II, reorganization of the colony of Upper Volta in 1947 attracted business to Bobo-Dioulasso, although Ouagadougou had been selected as the capital. An early industrial center, Bobo-Dioulasso is also the hub of an agricultural zone, which produces food grains, fruits and seedlings. Due to its economic contributions, following the nations gaining independence in 1960. Bobo-Dioulassos economic advantage vis-à-vis the capital has declined following decades of government policy favoring Ouagadougou, little new industry arrived in the city during the 1980s and 1990s. Some enterprises either closed down or relocated to the capital, economic life was primarily reduced to commerce grounded in the agriculture of the region and services. Since 2000 the city of Bobo-Dioulasso has engaged in a new growth spurt, gaining in population, residents have returned home following the internal crisis in neighboring Ivory Coast, and the economy has been stimulated by new demands for its goods
Bobo Dioulasso
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Bobo-Dioulasso
city hall
Bobo Dioulasso
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Map of Bobo-Dioulassou, 1892
Bobo Dioulasso
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Opposition to the captain's entry in Bobo-Diolasso
Bobo Dioulasso
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Bobo Dioulasso Grand Mosque
Claude Luisier
