A Score of African Strings and Beats

Preserving an Ancient Musical Heritage through Indigenous Instruments

An African orchestra is at play on the coast of St Lucia. Overlooking the lush green coastal Isimangaliso  Marine park, a group of selected African performers have come together to create a fusion of African sounds to ignite composition and musical scoring for film and trailer soundtracks.

With a rich heritage in African indigenous instruments the young musicians are led by award winning composer, Samuel Safa, to participate in creating a film score to an animated film and TV series trailer. In museums these instruments are artefacts with historical significance. Here they form part of a new generation of musical creation.

Here are some of the musical instruments featured:

Mozambique

The mbira is the small plucked-reed instrument held between the hands and played with the thumbs and/or forefingers. Usually termed 'sansa', another recent contender for the generic name is 'lamellophone'.

Kenya

The Orutu is a one-stringed fiddle native to western Kenya, especially amongst the Luo community.
The term also refers to a genre of music in Kenya which involves this instrument. The instrument is also a central part of the benga musical genre.
This musical instrument is played a bit like a violin but has a different, more African sound to it.

South Africa and West Africa.

The Djembe drum despite its seemingly simple design, is one of the most versatile instruments of its kind, and many credit its popularity with its ability to produce a wide range of pitches.The djembe drum has its roots in West Africa, with many crediting the name to Mali’s Bambara people, who named it after the saying ‘Anke djé, anke bé’, meaning ‘Everyone gather together in peace.’

Mandla Mantsha (R) teaching on the Djembe drum at the NEWF Compose Yourself Lab

South African born musician and award-winning performer Mandla Mantsha was on hand to teach on collaboration and the history of South African indegenious sound. Hailing from Uitenhage he found his musical home in Kwa-Zulu Natal where he resides. Having featured in major productions such as African Footprint and Flatfoot dance company amongst others.

Mantsha shared his passion for fusing African rhythms with an array of instruments Djembe drum, percussion claves, the cow bell an idiophone hand percussion instrument used in various styles of music including salsa and infrequently in popular music and demonstrated the Isitolotolo (Jews harp). He energized the group to express their talent on different instruments and release their creative pallets.

By Mmathabo Tladi