USO-AKA AND NGEDEGWU
Musical lnstnmnu oi the lbw

Thain lot flu Douro. of M. A
MICHIGAN STATE: UNlVERSITY

William Wilberforce Chukudinka Eclmzona
1962

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Michigan State
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Copyright by

I'JILLIALI 'z'a'ILBLJRr'URCE CEFUI‘LUQIIII‘LA LmeLONA

1962

USO-AKA AND HGEDEGJU

Musical Instrtments of the Ibos

By

William Wilberforce Chlkudinka Echezona

A lflfllals

Submitted to
Michigan étste University
31 fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

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hmfiTER OF ARTS

(musicology)
Department of Music

1962

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ACICMO .i'Llil DGl“:_iJ1€rl1 o o o

INTROJUCTIOH . . . .

Section
Section

Chapter
I.

II.
III.
IV.

_V-
VI.

Section

Chapter
I.

II.
III.
IV.

V.

l.

The Ibos .

2.

Ubo - aka: .

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT .

consTRUCTIOH
Acousrlos or

TUNIuG . . .

ACOUSTICS or
TocHNIQUE .

1 7:1

.41; O . . .

NGLQEGHU
. O O O
0 O O O

Page

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54

Section 4.
CONCLUoIbN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Section 5.

BIBLIOGRAfi‘YI o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 110

LIST 03‘ 3131121115

1. Map of a section of Nigeria showing the Ibo country. . .15
2. Demonstration of transverse vibration of rods . . . . . 40

A

5. Notes of pronss of ubo-aka on the sound-board . . . . . e4

’1)
4. Notes of prongs of Etc-aka arranged scale-wise . . . . 44
a. Type of music ilayed on ubo-aka . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6. Hand sketch of naedegwu slabs on two banana stems . . . 55

7. Map of Africa in slave days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

8. Positions of oscillation when a flexible stick is

3113.}:811 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 80
9. Fundamental vibration of a bar of xylophone . . . . . . 85
10. kethod of stringing slabs of nfiedcawu . . . . . . . . . 88
14. Examples of speaking % musical devices used by Ibos . . 90
91

15 -

17a. Examples of speech played by needeawu - (rep er). . . . 99
100

18. Range and scale of ngedenwu (Pepper) . . . . . . . . . 100
19. Wrong notation of ngedegwu (Pepper) . . . . . . . . . 102
20. Correction of F'g. 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
21. Range and scale of naedeawu as.found at Amokwe . . . . 105
22. A melody sung by Amokwe women . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

25. Doubling and accompanying meloiy of F'g. 22 by

Iaedemwu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

LIST OF ELATES

fhotograph of ubo-aka . . . .
Ubo-aka without resonator . .
An Ibo man playing ubo-aka . .

Ibo xylophone with orchestra .

1

- r.>-*1'.. .. \~- vrr‘ 1

A011L1NC1.111LJ_111_)1J.1J1‘-141 . .1. Q

I am very grateful to the staff of the :hysics Labora-
tory for allowing me to weigh nigdchwu slabs an; to measure
the pitches of both nfiedcrwu and ubo-rga with their Stroboconn,
Dr. George nxinn for lending me his ubo-aka for research
purposes while I was waiting for m* Ibo musical instruments
to arrive from Eigeria,
The University of hireria for giving me a study leave
‘in order to conduct this research; and finally,
The International Cooperation Administration for awarding

me a fellowship to study at Hichigan State University.

”idcuutfltb

Contact with the British Government, missionary and
comma cial bodies has revolutionised the political, economic,
and religious life of the ibos. The british brought unity and
stability in rovern11ent. Previously, the Ibos existed under

very many family Leads, autonomous in themselves, and having

no single

(,3,

rson who exercised authority over many iatilies in

p.—
L

1'4

the form of chiefs and :ings. Occasionally, one fanily head

'pec red stronser th n a few other family 13818, and he was

93
it}

1

acknowledged as the head of all these families. Of all the
peoples around Ibo country, no other group lived under such
fam;Ily heads, The Yorubas had their obas, and the hausas had
their emirs. For administrative purposes, the British ou12e ed
families tOgether, and appointed chiefs and parahount chiefs
to be at the heads of these lar; er entities.

Missionaries introduced Chri stia1-it y. Ereviously, the

Ibos worshipped difierent gods whom they thing of as messengers

 

It is in the field of education that I think that one
of the g eatest contributions was aade. Before the ad ent
of the British “ov‘ rnm ant and miss1onaries, the Ibos had no
way or method of writing down their history, their figures,
their impress ions, in fact, thing, not even on clay or any
form of papyrus. history was handed down from father to son,

and bv the time this has gone on for some time, the facts

U

were so distorted that they could not be called facts any

‘ the British Government and mission-

[‘4‘

O

[‘0

aries, the Ibos learnt to read and write, letters became

common occurrence, post offices were established; it was no

(D

lon er necessary to sen ed somebody personally to somebody els
many miles away over dangerous and retgh footpaths. This was

rather expensive and the person sent might be attacked on the

,
way by h

ighwaywen or wild animals. Koreover, primers and

I

story books were written in Ibo lan5ua5e. Ibo history books
were written both in Ibo and Bn5lish.

Before the advent of western educa 'ion, countable num-
bers were very limited. Beyond a certain figure, subsequent
ones were designated 'uncountable'. .ith the reading and
writing of English, it gas found th.at those nuxbers nreviously

considered beyond man's counting were actually easy to count,
so the Ioos be :an to devise ways and means of ex endin t ieir
upper range of fi
There has always been a 5reat thirst for education.
Children and young people were ready to leave their homes in

quest for knosle dge. They were ready to travel any eistance

U)
9.)

up to ten nile

rd pay high fees in order to at

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elementary 001. The author has travelled five miles every
morning to 50 to an elementary school. how, there is the
free universal primary education, and although it is not
cortulsery, almost all young peeple go to school. for lack

'3

eQua ate facility at home, those who could aflord it went

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of a

overseas to places of hi fi‘ier learning; those who could not

lO
afford it study at home to Qualify 33 Universitv graduates;

but thousands of others with nodcst means had to go without

:~«J

1 her edwuc tion. The need for excans -on 0' university
.education was thus long 1elt. Iherefore, with the establish-

J-

nent of the University of higeria at Nsukha in the heart 01

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Ibo land, through the co-operation of the Int

Co-ooeration Administra.tion, the British Inter-university

Council, and the bastern Hi eria gove rnient, a new chapter was

opened in Ibo and Nigerian hi her education.

Looking at the othe side of the :Jicture, both the

the missionaries and the connercial oodies,

without neanins to do so, did a lot of havoc to the art and
tde art was so "tranrc and because

11

a few were connected with the religious wor31io oi the Ibos,

all works of art were collectively labelled h-ezthen and
sterstitious. inererore, thev yer destr oyed and 01 course,
not considered fit for development. Of cox 1rse, not all the

works of art were connected With heathen worship.

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'3 white man viewed the sound of the drum wit

and d n because he thinks it was all noise, tne

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instruments crude and primitive, the s'nging stran e and
uncouth. Therefore, because the white man has turned his nose

up on these things, they should be gOt rid of; so voun"

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neople grefered penny v.his U188 and cheap mouth organs to their

indimenous instruments. The coming of the gran ph ne,

'.‘ .1 m ,N '2 I: n Lad ‘4') (“I ,r)".‘ V\ '. fl 5". C! Q p: 4-”, r‘ ‘41 ‘~‘ r‘ - J“. «15“ t (N T. I" -.
v.4....k.- -_- —.—.v\-L-\ bu L-l-\L >. LOL‘J-~L AKJ , &\ n J. O Lia-lij. C~-e p17.) lns DJ. “IlTsLV )J of..-

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noveltres but were not really being played well, coupled with

11

the fact that young eeogle move early to bi3 cities in order
to attend schools and look ior jobs, struck a heavy blow to

the arts, musical instruments and music of the Ibos.

7" _ .0 '_ _:"| 1__~ f) 1 ‘_ _0 ‘ffi ‘ O _ 1‘ v_ 1' ‘ 1“ J1 _
”hat is t1e luture oi loo music, thetner instrumentul or

.A -1. ‘ v~ ' ’ c" g! I (v ’. " ' 'fi -. .' A " ' ‘ .
exceot the oruns are luQE sisaspeuring. Une, 'muSicel

'o scarce now thst I had to search hard to see one and to

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player. Ubo- e“wele, 'Ibo 1uiter' , WliCl was once a

 

common sight in Ibo land, is dead. WLe re is only one instrument
left in the whole coun ry. 'hen the present o.ner and plaver
dies, the instrument will no to pieces and become extinct.

- 1 ,1
carce sun; certelidxr

(.9

hseiesnu. 'xylo:hone', is also baconri

‘ c w

people who can rsYe goon ones are new either Chr;

which case, they

. . ,, ,_ - .m ,-., 1- , -33
must no longer mane teen, or they are uead.

Oje, 'flute', is very scarce now. One can 1: we) on enu.orstinb

the various inst 1ments in order to show that unl L3 ss sometilins

is done to revive interest in tiem, preserve the few remeinir 3

.‘

ones, and find out what can be found out uni reunceu irto

writinr for future research, the future genersti ons ans the

rest of the worli WOUl; thin: that the Ibos never nee ant
instrument of their own in the past, and gerhaps nothing to
contribute to the world, which cer rteinly is nc)t the case as we
shall see when we stunv needewwu. Ioo son“s , chants, and

.‘

iioms ene

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Ho

choruses will fare better but they will lose the

expressions. Already they are inst becoming Lurogeanized, s

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that very soon, what wss nreviouslv known as an loo lo k song

-. ., r 1 '1, ‘f' ., fl. .: x r- 11- ,..,.. a , '.1-1. ‘ -
no la souno llne n nunharisn leis sen3, because-the 1003 are

Q l‘ '7 w _ 1 ‘-
1,.’S E‘ILIGH CLlO {DPCzhOLT’ilOi’le {.7110 I‘GCOI‘CLS LPG

being imported in ever-increaSing quantit

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08 5:1‘ the l;O-’.I'3I’I’1

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and foreign form of concer' is now coming largely into favour
through gragophone records, the radio and television. 11th

1
I

the inherent rnstinct ior music, the young Ibo quickly master
Ther are also adept at making some sort of

he inStruments they are able to purcuzse. huny of

music from t
the villages new boast of a band composed of ii Lfes, cornets,
and other instruments. Little, if any, attem1t is being made
to Bring into serVice any of the Ibo tunes.

. S a 1-8 8113

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to attempt to preserve and put on record some facts about the
1

nae dea1ru and ubo-aka. I do not_pretend to have exli sted all

_fI _ :11 4.1, ,
S .L Of- .L 11‘.” v-16?

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the facts, but at least, this will form a has
research for at the moment, little or nothing of value has been
written on them.

I will take this on ortun'ty to express my sincere t‘

and gratitude to my'major professor, Dr. J. hurray Barbour,

who nas encouraged me to get on with the research, even when
once I felt that I should write my dissertation on another

subject, since I could net find any material to lay my hands
on about this subject, read and re-read my Inanus' crigts with

a M J' - 7 r1 1 n L .'\ V ' '. r" -‘ ’ (V "‘ 3 u ‘ -. 1,
va...1_1r.nl e 311:),1 GS blOI’lS ant). {10330. v-1"? 3 gt-PCAIIIL- ELLAlJO uiOnS UdlCil

have helped me to express fur 1er certain iacts whicn l nad

15
taken for granted. I also tgank other members of the faculty
and students who have shown great interest in the instrtucnts

and thereby encouraged me to go on.

130.5

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Fig. 1

Section of Nigeria showing Ibo country enclosed in n .

16
The Ibos

The Ibo country is considered one of the largest nations
in the whole of Africa. The population is estimated at about

five million people who occupy the Southeastern portion of

Jigeria. Recently they have travelled to neighbouring tribes
like the Ibibios, Efiks, and Ijaws to live. Some have gone

to live at as far a place as Joe, Kano, Benin and Lagos. They
are very good traders. Their readiness to travel and tenacity
of purpose, especially when seeking employment or education,
have carried many of them far beyond their native environment.
When abroad, they maintain close contact, cemented and sustained
by a strong tribal bond of union. Whatever the conditions, the
Ibo immigrants adapt themselves to meet them, and it is not
long before they make their presence felt in the localities
where they settle. It has been remarked that they mak good
colonists. This they do in a quiet, unobtrusive, but,
nevertheless, effective manner. They build their own churches
and schools, and support the teachers. Meantime, after
catering for their immediate needs, they send the bulk of their
gains to their homes to be used for building better houses in
preparation for their return, and to assist in schemes for the
general benefit of their own village communities. They are
very generous in their gifts, as well as being astute in
business affairs.

Before the British Government assumed control on January

1, 1900, very little was kn an about the Ibo people and still

less

Ibos

17

of their country.
Let us examine horton's account and impressions of the
s far back as 1866:

"Ibos (Hackbonus Blacks) - a peOple much addicted
to war and preying on their neighbours, and are
themselves lusty tall men. The women wear a profusion.
of beads. host Delta languages are Ibo or Ibo descent.
The Ibos are considered the most initiative and enulative
in the whole of West Africa; place them where you will,
find that they very easily adapt themselves to them.
Stout—hearted, or, to use the more common phraseology,
big-hearted, they always possess a desire of su eriority,
and make attempts to attain it, or excel in what is
praise-worthy, without a desire of depressing others.
To them we may well apply the language of Dryden - "a
noble emulation beats the breasts.”

flace an Ibo man in a comfortable position, and he
will never rest satisfied until he sees others occupying
the same or similar position. Of the emulation power,
the Right Rev. Bishop Crowther scarcely a year after the
establishment of the Church hissionary Station at Onitsha,
in Isuama Egbo, thus wrote: 'Erom all I could gather by
observation, the Ibos are very emulative. As in other
things, so it will be in book learning. Other towns will
not rest satisfied until they have also learned the
mystery of reading and writing, by which their neighbours
might surpass them and put them in the shade'......The
Egboes (Ibos) cannot be driven to an act; they are most
stubborn and bull-headed; but vith kindness they could
be made to do anything, even to deny themselves of their
comforts. They would not, as a rule, allow anyone to
act the superior over them, nor sway their conscience,
by coercion to the performance of any act, whether good
or bad, when they have not the inclination to do so;
hence there is not that unity among them that is to be
found amoung other tribes; in fact, everyone likes to be
his own master. As a rule, they like to see every
African prOSper. Among their own tribe, be they ever so
rich, they feel no ill-will toward them. A poor man or
woman of that tribe, if they meet with a rising young
person of the same nationality, are ready to render him
the utmost service in their power. They give him
gratuitous advice and 'embrace him as their child'; but
if he is arrogant and over-bearing, they regard him

18

with scorn and disdain him wheiever he is met".1

The first twenty years of the present century were palmy
days for the anthroplogists. Such opportunities for research
work will never be forthcoming again, since there is scarcely
a corner left untouched by foreign influence, and it would be
difficult to find a group of people totally unacquainted with
the white man. The generation that represented indigenous
Ibo belief, with its ancient laws and customs, has almost died
out. Chiefs of the old type are being ragidly replaced by
their educated sons, some of them university graduates and
ministers of the Christian religion. The younger generation
is learning to read and write and to adopt European ideas and
fashions in every detail of life, clothes, houses, and pastimes.
As a matter of fact, most regions of Nigeria including the
Eastern Region where the Ibos live, have free universal

rimary education. In many towns today will be found club and

'0

private tennis courts, football fields and many other indications
of modern life. At the moment the balance of life has been,

and is being seriously disturbed. The younger generation has
shed old manners and customs freely, and somewhat hastily. They
are ardently grasping at all things new and foreign. Not all,

by any means, can discriminate between the wheat and the chaff.

On the other hand, if treated with patience and sympathy, they

will develop powers of discrimination whereby they will learn

 

1 Y . 0 -—~.
J.B. Horton,"uest African Countries and :eoples”.

London: 1858 pp. 159, 165-5, 175, ”2.

19

wisdom and become stabilized once more.

fihat I am leading to is the fact that native law and
custom has been almost completely disrupted; indeed, as~a2
leading Ibo man S2id recent "There is no lonver any fixed
law and custom”. Much is in the melting-pot; much has
perished altogether. Considerable interest has been aroused,
and much said and written of recent years, on the subject of
conservin3 what is good in native custom, culture, and music.
The plea is reasonable, and welcomed by every forei :ner who
has the well-being of the Ibos at leart. The weakness lies
in the fact that it is a wish largely devoid of substantial
support. There are a number of reasons for this of which a
few may be quoted.

The real and vital cause of its wealcness is that the Ibo

man himself is the deciding factor. he bel'eves the he

knows . best what he wants and he is un 'lllinfi for the
’ \_-

‘J

choice to be dicta ted by the foreigner, whom he eyes with sus-
picion. he as ks to be left unfettered in his selection of
customs in order to be free to choose those that s:.it his

natural environment and temperament. fhe is e ”11 t who advocate“

that this or that custom should be conserved may as well save
his breath for some more profitable effort. 'Tzle Ibo will not

retain anyth in; which, in his opinion, savours of the 'bush'
any more than the people of England will revive the antiouated
customs and practices of their ancestors.

In the past, the missionary has decreed that all African

music is pa gen and heathen, and that the only good type of

20

music are Christian hymns; so, away with all indigenous music
and musical instruments. The author has witnessed at least
two occasions when heaps of beautifully carved musical

instruments and worzs of art were burnt as a sign that a person
was really converted. All music and musical instruments, of

course, are not heathei. One fortunate thing is that Christian-

r.
be
t1.
7?

ity in Ibo land caving formerly destroyed, now takes a letr
31511151 at pre SCI‘Vil’lf’ 32111310 and 71111:. 1081 11181, rugfie nts , Indigenous
Ibo music and instruments are often used at Churches, and local
people are encouraged to compose. There are now singing
competitions at which choirs have to sing Ibo music to win the
trophj.

In economic life, Ibo songs function as an air to
co-Operative labor; canoe paddling songs for example, members
of the co-operative work group are led to the i
are to work by a flutist whose shrill notes they can easily
follow, for the distance is often great and perhaps not known

to some of them. They have drums, gongs and rattles, an; use

t:em to accompany the songs they sing. l’

In religion, the function 01 music and musical instruments
is well known.

A use is made of songs as a historical device, for instance,
songs referring to battles. Son3s were and are the prime
carriers of history among the Ibos. In recounting the ritual

associated with the givi.g of offerings to the souls of those

who were tranSported into slavery, this function of song came

p 21
out with great clarity. ’I know a history teller at one point
could not recall the sequence of important names in the series
he w—s giving, under his breath, to the accompaniment of
clicking finger-nails. he would then begin to sing, continuing
his song for some moments. Hhen he stopped, he had the names
clearly in mind once more, and in explanation of his song
stated that this was the Ibo method of remembering historical
facts. So the role of the singers as the "keeper of records"
is well known.

Music itself, of course, falls-within the aesthetic

aSpect of culture, and its relationship to other aesthetic

aspects such as folk-lore, dance, and drama, is too clear to

The Ibo is naturally gifted with a Sense of rhytlh.
Whether his musical talents have evolved from that, or vice
verse, I make no attempt to discuss. Like his religion and
worship, his ideas of music do not coincide with those of the
European, at least, they did not until the European reverted
to type and produced some of the 'modern' music: The music,
and the instruments wherewith it is made, must be ancient, for
it is only recently that foreig influence has filtered into
the country. With the exception of the drums, Ibo instruments
are likely to disappear; they are being discards all along
the line in favor of the foreign article. This is, perhaps,
no more than might be expected, seeing that they are about as
crude as it is possible to find.

To the uninitiated, the main objective of the Ibo seems

22

to be to create noise rather than melody. But he can produce

rhythm from his limited outfit, and for dancing exhibitions

.)

his music is suitable. Orchestral music begins in a similar

[—10

manner to performances here, that s, with tuning in. Unless
harmony is first established, the instrumentalists refuse to
play. Once it is established, then each performer applies
himself whole-heartedly to his task: hence the volume of sound.
Sounds produced by striking predominate over other forms of
music. There are a few wind and string instruments, one or
two of which seem to be the prototypes of modern ones now
deveIOped almost beyond recognition. There are many types of
percussion instruments and no brass. However, almost, all the
instruments can be used in communicating.

Hornbostel divides instruments into four major classes -

idiophones, membranophones, aerophones, and chordophones -

‘5

Ho

a or subd

with at least ten L

)—

visions and many still smaller

c—‘I

subdivisions; it is safe to say that Africa musical instruments
are represented in every division. This enormous variety is

far too frequently overlooked in favour of the traditional View

‘I

of African music which emphasizes drums to the exclusion of

other instruments.

"Two brief generalizations may be made here on the

use of musical instruments in African culture. The first
is simply that both instrumental soloists and groups
of instrumentalists are found in Africa; the second is
that accompanied song is perhaps more important in African
music than solo instrumental performance. The second
generalization is supaorted by the fact that almost all
songs have words, whether or not those words are actually

sung so that when a song is played upon a musical
instrument, words are automatically conceptualized, although

25

they may not be verbalized".l

The Ibo loves his rhythms. he practices them from hild-
hood. He beats counterpoint with them. his rhythm ex ,;:re ss ed
in tones makes music and his rhythm ex;r seed in gestures
main es dance. I ha ve so letimes wondered why most people prefer
dance music and marches and I have come to the conclusion that
these types of music appeal to them because they feel the
rhythm which makes them want to mark the beats of the music
with their feet, or hands, or with head bobbings. This love
of the beat is strong in the African in general, and in the
Ibo in particular, and upon this the Ibo builds his music.
Popularity in America for jazz, rack 'n roll, and twist, is
the result of the desire in people for strong rhythms, and
shows that for all the merican culture and civilization which
are second to none, the people have something in ther1 of the
savage's feeling for movement. The African loves his drum.
The white man does not understand the African's love for it.
However, when he lives among them, he also lea arns to love it.
he learns to appreciate that the Ibo had an original telegraph
system in which he did not use horse code, but sent his
mes ages by means of dr as that were heardr many mil 8 av ay.
There is then, this Special drum language which the natives

serfectly understood. The Ibo is a master of rhythms. He

plays most difficult and complicated rhythms almost in lossible

 

(V7

Hornbostel - African Negro kusic. Africa (Jan. 10.3.3)
pp. 5]. - 0.3.

 

24

for a trained musician to imitate. he does this with any type
of instrument his hands can find.

No description of Ibo love of rhythms is complete without
mention of drums. t is nearly true to say that wherever there
is drumming there is dancing. It certainly is true to say that
the drums have a social significance not possessed by-any other
instrument. A wedding, a palm-wine drink, - any rejoicing
without the drums is unthinkable. They are the very foundation
of a social occasion. The dancers dance to the drums: it is
not the drums which playfor them: the singers sing and clap
to the drums and vice versa.' In fact, the Ibo, unlike the
European who treats his drums as an embellishment of music
made by other instruments, regards his drumming as music per
se. The drumming at a dance is the orchestra, and the varied
rhythms and tones of the drums not only lead the dancers, they
intoxicate them.

If a European dance were to be accompanied by drums
alone, it needs little imagination to see how intensely boring
and banal it would be. Not so with the Ibo, for Ibo drumming
is by itself a separate art form. It is cramfull of good
things, it never lacks surprises if a good drummer is present.
It needs no other instruments to help it, or to sustain the
interest. It is an art form, comslete in itself.

From a distance, typical dance drumming sounds to the
not-too-inquisitive listener as a dull repetitive tum-pi-ti,
tum-oi-ti, etc. Were he to go close and observe carefully,

he would find all sorts of interesting things going on.

l I: ll ll 1

25

The first point to grasp is that African drumming is
essentially harmony - it is a harmony composed not of notes
but of rhythms: and because it is harmony the drumming as a
rule, needs at least two drums; three is a very usual number.

The second point to grasp is that Ibo drumming is composed
of a number of different rhythms played simultaneously but
with this one important feature, namely, that the main beats
do not coincide. In this lies the secret of Ibo drumming.

Ever so mudh, people hear of the traditional talking
drum. This is discussed elsewhere under Eggimbg. Almost any
type of Ibo musical instrument is used in 'talking'. Here, I
shall add only a few hints on why this is possible. Ibo
language is tonal and the sound itself suggests a melodic
flow of tones. This is developed rhythmically with clever use
of repetitions and off-set phrases.

Let us take the word, ISI. Depending on how the syllables

 

are raised, lowered, or accentuated, the meaning changes. .Igi
means 'head'. ‘_§; means 'smell'. I§i_means 'blindness'. Isi
means 'you said'. .Igi.means 'if you say'. Isi means 'to
measure'. 'I§i_means ’to say'. Isi means 'six'. I§i_means

 

'if you go from'. I have now given you nine different ways of
useing the word, isi. There are many more. Consider this

sentence: "Ndi isi isi ahu bipuru isi ndi isi ha dgtara n'agha.”

This means, "Those six headmen cut off the heads of the six
blindmen castured in the battle.” Staggering, isn't it?
Here is one more, a play on the wbrd, QKU. Q§E_means"fire'.

Oku means 'fishing'. Oku means 'inheritance'. Qku means

26

'earthenware vessel used in making soupi. 9gp means 'pipe for
smoking'. .QEE means 'he planted'; Egg has many more uses

and meanings. Consider this sentence: "Nwam, nyem oku ka
m'we se oku tupu m'gaba oku". This means, ”Son, give me fire
that I may smoke before i go a-fishing". Here is another
sentence, ”Otu madu nke nagabiga na akwa huru okuku nke n'eyi
akwa, na nwa okoro nke na akwa akwa, na otu nwanyi nke na akwa
akwa”. Now, let us see how many £333 are there. I can count
at least six of them. The meaning is, ”As a man was passing
through a bridge, he saw a hen laying eggs, a lad crying,

and a woman stitching.” This is because, gkwg means 'bridge',
3333 means 'eggs', gkwgzmeans 'crying', gkflg means 'cry',
Egg§_means 'stitching', gkwg means 'cloth'. The word can

enly mean these different things when proper accents on the
syllables are apelied.

Take my first three names for an example, William fiilber-
force‘Chukudinka. You can say, William Wilberforce, using the
same pitch all through, or you can accentuate-anysyllable
you like; at worst, it may sound a little Odd or strange but
the meaning or intention is not in the least affected. You
can let the accent fall in each pase on the first and last
syllables, it is perfectly all right, but you cannot do this
with the other Ibo word, Chukudinka. 'In.the first place,
every Ibo name has a meaning, therefore, the tone pattern
must be right for it to be intelligible.. The actual rise and

fall of the syllables in Chukudinka are" ‘T- __ . --Do it any

 

other way, it is wrong. I can play it on the piano. It can

27
even be embellished for ‘ku}, Chukgdinka,' ‘ H . If I

.m‘

were to reverse the tones, the word becomes meaningless. In

fact, if I were to pronounce it this way,"' _,"', it would
mean that God is very old, while the meaning intended is
"God is most artistic."

It follows then that any word or sentence can practically
be played on the piano or the fiddle, for that matter, or on
a drum, or on most Ibo musical instruments, provided that the
patterns are keat intact. As we have seen earlier, the
pronounciation of one word may have three or four different
meanings, but in conjunction with the rest of the words of a

"1'1

sentence, the actual meaning becomes clear. nven in

F3

nglish
language, 'one, won, worn, warn', all seem to sound the same,
but when each is used in a sentence, the meaning is
'unmistakable.

A well-known writer has said that wherever the African
negro has gone he left traces in the music of that country.
The Spanish Habafiera, which peogle have danced by the name of
tango, came from Africa, the African name is tangara, and was
a vulgar dance said to be unfit for civilized peOple. The
rhythm of the African dance and the tango are the same.
Rhumba, which is also a Spanish dance, comes from Ibo, where
it is known as ng3_mbg. The popular ragtime jazz was intro-
duced into this country by negroes from Africa. In the
beautiful spirituals, the song of the hegro, we see also the
syncopated rhythms. The religious song is practically the only

song the Negro hasand he sings it at work, at play, at prayer,

N)
0)

when he is sick, and his friends sing it after he is dead.
To white American ears, the words. are crude and homely, but
always reveal a fervent religious nature as well as child-

like faith. No doubt, you have heard, Nobody Knows the Trouble

(11

ee; Deep River; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Go Down Moses;

A.

I

 

Weeping Mary; and others. Such a wealth of feeling and beauty

 

could not fail to leave its mark in the land where it was born.
In the following pages, I shall discuss two popular Ibo
musical instruments and show how the slave trade has helped to
make at least one of them, a world-wide instrument.

Before we discuss the instruments in detail, it will be
necessary to say a word or two about slavery. Before the
well-known official slavery and slave trade that resulted in
the transporting of slaves all the Way from West Africa to
the Americas, slavery had been going on by invaders from
Arabia. They were responsible for taking the slaves to Egypt,
India, China, Java, hediterranean countries and the Far East.
A writer once said that but for slavery, West Africa would
be more over-populated than India. With the discovery of the
Americas and with the growing of cotton and sugar-cane, over
a million were sent to America and the West Indies, although
only about a quarter managed to arrive at their destinations.
Many Sierra Leoneans now in West Africa are the direct
descendants of Ibo and Yoruba stocks who were rescued on their
way to America. The first foreigner settled at Onitsha was a
missionary, the son of Ibo parents, originally slaves, who,

after rescue, were landed at Freetown. The suppression of

29

overseas traffic did not lead to prohibition in the interior,
and slave dealing continued to exist until the operations
became more and more restricted. Under the rigorous method
now in force, together with mass education, it can be safely

said that there is no more slavery in the Ibo country.

Section 2

UBO - AKA

 

 

Photograph Of Ubo-aka.

UBO - AKA
CHATTER I

HISTORICAL ACCU ET

This is an instrument found in West and South Africa.

”Called by some the African piano or music-box.
It is widely distributed, more plentifully, perhaps,
in South and fiest......David Livingstone heard it played
by a native poet, who had joined his party, composing
in honor of the white man, and playing and singing
whenever a halt was made.”

Ubo was introduced to the Niger Delta by the Ibo slaves who

were

1 0

taken there awaiting sniemsnt to America. They still call

the instrument, ubo, despite the fact that they do not

normally speak Ibo.

Ibo slaves have also taken ubo along with xylophone or

marimba as far as to East Africa, but it has not caught on

other nations in the same way as the marimba. As far

q.

as 1586, Dos Santos saw this type 01 instrument in use.

was an account of it:
"These Kaffirs (the Karanga) have another musical
instrument, also called ambira, .....but it is all made
of iron instead of gourds, being composed of narrow
flat rods of iron about a palm in length, tempered in
the fire so that each has a different sound. There are
only nine of these rods, olaced in a row close together,
with the ends nailed to a piece of wood like the bridge
of a violin, from which they hang over a hollow in the
wood, Which is shaped like a bowl, above which the other
ends of the rods are suspended in the air. The Kaffirs
play upon this instrument by striking the loose ends of
the rods with their thumb nails, which they allow to
grow long for that purpose, and they strike the keys as

 

Beatrice Edgerly, From the Hunter's Bow. New York:
G. Putnam & dons.

 

55

lightly as a gaod player strikes those of a harpsichord.
Thus the iron rods being shaken and the blows resounding
above the hollow of the bowl, after the fashion of a
jew's harp, they produce altogether a weet and gentle
harmony of accordant sounds. his instrument is much
more musical than that made of gourds, but it is not

so loud, and is generally played in the king's silace,
for it is very soft and makes but little noise."

H7 2 o o o o a o ”a
wangemann describing this instrument, meila, Ol Bavenda-

land ascribes it to the Bakalanga (Karanga), living in
Rhodesia,and giving it the Karanga name, thereby, stressing

of the slaves being taken from

‘t
p
(D
'6
:3
ct
D"

its northern origin,
West Africa to the East:

"He (Chief Pafuri) brought me the Bela (mbila) of
the Bakalanga and played upon it. This (instrument) is
quite differently constructed to that of the Bavenda.

It consists of tuned metal tongues, which, reinforced by

a bottle-shaped calabash resonator, produced quite a
pleasant sound, like our glockenspiel with steel bars.”

Theal, G.M., Records 2f South-Eastern Africa, Capetown,
21 1901, p. 201
Mangemann, D., Ein zweites Reiseiahr i Sud-Afrika,
Berlin, 18:6, p. 167 ‘—

 

 

 

 

Ubo-aka without resonator.

55
HAPTBR II

CONoTRUCTION

Almost all Ibos call the instrument USO-AKA. In okigwi
and Aba areas it is called IKPA; in Isoko, which really is not
.Ibo, it is called AKEATA, and in English, some call it Kaffir
piano, African piano or music-box. The ubo—aka is an instru-
ment which cannot be compared with any foreign one. Of all
the solo instruments, this is the commonest.

If the materials needed for making an 222 are ready, one
can be made in three days. A dry calabash whose diameter is
from eight inches upwards can be cut longitudinally or
latitudinally into two with a small sharp pointed knife.
seeds and all the matter inside are removed and the inside
kept scrupulously clean. The cut edge is smoothed with the
same sharp knife and further smoothed with a kind of leaf

called anwilinwa. This leaf behaves exactly like a smooth

 

sand paper. Now, the outside of the selected part of the
calabash is arved in an artistic design. Some people like

to carve geometrical patterns, sane carve people making music,
and some carve beasts.

A soft white wood like okwe, ulu, ube, egbu, owuru lS

 

prepared in such a way that it would fit the top end of the

cut calabash. 0n the lower end of the wood and at both sides
of it, two openings shaped like new moons are made, one on

each side so that the fingers of eacn hand can fit conveniently

. J

well into the“. From about eight to fourteen different

lengths of pieces of flat metal or

ofolo are selected. Usually these

° 1

width. The ends on which the thuz

flattened in the case of metal.

As the 222 is pla .ey

is rapid, it is essential that

produce the

line or in a sweeéing

as they move from one prong

for the the p

.

maker is to adjust

in line they are also in tune.

of such a thicl: es and springiness

give a sweet and even sound,

but their ma

note itself or with one of the 0 her
In men y ca ses, the prongs are

V, having the longest strip of metal

and the other on the extreme right;
the longest piece of metal on the e:

in length right in the middle. The

piece of metal and the

The positions of these pieces of

wood and removed. The

to the soft wood leaving the other

that are not going to be free are

line very near the end of the wood

331:1 frond
pieces are of the

08

ed with thumb nails,
the little metal
sound should not only be in tune but
curve so as not
to another.
rongs so

Further,

each note having

in harmonics should harmonize either

arrang ed to for _

other is roughly one-fil
wotal
idea is to secure one end of
free to
arranged more or less
and

ing right across the soft wood following the grain of

(11
(J)

'I

backs called
same
are to play further

8T0

C

H-

and lmls
s which
also in

to trip up the thumbs
m‘ 1— —'-‘

lne proolem, bflGn,
that when they are
he has to make them

that they will not only

the same intensity,

with the

consonant notes.

the letter
one on the e; {treme left

or the figure\\/q , having

:treme ri ht and the next

distance between one

".3."

th of an inch.
are now marked on the
the metal

vibrate. The ends
in a
the free ends stretch-

tile

wood.

I

Near the end of the wood where the free ends must be
3

in the space of one-fifth of an inch already

Q;

secured an
provided for, holes of about one-tenth of an inch or a little
less are bored by using a red hot steel needle of a; rogriate
thickness and piercing the soft white wood. It is thr ugh
these holes that later the pieces of metal are secured to the
wood. The center opening is made in such a way that the tips
of most of Wrongs stretch just beyond the edge of the center
opening. The diameter of the center opening is again
deeendent on the size of the calabash. some ubo-aka have no
center opening. These are not so resonant.

'The pieces of metal (prongs) are fixed in position by
tying them with a piece of string thr ugh the holes. These
strings are the types which are often found on a palm-wine
tree - akwara. Two pieces of metal about one-tenth of an
inch in diameter are put across on either side of the string
and under the pieces of .etal. ’This rai es the playable
part and gives it Springiness.

At the moment, certain people use soap boxes instead of
calabashes in making 323. In such cases, only metal prongs
are like umbrella and bicycle spokes are used, wire strings
employed instead of akwara; in such a case, one very much
misses the beautiful carvings usually found on the back of
these calabashes. It must be remembered that when strips

of metal or prongs. are lashed to the sound box between the

two fixed bridaes, the loose ends are cut to different lengths

\g)

and separated wide enough to permit freedom in

r.

.L'lng

ering.

58

59

CHAPTQR III

ACUUoTlCd OF BBQ-AKA

We shall next try to do some acoustical observations on

Egg. The calabash acts as the resonator. Where the prongs
are assembled without the reonator, sound is present but it
is not sweet and rich as it is the case with a resonator.

Let us now examine the prongs themselves. Each prong is
fixed at one end and free at the other. In a sense, it behaves
like an organ reed. One difference between the prong and the
reed being that the vibrating metal of the reed is supgle
and just enough force of air is sufficient to set it vibrating.
The prong, on the other hand, is not so supule as the vibrating

{art of the reed and no ordinary force of wind can set it

}

vibrating. It needs to be twanged. So, the method of excita—
tion in each case is different, and therefore, the quality of
sound produced also ‘ifferent. The attack of sound by the
reed is gentle, round and not accompanied with an audible
noise; while that of the prong is always accompanied by noise
depending on the force used in excitation, and the attack is
not as gentle and round as that of the reed.

The fact that the prong is fixed at one end and free at
the other and how it emits its sound, gives a clear demonstra-
tion of transverse vibration of rods, if we may call the prongs
rods for a moment. This is sometimes described as a fixed-free

condition. Where the prong is fixed to the wood obviously, is

the node and the free end is the antinode. We have noticed

4O

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\ l \ I ‘
I \ I ‘ , ‘
I \ l 1 I ’
I \ ’ /
i I x\
/ \ \ I ' \
\/ ’ i
/ \ ‘\ I
l \ /\\ \/
\
\ l \ / \
P / n \ ’ P’/ n \ P Fin \Pr
Figure 2. (<1) ? (b) (C)

Demonstration of transverse vibration of rods

Adapted from;
(1) Sound in relation to husic by
Clarence‘G. hamilton,
Boston: Oliver Ditson Coy, 1952. p. 58

 

(2) husical Acoustics by
Culver, C. A.,
New York: thraw-hill Book Coy, Inc.,
1956. p. 258

 

41

when we were examining the construction of E22 that the prong
has some thickness as well as leng h and breadth. We know that
in instruments making use of reeds like the clarinet, the reed
vibrates, but for the production of sound, the vibration is
closely associated with resonant air body. This is not always
the case, for the reed of a harmonium does not depend on
esonant air body, and so is the case with the prong of the
E22° The resonator certainly improves the quality of the sound,
but the sound does not depend on the resonator. Therefore,
for the moment, we shall deal with the prong as an indeoendent
vibratile agent. The diagram on page 57figure 2(a) shows
when the prong is emitting the fundamental tone. Rayleigh
has proved that:
"'the fundame tal
t

of the type shown in
expressed thus:

frequency of a vibrating bar'
he diagram is approximately

kt
f equals

12

where E is the thickness parallel to the direction of
bending, l the length, and k a constant which in turn
involves the coefficient of—elasticity of the material
of which the rod is made. The thickness at right angles
to the direction of vibration is not a factor."

In the fig re on page 57, the prong so located oscillates
as a whole between the positions indicated by the dotted

lines up and down between p‘g and o' 2. With the advent of the

.—

secend partial t

J-

ne fixed end must form a node, but the free

 

Lord Rayleigh, Theorv of sound, vol. 1.

42
end, unrestricted in its motion, becomes the center of a
ventral segment. The other node must therefore occur at a

v

d stance of a half segment, or one-third of the length of the

H-

vibrating portion of the prong, below the free end, the re-
mainder of the prong forming a whole segment (fig. b).

Likewise, when the third partial arises, the prong forms two

.)

+-
u

and one-half ventral segments, with the first node located a
one-fifth of the length from the free end, while each of the
entire segments occupies two of the remaining four-fifths
(fig. 0). succeeding partials would continue to divide the

prong according to the odd numbers 7, 9, ll, etc. .

6

These upser partials rise very rapi’ly in .itch, and are

P

inharmonic in character. Thus the first upper partial has

about 6% as many viorations as the fundamental, while the next

has l7% as many. It is easy to hear the high overtones which

*5

inQ out as the pro.g is twanged, but which very quickly
vanish, leaving the fundamental. Rayleigh has shown and
experiments confirm that the relative vibrations per second of
the first five upper partials are in the following relation-
ships: 1, 6.25, 17.5, 54.4, 56.5, and ea.

Another observation is that when the wrong is twanzed
- 0 U ’

the duration of sound is amazingly long.

45
CLAPTER IV

TUI‘E 113G

Now comes the tuning of the 222° The lengths of the
prongs produce variable pitches. The nearer the two horizontal
pieces are brought towards the string used in tying the
prongs, the higher the pitch; again, the further the prongs
are moved, the deeper the pitch. The more each prong is moved
towards the center opening, the more the vibrating part of
prong is increased and therefore, the deeper the pitch and
Vice versa. The maker new tunes the instrument to follow the
inflection of the human voice, that is, the human voice is
tonally imitated. "Tuning is systematic, a performer
frequently testing his instrument and adjusting it between
tunes."1 Looking at the arrangement of the prongs, it looks
rather strange, but it is well adapted to the music played on.

the ubo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

,7 I 3 5 2 <3 4 :1 9
/
-L/ 3 A 1
-u I T “’T : r_ J
VJ l 3 } I i I --0-
Fig. 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

n ’ '1 :3; 4- F 6 ’7 R

[I . I 4 , T ......
th-r—r , v 1 r ~
5:; ,1 *“f r ; ~
07 ‘ {—

Fig. 4.

Kirby, f. The Musical Instruments 0“ the N t e
of douth Africa. London: 0.5.:. 1954

 

 

 

44
The first diagram shows the prongs arranged in the form\y/I .
When the instrument is properly tuned, the left thumb nail
plays 1, and the right thumb plays 2, in other words, the
left thumb nail playing all the odd numbered prongs and the
right thumb nail playing all the even numbered prongs, the
result is figure 2. Even when there are more prongs than
eight, the scale is tuned and played as just described. It
will be observed that the highest pitch is p ayed with the
left thumb nail and the correSponding prong is located at the
extreme left, unlike the nredeswu (xylophone) described
earlier.

Ubo-aka that I brought from the Ibo country when I was
coming was tuned by an old Ibo player who has not come in
contact with European music. I took it to the Physics
Laboratory in Michigan State University for an acoustical

analysis. The result is astounding.

 

Note Cents Length
in ins.
0' 12p5 1.44
B 1100 1.5
A 928 1.57
G 695 1.7
F 490 1.8
E 538 1.8
D 205 1.95
C 15 2.1

The thickness of each prong is uniform at l millimeter.
The instrument used in determining the cents was a Stroboconn
tuned at A equals 440.

With the exception of the lower C, the pitches correspond

very closely to the previously stated law that the frequency

is inversely proportional to the square of the length.
Without knowing what the key on the instrument was, I
asked the player why he chose that key and not anything

J
higher or lower. He said that he could tune it up or down,
but that at that moment the key most suitable for his voice
was what he had tuned it to. I asked him how he knew the
intervals between the erongs. He said that he did not know
and asked me to watch him tune the ubo—aka again. he pushed
the prongs in and out with his nail and alayed them to assure
me that they were not in pitch. He sang a phrase of an Ibo
song, tuning the prongs between the melodies he sang. Look
again at the figures and remehber that a cent represents the
hundredth part of a semitone. Isn't that amazing?

In the Ibo country, especially in Uwerri area, experts
often play more than one ubo at the same time. The player
selects three or four of them of varying sizes. He does not
tune all prongs in all the instruments. He tunes about three
or four prongs on each instrument to a short melody which he
repeats very often as he does the tuning. This leaves many
prongs on each instrument not tuned. The result is that he
can play the melody of a tune on all these instruments, his
hands crossing and recrossing to get the notes he wants.
Because of the number of instrume ts used, the player gets a
wide range of notes. Depending on the sound he wishes to
obtain, the player pushes the prong forwards or ba kwards

with the flat end of a nail. The largest of the set of ubo

is lucky to have more notes in tune than the rest, for the

46

player's helper plays an ostinato ba 8 as an ace mpaniment.

(I)

This means that only two or three notes are Out of tune in
this instrument compared with the others that may have up to
nine prongs out of tune.

Foreign visitors who collect instruments, after they have
heard this performer play, may elect to pay a good price for
one of them. The performer gladly sells the instrument.

The collector goes away and asserts that the prongs on the
particular instrument he had bought represent the scale

which the performer used. I wish that a foreign collector
to any country at all would look for a guide to help him do

his collecting.

 

An Ibo man playing Ubo-aka.

48

CHAETER V
Taearlata

After the 222 has been tuned, some strung beads are
tied loosely round the back of the calabash to proauce an
additional percussive effect while the player is playing,
for he sometimes intentionally agitates the instrument.

The instrument is held in both hands with the tailpiece
pointing away from the musician, and the thumb nail used for
manipulating the prongs. The nails press cleanly on the
strips, and are then slipped sharply backwards, the result
being a twanging sound, the notes varying according to the
different lengths of the prongs. Sometimes, the prongs are
stOpped with the index fingers in order to produce higher
pitches, which enables the performer to modulate temporarily

to another key. This is not dele often, for the quality
of the sound produced is often poor especially in the hands of
an amateur.

The performer often uses his fingers that have been
passed in between the soft white wood and the calabash to
beat out some rhythms at the same time as he is playing his
melody. To me, I find it surarising how he can co-ordinate all
his fingers and brain in both playing a melody distributed
between the two thumbs of the two hands and at the same time,
beat regular consistent rhythms, rem mbering that the melody
must be translated to words by the hearers.

Experts in Owerri area play the ubo both with the right

'1
—O' “"~O-19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\:}+‘*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LY
1/,L

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ll

 

:1

C
L“.

‘0 U

l
l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 50
Type of music played on ubo-aka.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50

thumb and striking the metals with smooth ligh stick held

with the left hand. The resultant music is called EEEEELZ§°

Cweni-pa is what the ubo seems to sing when it is pl

‘.

"_ :‘jr 8

“—

Very often, ubo playing is accompanied by knocking of

an empty beer bottle with a piece of hard stick or with

the

end of a metal Spoon. The ubo plays the melody while the

knocking of beer bottle marks the rhythm. Ubo does not

a l w ay 3

play the melody or double the voice. Sometimes, it assumes

the role of accompaniment. In this capacity, it plays an

ostinato bass and marks the beats while the knocking of
bottles marks the rhythms. when the voice stops, as an
interlude, it improvises fresh melodies until the voice

in again and it goes back to playing the ostinato bass.

C 01113 S

ChAFTER VI

Us

til

Now that we have known all the technical points about
222: let us see when it is used. The upg_is a representative
of the harp family, and therefore, it is essentially a
personal instrument for private pleasure. Apart from the
night watchman who employs an ubg_in order to ward off
sleep, people who play it go about the town collecting
current news; then in the evenings, when people come back
from work and perhaps sit around enjoying their palm-wine, the
players extemporise both the music and the words, telling
the pacple such news as they have gathered. Secret news ar
revealed by the players as they play. There are no newspapers,
so, it is well known that if people hear 222 music in the
evenings, they drift near so as to hear the latest news and
gossip. The music produced is sometimes danced to. At
funerals or marriage ceremonies, experts are invited to
perform. In certain Ibo areas in the past, when you see a
young man continually playing an ubo, it is a sure sign that
he is in love. Young men,nowadays, are gradually losin: the
art of playing 222° As I mentioned earlier, an 222 is an
intimate companion when one is on his own, the player plays
and sings at the same time.

‘

Usina the same method explained earlier under the section

k3

of ngedegwu, ubo-aka is used in telling stories, the ubo

 

either doubles the voice, or it tells the story on its own.

52

Here is a short story as told in Ibo with an ubo by itself.

The girl whose name was Lightning

ght in complexion and had a very

k

Because the girl was li
beautiful face, the parents gave her the name, Lightning.

When she grew up, naturally, almost every man wished to marry

One day, there was a festival in the village which
attracted young men from near and distant villages. As soon
as this girl saw three young men, she fell for them immediately
and declared that were it possible to marry three men at the
same time, she would not hesitate to marry these three young
men. Her friends tried to convince her not to think like that
because the three young men were not human beings at all
but fish. The young lady said that she would marry them be
they lions or dogs.

The mother could not even dissuade her daughter, so she
approached the strangers and told th m in what state her
daughter was. She also suggested to them that it would be
ridiculous to have three men marrying one girl and that the
best thing for them to do, as soon as they left the village,
was to fight among themselves. Whoever survived would harry
her daughter.

After the festivities, the three young men made for their
home, but this girl ran after them and reminded them of what
the mother told them; so, one fought the other, one of them

was successful. This successful man fought the remainder and

55

one of them emerged a victor and instantly turned into a fish.
The girl lived true to her words and lived as the wife of the
fish.

This story obviously is for children, but this shows

that children understand what these instruments say.

Section 5

NGEDEGWU

55
CHAPTER I
HISTORICAL'ACCOUNT

I think that at the very beginning, it is necessary to
explain the basic difference between a xylophone and a
marimba. A xlephone is a percussive instrument in which
graduated bars of wood are made to produce musical notes by
striking the bars with a hard stick. The graduated bars of
wood rest on two frames near the ends of the bars and are
free to vibrate easily. The marimba is exactly like the
xlephone but under each bar, there is a resonater that is

tuned. This may be a gourd, a cedar box, or a metal tube.

 

 

 

 

 

E _ _  . _ \\\\\\\\\x\\ 1
g ,r \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\h “

*‘7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig 60

Hand sketch of neededwu slabs on two banana stems.

56

The xylophone belongs to a group of instruments classified
under idiophones. This scientific name shows that the
instruments sound (phon) by their own (Idio) nature without
needing any type of special tension, like strings or drumheads.
To this group belong lithophones (those instr ments whose
source of sound is stone); and xylophones (those instruments
whose source of sound is wood). An exa mple of lithoph one is
pien-chuns oi the Chinese; that of metallophone is the
Chinese later inodel of rana t; and that of xylophone is
ngedegwu of the Ibo. All these different instruments are
really the same except that what is struck to produce musical
note differs in each case.

The idiophone type of instrument has been in existence
even in Biblical days. For example, in the Book of Job,
references were made of ugab as a type of organ. This was
nothing more than a fixed-tone stone instrument, an earlier
form of ranat. Theologians fixed the date of this as 3500 3.0.
This date is confirmed by the fact that near the pyramids of
Gizeh built about 57CO B. C., specimens of the voaransi
marimbas and the ranat which were in use by the Egyptians
were discovered in the sculptures and Sareo13ha i. All these
instruments were made of solid stones.

A marimba made of slabs of solid stone and set with

jewels Jas found in Greece. The estimated age of this is

-\

OJ

24 Oc 8.0. It had caliberated resonators and is similar to
'that allegedly used later by Pythagoras in his equations of

Ruisical pitch.

57

The Chinese were the first to qake a coore ination of a
series of different tone. This instrument was called the

;en-chuna and was in use as far back as 2697 3.0. The twelve

 

tongueless quadr ate bells correspond to the pitcn pipes of

lug, which was an ancient instrument in which the octave is
divided into twelve semitones, and the slabs were made of
copeer; but the atmospheric elements affected them so much that
they were made of stone instead. The advantages of tdis change
were not dii ficult to see. The slabs of stone produced
beautiful tones since cold, heat, dampness and dryness did
not affect them so much.

Again, the Chinese had pien-king made of stone and struck

 

with wooden hammer. Pien-kinghadrsixteen slabs that looked

 

uniform in size and shape, but a close examination showed
that each stone was diff e1ent in size and thickness. When
assembled, the arrangement was L-shaned.

In Northern Iigeria, there are standing musical stone
gengs which served as bells to the hausas in summoning them to
meetings. Stones that produce musical sounds are found in
certain parts of the United States. inere is a place called
'Ringing Rocks' nearPottstown in Pennsylvania because when

certain rocks there are struck even lightly, they produce

<;

pitcr es of regular frequencies. In ir inia, n1cst sta la ctites

and stalagmites in the 'Cathedral' of the Luray Caveins
:Droduce tones that sound like those of the xylophones when

1—1 l‘_htly struck with a mallet.

The ancient Chinese also had the on evolved about :CbO B.C.

‘ . 58

This 1n strument is still in use today. It is made of wood and
appears like a tiger eady to pounce on_its prey. ihis
1nstrument is hollow, twenty small pointed pieces of metal
arranged like the edge of a saw are arranged on the back of
the wood, and played by striking these teeth with a plectrum
or a small stiCL: This ti 1ge e1like looking ins t1u1qent is
mounted on a hollow wooden platform about tiree to four feet

square, and serves as the sounding board for the musical

instrument. At first, the ou ad only six notes arranged to

m
c r
Co
tr
6

pro: luce a pentatonic scale on either F or G, and a
went on, there were as many as twenty-seven notes altogether,
some notes duplicating and triplicating themselves. in the
past, it was used for melody making only, but today, it is
more of a percussive rh* :m ic instrumen than a melodic one.
Still yet another ancient Chinese muS1 cal instrument is

the fang -h1an~. It has from sir :teen to eighteen slaos of

 

wood, all of equal lengths and breadth but differing in thick-
ness and mounted on a carved wooden franle. There are two
layers of them, call them manuals if you like, one above the
other. It made its appearance about 530 B. C.

Around the same time, the Hindus, diam se, and Chinese
had a tgce of musical instrument called the rvnat. Tr zere were
types of it in Japan and it closely resembled the narimba andvung
tuned, as most other Chinese instruments were, in the penta-
tonic scale. It became so popular that in the reign of
Confucious, the slabs of this ty2e of ma mba was increased

from six to twenty-one slabs. The popularity of ranat spread

59

throug; jhout Psia and other mediums were used in makinr

k.)

them.
Both the on and the ranat were reputed to have their origins
from Africa. First, ordinary wood was used in ma -:in: the
slabs; la ater, ba Inboo was used, later still, metal was used.
In using the bamboo, two methods were open to them. They either
sliced the bamboo into bars and cut them to various lengths
or the bamboo was cut into various lengths without slicing
them into bars, loosely secured on a wooden frame and struck
to produce musical notes. With this method, each slab had its
own resonator directly prOgortional to the length of the wooe.
The Smithsonian Institute in Wa shi ington, v.0. in 1876, was
presented some Sia rnese bamboo marimbas by the king of Siam.
The Institute proudly possesses a twenty-five-bar Burmese
marimba which was used for festive occasions like marriages,
harvesting and entertailment of Burmese kings. The
Sriiths onian Institute also possess es a Jap oanese sixteen-bar
xylophone. These bars were made of hard redwood. Theodorus
de Bry of Frankfort, Germany, produced a dra swing entitled,
”Javanese Dancers" in which metal bars were used to produce
musical notes and sugar camzstalks used as the frame.

About 200 B.C., the hindus possessed a similar type of
xylophone called vogrgng, and the Balinese had a model of an
instrument whose fr me was painstakinv O1y carved like an
enormous urn. It was called ganase Djonakok. There are types
of this instrument in the Mediteranean basin.

The stone gongs and bells are believed to have migrate

to countries around the hediterrane an in the same way that

60

wooden marimbas travelled around from Africa to India, China
and Java. It is true that the wooden models of the keyboard
marimba were appreciated and quickly copied and improved by
the appreciating peoples of Java and Bali, who later reinflu-
enced the Chinese with the improved models. By improving on the
wooden marimbas, people learnt from experience that marimbas
made of metal slabs lasted longer, occupied less space and
sounded better; from now on, improvements were based on the
metal marimbas, while Indonesians have the credit of being the
only race in the world to have used metal marimbas to a
greater extent than any other.

A further improvement on the xylophone was around 900
A.D. when a bronze type of it was manufactured in Java. Two
and a half centuries later, in 1157 A.D., a still further
improvement in the manufacture of the xylophone was noticed
in Java. This was called g‘nder. Each bronze bar had a
resonator under it in addition to having short legs. This
was the true marimba. An evidence to snow that by the four-
teenth century, marimbas were used extensively in Java could
be seen in a relief in the temple of Panataran where not only
two were played at a time but an ensemble of up to six were
played together, some performers having up to four mallets.
Whether the performer struck the instrument with four sticks
at a time is immaterial, but the inference is that he struck
at least two slabs at once and thereby used harmonies of some

sort.

61

EpROPE

An American marimba virtuoso, Clair Omar Musser, asserts
that species of xylophones are natives of N rth-Europe. This
is very doubtful, but if it is so, the Scandinavians and other
Germanic peoples of Northern Europe did not take to the
instrument as did those countries of the middle and Eastern
Europeans. We know that in Europe, there was an instrument
called 'strohfiedel'.

l

Grove described the sound of early strohfiedel as 'sweet

and bell-like but weak'. It consisted of 'a range of flat

iieces of glass of no settled number tuned to scale, arranged

on belts of straw, and struck with two small hangers, after

the manner of the common glass harmonic toy',2 and is des-
cribed as 'a very ancient and widespread instrument, found
principally among the Russians, Poles, and Tartars.”5 This

shows that this cousin of the marimba may have developed in

Western Asia. Carl Stumpf, talking on diamese music, is of

the same opinion and showed the amount of similarity between
Siamese music and that of Europe.

At this jucture, it might be necessary for us to see

what Georges Servieres has to say about the xylophone.

 

 

 

 

l _ .

George Grove. A Dictionary of husic and Lusicians
2 (5th ed.) mew York: 1954

7Ibid

Ulbid

Servieres Georges, The origin of the Xylophone, tr. by
Camille karcel Siquot, Baltimore, Maryland, 1955

 

 

62

"All those who, like me (dervieres), are of an
age to have heard in 1&75 the first production of the
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens will remember the
deep impression of surprise for the ear produced by the
strange sound of the xylophone playing the rhythm of
the 'skeleton waltz'. The artist (Guzikov), a Polish-
Jewish type with a pale face and a long beard, drew out
of these wooden sticks exotic melodies with a plaintive
and tender accent. Before appearing in Paris he
travelled and was heard in Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Vienna,
Leipzig, and Berlin.”

 

“from the following account of Georges dervieres,
obviously the instrument of Guzikov must have been
improved from the original type, for ”It was strong
enough to bear the accompaniment of two violins and a
cello. With a few sticks lying on straw and struck with
other sticks, he does what is possible only on the most
perfect instrument. How the small tone, produced more
like a Qapegano fife than anything else can be obtained

from such material is a mystery to me.”

"An important musician who heard Guzikov at Leipzig
was Felix Mendelssohn and described him as "a real
phenomenon, a 'killing‘ fellow (mordkerl), who is inferior
to no player on earth in style and execution and delights
me more on his odd instrument than many do on their
pianos just because it is so thankless........I have not
enjoyed a concert so much for a long time."

In the concert, Guzikov played his own pieces and
arrangements of well-known works. The number which was mostly

enjoyed by the audience was La Campanella by Paganini.

 

In westepn_Europe, the strohfiedel although has been in
use privately, was not considered as a concert instrument, the
same as we think of the violin for an example, because, it was
felt that the compass was so small for any extended work,

there being only twenty-five cylindrical bars as attributed to

the xylophone by Martin Agricola in 1528. So, Guzikov deserves

 

Ibid
2Ibid

65

honorable mention for the way he popularized the xylophone.

J

P0

However, two important factors stood i m in good stead:
Firstly, he lived in an age when people were curious, when
people asked questions and when peoele wanted to try out new
ideas. Secondly, he had great technical skill in performing
different musical instruments. The two constituents
combine to make Guzikov's performance so successful. Certain
musicologists felt that during the Baroque and the Rococo
periods, xylophone was not made use of in serious music because
there was no suitable music available for it, but the writer
disagrees with this for he has heard, both in London and
Paris, fascinating renditions of Bach on the marimba.

Interest in the xylophone greatly increased in the
nineteenth century when J. Richardson brought out his home-

make rock-harmonicon. Is it not surprising to hear that a

 

stone marimba was made in angland? It is true. It was

made in 1841 by a quarryman. People supposed. that J.
Richardson was the maker. At the moment, it is housed in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Kew York City. This
particular marimba is very interesting because, it has close
bearing on the tuning of the Ibo wooden marimbas. Twelve
stones were collected from the Cumberland Hills in wales.
They were shaped and tuned. Over a period of some thirteen
years, more stones were collected from the same area as
before and a five and a half octave-instrument was assembled.
The stone slabs ranged from six inches to four feet in length

and never went out of tune. For tunirr, variable lengths at

the ends of the slabs were cut off to vary the pitches; for
the same reason, some slabs were scraped in the middle. The
mallet used for playing it was covered with felt. The lower
pitches swunded like deep bells, and generally seeaking, the
sound produced was like that of a harp. Mr. Richardson's
sons acquired such a dexterity and skill in its performance
that they produced fascinating effects when they played such

pieces like the Harmonious Blacksmith of handel, and overtures

 

of Mozart. This was only the beginning of the many artistic
performances on such an instrument, for very soon after the
stone-harmonica made its appearance, an English performer
appeared who played a xlephone whose range was five octaves.
7e was said to be a "prodigy who does wonderful things with
little drum sticks on a machine of wooden keys - His rapidity
was amazing, the sound of his instrument unequal."l HOWGVGP,
some people were horrified to see the xylophone absorbed into

the orchestra by Saint-Saens in his Danse Macabre. A much

 

respected former editor of the London Musical Tim s -

 

H

"1

H.C. Lunn wrote, ........fle see no reason why many others
(instruments) constructed to emit equally repulsive noises
should not be included - Change is not always progress, and
there is a danger of mistaking decay for development.”

It was only in the sixteenth century that anything at
all was written for the first time about marimbas in Last Africa

by a European, Father Joao eos dantos, although the Arabs

 

lIbid

65

had earlier mentioned it in their books about West Africa.
In the fourteenth century A.D. in East Africa, the Bantus
were noticed to develop the same types of marimba analagous
to the models in Java. Strongly propounding the theory of
Malayan and Bantu akinness of musical instruments is Curt
Sachs, a German musicologist. He states that: (l)........
Many tools and implements of the Bantus are similar to the
ones u.sed by the Malays; (2) The Azandeh tribe of Est Africa
beat their 'xylophone' two bars at a time, as do their Malayan
brethren to the East.1

There is no doubt that the stage and characteristic
features of development and advancement in civilization as
found in Java and the Bantus of East Africa, the analysis of
certain facts and of certain common dates, support the
Speculation tr at mi3ration must have taken place. When Colin
Mcrhee, an anthropologist, recently played to the Balinese,
the music of indigenous peoples from Java, Siam and parts of
Africa, ”they listened intently and were quick to recognise

affinities with their own music.”2 Since anthropolgists are

satisfied that there was no immigration from Java and Siam to
Africa, but the other way round, it stands to reason that
the immigrants took their instruments with them.

The Chinese and other bar Ea stern countries have suitable

stones from which they could make ma rimba types of instruments.

 

Curt Sachs, History of Musical Instruments (lst ed.,
Wk?” 1940)
2Colin thhee, "In this Far Island", Asia (Dec., 1944)

 

They also had metal, and so, they could experiment with metal.
The Ibos have neither the type of stone suitable for making
a xylephone. The type of stone they have are so different
that it is nor quarried as it is done in other countries of
the world. Moreover, they had no metal, but they have plenty
of different types of hard wood. They capitalized on this.

The equatorial and tropical forests of Africa are noted
for their hard woods like the Iroko, mahogany, teak, and
cedar. In the pa eat, no timber of any type was eXported; the
Africans themselves hadn't much use for all the luxuriant
trees. The trees just grew and flourished. It stands to
reason that should there be any work that required doing with
any material, the people first tried to find out which parts
of the trees or leaves could be employed before resorting
to other materials. At play, they discovered that they could
produce rhythms by knocking together two pieces of sticks.
From constant use, they discovered that the longer the slab of
wood, the deeper the pitch; and if two slabs are equal in
length and thickness, the wider the slab, the deeper the pitch.
Very soon, a scale accepted by them was asseroled and music
was produced by stri k 1n£ these slabs with wooden mallets. This,
then, in broad outline, was the birth of a marimba or a
xylophone, which will be treated later in greater detail.

But it is interesting to note the absence of the marimba
north of the Sahara. The reasons are not difficult to find.
The first was that there was a scarcity of hard woods

generally and especially, t1: se sui ted to the ma kin3 of a

67

marimba. The second and third are historical and cultural.
The Sahara was a great barrier to communication. To cross
the Sahara, a person must carry only a few of the barest

‘

necessities of life; often, most of tae slaves that were

beine taken across the desert died of thirst, hunger, excosefiye
heat, and wounds that resulted from the leather canes called
Koboko in the hands of their masters. So, the marimba was only
to be found in areas south of the Sahara and was generally
known as the Kaffir riano. Une man who has made a serious
study of African music, Professor P. R. Kirby of Witwcrtersand
University, strongly believes that although the mrrimba is

now seen all over the world in different stages of development,

it is a native of Africa and the others are his offserinr

L O

‘J;

"I

Edreley coniirminfl his statement says,

I
x, U

"Then there is the Ha imba, used both here and in
Central America so many years ago that it is difficult
to say where it originated. Africa, however, may be
given preference in this res ect.”

K. C. hurray, who was the Director of Antiquities in

Nigeria, the African Music Society's representative in Nigeria

and has taken a keen interest in artistic and musical affairs

1—5
p I
|.Jo

.n iigeria for about thirty years, in scussing husic and

 

Dancing in Nigeria, pinaoints the existence or presence of the

xylophone to the Ibos in Eastern reaion of Nigeria. he said:

\.

”Instrumental music itself is often used as a me
of communication........More tuneful to Euw03ea- ears

 

l . _
K. C. hurray, Music and Dancing. From Journal of the

African husic society Newsletter, vol 1
Ho. 5, June 1953.

 

68

is the music of the Eastern Re3ion, where the dancing

is usually more varied and elaborate. The organization
of a da nce by the members of an age grade or a club
represents quite an achievement upon which no information
has been 3iven in books or, it seems, has been collected
by anthropolo; ;ists

”The variety of ty1es of dance with their 00011'rv-
in3 music is quite considerable, although there are of
course underlying similarities of the kind that make West
African dancin- different from Indian. The difi rences

xist in variantr de3rea: there are the distinct
characteristics of the dancin of the Lwe (Gold Coast
and Dahomey) contrasted with those of the Yoruba and Ibo;
and there are the tribal differences betw en, for
instance, the dances of Ibo and Ibibio.....and the local
di1ferences that er xist in any particular place between
the dances themselves an1 in 1nL1V1tual interpretations.
There are also the differences of instruments: the
xylophone and slit gong for instance are in the Eastern
Region not in the flest........”

The Ibos are generally regarded as the originators of the
marimba or more correctly, the xylophone, but h vin3 originated

it, they lost touch with its further developments elsewhere.

’13

or instance, the Ibos do not have any idea about the use of
gourds to act as resonators. There was no necessity to carry
the xylophone about, but the slaves on the march or on the
move had to make portable xylophones which they could carry
about. If the Ibos had any idea of the use of gourds, they
would have made some of the finest xylophones.

One may ask, ”Do the Ibos have gourds anyway?” ”he answer
is, ”Yes”. Gourds are very plentiful, in fact, gouras are
used for most household thin3s. Small gourds are used for
collecting palm-wine from palm trees; bi3 gourds are used for
storing palm-wine and distributing it for sale; gourds are used

for bringing water from streams because they can hold a lot of

water and are themselves very li3ht in wei Qt; gourds are used

69
in servin3 food and sour; women make use of p-rticular types

of gourds as spoons for stirring soup when it is cooking; the
smaller variety is used as a spoon for drinking a kind of
mush called Akamu; a type of gourd is used in native surgery
when impure blood is extracted from the human body; gourds are
artistically carved for storing trinkets like beads, gold and
other valuables; for carrying merchandise to and from
markets, large gourds serve as containers, the same way as
enamel pens are used today; 3ourds are used in storing soap
for toilet use; types of gourds are traditionally set apart
for drinkin3 palm-wine. Up till now, some very educated
people reque to drink palm—wine with a cup or tumbler; in
making music, different sizes of a particular type of gourds
are used as wind instruments, 921, producin3 round mellow
sounds; gourds are woven into a basket with handles and
pebbles put inside so that when agitated, they rattle. This
type of instrument is called, 0‘0. There are many more uses
of the gourd. do the Ibos definitely know about the gourd,
but as they have never made use of it as a resonator for the
slab of the xyIOphone, and as they had never seen the instrument
utilizing the gourds, this goes to confirm that, having
discovered how to make and use the instrument, the knowledge
spread to other parts of the world by means of the slave trade,
these other people developing on the discovery.

Let us see how slave trade was responsible for dissemi-
nating this knowledge. Probably, the people that suffered

most on account of slave trade were the Ibos, Yorubas and the

J
.13
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Fig. 7

"For many decades, Zanzibar was the eastern terminus
of the slave route . . . . over which thousands of elephant
tusks were carried each year by the blacks, both ivory and
slaves being sold here."

1 v ' - - '
Carpenter, F. "Uganda to the Cape”. New lork:
Doubleday, Page a 00., 1926.

71

Ghanaians. When these slaves were sold from hand to hand to the
Portugese or Arabs and they find themselves in India or America,
there was no hope for them ever to come back. Captain Adam's
figure of 37C,OOO Ibo slaves sold in the Delta Karkets over a
period of 20 years - equal to about one quarter of the total
export from all African ports - gives some idea of the scale of
human wastage, and slave trade lasted for over four hundred
years. Now, let us follow the plight of these slaves. The Arabs
were the first to engage in slaVe trade. They carried the slaves
off to all parts of Asia, west and southern Europe. This was
several Centuries B.C. The theatre of Dionysos at Athens about
465 B.C. was built with the help of Negro slaves. The Sumerians
and Chaldeans of Old Testament fame made use of Negroes from
areas south of the Sahara. The first Europeans to come to Nige-
ria were the Portuguese, who landed there in 1444 and started
trading in pepper, palm oil and ivory. This lucrative trade

also lured the British, French and the Dutch into similar ven-
tures. Very soon, the Portuguese found that traffic in human
slavery was more lucrative than other commodities. Other Euro-
pean nations followed suit and carried out large scale slave
operations following the discovery of the Americas. This inten-
sive slave trade continued for nearly three centuries, culmina-

ting in British monopolization in 1712. Those slaves taken to

India, China and the far East were driven Overland across Africa-
Therever these slaves had the opportunity to live together, for

social entertainments, they played their drums and xylophones.

72
The discovery of the resonators in Central Africa, South

'Africa and East Africa was mainly by chance. The slaves,
being constantly on the move, devised the method of construct-

ng marimbas that are portable, and in whichever country he

[—10

find himself, be it in South America, hexico, China, Java,
he made his favourite instrument which soon became popular
among the peoples around him.

The earliest mention of a marimba in Airica is by Father

Joao does oantos describing his visit to the fiaranga in

1

1-1

nastern Ethiopia in 1586.

'Quiteve (the chief) makes use of another class of
Kaffirs, great musicians and dancers, who have no other
office than to sit in the last room of the king's palace,
at the outer door, and round his dwelling, playing
many different musical instruments, and singing to the
a great variety of songs and discourses in praise of the
King, in very high and sonorous voices. The best and
most musical of their instruments is called the ambira,
which greatly resembles our organs; it is composed 01
long gourds, some very wide and some very narrow, held
together and arranged in order. The narrowest, which
form the treble, are placed on the left, contrary to
that of our O'gans, and after the treble come the other

‘ gourds with their different sounds of contralto, tenor,
and bass, being eighteen gourds in all. Each gourd
has a small Opening at the side near the end, and at the
bottom a small hole the size of a dollar, covered with a
certain kind of seider's web, very fine, closely woven,
and strong, which does not break. Upon all the mouth of
these gourds, which are of the same size and placed in a
row, keys of then wood are suspended by cords so that
each key is held in the air above the hollow of its
gourds, not reaching the edges of the mouth. The instrument
being thus constructed, the Kaffirs play upon the keys
with sticks after the fasnion of drum-sticks, at the points
of which are buttons made of sincws rolled into a light
ball of the size of a nut, so that striking the notes

__

1 i t a ,.
Theal, G.M., 'Records of south hastern Africa', Capetown,

1901, vol. vii pp. 202-6.

73

with these two sticks, the blows resound in the mouths
of the gourds, producing a sweet and rhythmical harmony,
which can be heard as ar as the sound of a good
harpsichord. There are many of these insterents, and
many musicians who play upon them very well.‘

From the above account by Jao Dos Santos, the description
fits the Ibo ngedegwu except in the following three points:
the beaters have no balls of sinews and of rubber; they are
plain. The 'slabs of wood of higher pitch are placed' to the
right of the instrument. There are no gourds and spiaers'
web attached to the instrument. In other words, the Ibo
instrument is a xylophone, not a marimbao

Kirbyl comments on Father Joao's account as follows:

'This is an extraordinarily interesting description.
Its date clearly shows that the instrument was developed
entirely without EurOpean influence. It will be noted
that performers upon it were specialists, and that its
name ambira is the same as mbila, by which it is known
to-dayT_—Ffirther, that the beaters had heads made of
balls of sinews, not of rubber, which in invariably used
at the present time. This remark about the beaters ex—
plains why one pair in.my possession has heads of thin
rubber threads wound into balls upon the sticks. The
rubber has been taken direct from the tree and wound thus
after the manner of the sinews of old......Joao dos
Santos' statement that the slabs of wood of higher pitch
ar placed to the left of the instrument does not hold
nowadays; but his account is so wonderfully accurate that
one hesitates in suggesting that he was mistaken in this
solitary aarticular.‘

In some parts of the continent of Africa, the instruments
are constructed in such a way that a man carries the
o _ _ 0 ~ 0 l
instrument, plays it as he goes along. LeCaille , on January

1, 1755, wrote:

 

1
La Caille, "Journal historique du voyage fsit au Cap
de Bonne Esperance”, Earis, 1765, p.192

L
o

74

'I have seen an instrument played which is used
by the Kaffirs. It is composed of twelve rectangular
boards, each ei hteen to twenty inches long, whose
breadth goes on Qlflinlodlng from the first, which
is about six inches, to the last, which is hardly two
and a half. fhese ooa rds are assembled side by side
on two triangles of wood, to which they are attached
by means of leather thengs, so that the w
instrument forms a kind of table four feet long and
twenty incnes broad: under each board there is a
piece of celebs sh whi h is attached to itlsidlto increase
the resonance. A man carries this instrument in front

 

of him, almost in the same way that our women in raris
carry an invents ire‘? flat basket suspended before the
wearer. he plays by striking thereon with two mallets

of wood, of which the shape and size aearoximate to
those of a elumber's soldering-iron. This instrument

is tolerably sonorous, and with its twelve notes a great
many t nes can be played upon it.‘

..J
H.
1d"
d

Certainly, the Ioos do not carry ti of ngededwu
about, playing it at the same time. Ther is a d minutive
type which has only two, or in rare cases, three bars on a
light earthenware vessel, which will be described later.

. r1

rOIessor Kirby of the

Pt‘

Johannesburg, affirms that such; {ylo mh nes as are carried
about, are found in the Tshopi country on the east coast and
Mashona from South ri Rhodesia.

The Ibo ngedegwu is not the only ty )8 of its kind on
the continent of Africa without calabash resolators.
Thunberg (1775)1, in listing the musical instruments of the
‘Hottentots, described this ty>e of xylophone without the
cala ash resonators. But it is known that Hottentots never

originally had such an instrument. The likelihood is that

 

Thunberg, C.T., ”Voyages de 0.x. Thunberg”,

vol. i, p. Boo

prw r”
4.5.4.18, 1/96,

some Hot

tentots Inight either he ve acquired this instr_nent

which had been brought into their country, or, that, after

seeing it, they copied it, and this was, eerha 3, what

Th nunberf

J

,—‘ i l o ow 1 ‘O-fin
Curt oacas diViaed the ailieront t3 ass 0

S 9- W o

q

marimbas and

H,

xylophones found in Africa into five, beginning from the

simplest

1.

In each

08

to the complex:

The leg xlephone: a few rouge slabs of wood across
a player's legs. eoznetizes this tyge is Clayed over
a pit to give better resonance. In hadaeescai, two
women play a leg xylophone at right angles to one
another, suspending 1053 on legs.

The log xylophone: bars are laid on two narallel logs.
The table xylophone: bars rest on a irame fastened
down.

The bail (hoop-like) xylophone: frame suspended from
the neck and held away from the body by semi-
circular hoops. The frame is generally at waist

mhe trough xylophone: wooden sla‘s (keys) lie cross-
wise on pins piercing the slabs at one end and lie
between them on the other.

se the wooden bars were supported at two points:

 

Curt Sachs, History of Mus;Lcal Ins tr aments (lst fid.,

 

new ’ ork: “194GT.

76
the node of vibration. The range was from six to twenty
slabs. The Ibos have only the 103 type of xylophones and
they also have a pot xlephone not mentioned by Curt Sachs.

This will be discussed later.

77
CHAPTER II

CUE TRUCTIOfi AID TUNILG

-

Lfiedetwu is the name by which the instrument is known

in Unitsha area; in Udi area, it is called ifio and in

 

Owerri area, it is called naele 2e. Materials recuired for
making an needeswu are:

nge joko abua - two long banana logs; the diameter of each

 

should not be less than four inches.

1 ...

Okwe wood or abosi wood - aoosi wood is technicail" known

 

as ptaeroxylon obliguum. This is found more in a big fores .

 

It grows slowly and it is hard and tenacious. The diameter
of an average stem is about five inches. Okwe wood is preferred
to abosi wood. Okwe wood grows in a forest near the river.

It grows to a great height, it is light in weight; when used

"

1

for nmedecwu, the sound goes much farther than that of abosi
wood; when dry, the harmattan, a north eastern dry wind,
cannot crack the wood, which is not the case with abosi wood.
It is from either of these two woods thnt slabs of the
nmedeawu are made.

H19 - This is a stron: cord of about g” in diameter and about
15 feet in lenath. This is used for cording together all the
slabs in a banner to be escribed later, and also for carrying

the ngedeawu about.

Osisi - Four short pieces of sticks about nine incaes long,

 

one inch in diameter, and fairly heavy.

78

Tools needed are:

Anyike ukwu na anyike nta — big and small axes.

 

Akika - oyioyi - a Chisel.

 

Obejili - a sharp matchet.

Anwilinwa leaves - these are used as sandpaper.

 

The man who makes needeswu has to go to the bush to
select the particular wood he wants. If he is to be paid a
large sum of money, he selects okwe wood, if not, he selects

abosi wood. He may so as far as twenty miles to get the

L)

 

wood he needs. he cuts the wood down with his big axe and

cuts it into appropriate lengths, having in mind roughly

how long the longest slab is going to be; then, he splits

the pieces down the center. He now eXposes them to the sun

to dry partially, so that he can carry them from the bush.

This may last about a week or two, depending on whether it is
dry or rainy season. When he feels that they have dried enough,

3 b

p.44

0: to the bush and takes them home, and allows them

{‘0

he r

O

(D

J

to dry well under the sun before he be ins to work on them.
The bass slab may be as long as three feet and about five inches
wide. The thickness at the ends may be about one and a half
inches and at the center about a quarter of an inch. Taese
dimensions gradually decrease, the higher the pitch. If, in

the making of a big slab, the maker accidentally makes it too
short, he doesn't throw it away, but keeps it for a higher

pitched slab.

As each slab is at least 1%" thick at each end, the iron

79
awl is made red-hot, a hole is pierced in such a way that it

w

oes through mid-way the thickness from one side of the slab
to the other across the width of the slab at points 5” from
both ends. The aoles should be large enough so that the cord
can pass throurh them easily and afford eac ch slab every

Opportunity of vibrating and jumping about freely.

J

Tuning is usually left until fear the rough pieces of

(0

sticks - later to form the proper slabs- have been sunned,
allowed to dry and lose weight; then each slab is dressed and

tuned. Tuning is systematic. The maker often tests an

I"!

aedeawu between tunes by chip ping 01f bits of wood of the

‘

slab, a little at a time. If too much wood has been ch a>ed

lJ—Jo

off, this slab is concme1ned and set aside for anotier ngedez u
where it may be used again; another slab is prepared. The
Reverend Henri Philippe Junodl accurately described how-an
naedeswu is tuned when he said that 'The slabs are tuned by‘
cutting, exactly as those of the Euro‘ean Kylophone are tuned,
and by thinning‘the center of a bar on the underside to
flatten it, and by thinnin" one end of the u for surface to
sharnen it.‘ In fact, a large amount of wood is taken out

in the middle and varying .mounts of wood thinned out from

the center thwaris the ends of the slab. In other words,

the center is thinnest and the ends thickest.

 

dunod, H.1..,'The hbila or Native tit no of the lshop i
Tribe',1n 'Bcw ntu otudies', Johannesourg, lEJ 9, vol. i

“T H ii,
no. 0, Op. W75 S5

80

After the fi;st round of tuning, tne maker exposes the
slabs to “Le sun again to make sure that the slabs are very
dry. If the we ther is not very good, he makes a fire of
about 5 feet in diameter in the center of his com ouna. he
stands the slabs round the fire, turning them every half hour
for about eiqht hours a may for three or four days consecutive y.
He goes to all this trouble because he maintains the

J 0
'1

t
‘uning, if tLe slabs are not properly dried, they will 20 out
of tune, and of course, performers will no more patronize hip
It is important to note that the maker does not tune the slabs

until the slabs are arranged en the two legs 0

 

(banana stems) already cut and dressed ior the purpose. On
these, slabs ca jump and vibrate freely when beaten, without

the logs vibrating in sympathy. Khan the maker is satisfied

(0

~ _ _‘ -h, ......‘ .‘. .5}. _ 4’00
that the slabs are very dry, he a sembles them ayaln ior line

:3
U;
U
(a
1—1
to
U
0')
O
:5
('1’
1;- J
(D
H
O
p.
(—1-
w
:3
p .'
cf—
123
(I)

tuning as described above, the b--
treble slabs on the right. He tries as much as possible to
get all the slabs to be smooth but he does not sacrifice
smoothness of the slabs for their being in tune; therefore, a
person should not be surnrised to find that certain slabs are

rough to the eye. To Izaalze the slabs smooth, the maler Milken

use of anwilinwa leaves to rub them smooth. These leaves

 

behave in exactly the same way that sand-paper behaves. Each
time the maker tunes nfieaefwu, he selects a pitch like Gf’ ,
G, Af’, A above the middle C and which is convenient to his

voice. By singinfi a tune ever so often, he soon assembles

a number of slabs which give an octa e. The pitch he selects
is not necessarily the key note of the scale, but merely a
note within the scale. having get a scale, he does not find

it difficult to reproduce an octave higher or lower of a

t to note that the resultant scale

Ho
U)
{—1 o
,~§
”J
O
J
C+
CD
:3
(—

given note. It

is a diatonic scale. The Ibo nfiede:: maker has not yet learnt

 

' ’1

to make a chromatic scale as found on a piano. I; the key is
G on a particular instrument, he perpetually plays all his
tunes on that instrument in tlat key; if it is a different
key, he performs in that key and there is no question about
modulations.

In tuning the needeawu and in performance, perhaps, it is
necessary to mention that the slabs are assembled on the two
banana legs, which are laid on the ground. The banana logs
are not parallel, but taoer towards the right in such a way
that the shortest slabs can lie conveniently on them and still
there are, at least, 5” projections on either side of the slabs.

Jhen the maker is satisfied with his tuning, the next
question is to cord the s abs together in order, so that their
lengths diminish from left to right. it will be remembered

fl a
I

this cord will pass have a_reaay

D]

that hole through Wth‘
been made with the red-hot metal awl. lhe length of the cord
depends on the number of slabs and their widths. fhe

principle is to thread the nredegwu if possible tith a single

"I

unjoined cord, and to allow a sufficient length ior carrying
it. He allows a generous unbroken cord of about 15 feet.

The m her cords the slam in such a way that there is about

1}" of chord from the end of each hole on either side of each
slat, and a nut which he ties. The nut prevents two slabs
from toucaing while the slabs'are vioratin; during >erio Jance.
r11 .11 v N _ 1 - " 4_

in he maker begins cordi na irom the smallest slao. he intentio

q

ally leave about three feet of cord free from this eni. After

{:1

the cording and nutting of the longest slab, he allows the
cord to run losely along the longest slab. flhen he reaches the
hole at this end, he malces a nut as usual and continues as
before until the last short la Jhen the last slab is
corded, the other free end of the cord and this second loose
end are tied together so that there is 1%" of cord from the
end of he hole. One can see that there is a free loop of
cord at this end. This loop is used in tying, nan'inw, or
carrying the naedeewu. When it is said that the n ea e wu is
carried, this means th at the slabs united by the cord are
carried and the banana legs aee left behind because other
banana logs are easily procurable.

In Owerri area, cords are not used. Before the wooden
slabs are tuned, the asl is used to make one hole each at
either end of the slab, at a point, se", 5” from the end.
Jhen the If? ed.ee:u is finishedinfldpriffs from the coconut
leaves or bicyele spokes cut short to about 4” long, are used
in pinning loosely the slabs to the banana logs. The

. fl r... .o . 1 - a 1,‘ (z 1 ,3. ,.,. ,3 ,.. ,
disadvantafle Ol this method lo that on t M_in, the n 30V wu

somewhere else, the pins may drop on the way. But this 18

not serious, because other pins are easily irocurable.

85
In a whole district, one maker is normallr acknowledged

as the best maker. His fame soon goes beyond the district and

.L.

performers all vie among themselves bO get an instrument mad-
by this maker. As the maker normally copies hi" work, he
tunes all the instruments that he has made to the same key.
Thus, in an ensemble, there is no difficulty in performance
but should there be a rival maker who probably makes his
instruments in a different key, performers in an ensemble -
decide among themselves to use the set made by one maker at
a time, making sure that ill feelings are not created. This
situation does not often happen.

rerformers are very particular about the interval between
one note and another. It is the maker who can satisfy the
great demands of the performers that is always acclaimed the

I

best needeéwu maker. As the mak rs have no instruments for

testing the proper vibrations of a slab, there is no doubt
that once in a while, an interval may be more or less out of
tune. Usually, it Should not be so out of tune to be noticed
by the general public. Only a few trained ears of expert
performers may notice it and this difference is lost during
performance when many complex and comalicated things are going
on tOgether. However, a slab which has gone out of tune is

promptly corrected by the player. One very good point about

needegwu is that if a suitable material has been used in

0

making it and if the sla s are allow-d to dry well before the

final tuning, it verv rarely goes out of tune. There are

examples of some nMederwu that are up to eighty years old and

.1-

they are still in tune.

Normally, the nmedemwu is assembled and played in the open
space in a compound under a shade of trees. That it is played
in the open space is to let people from near and far hear the
music, and to afford room for the large number of s ectators
to sit or stand in comfort. It also allows room for dancers'
to dance to the music, and to let air circulate freely on

(In

them while dancing. Lnat it s played under the shade of

H

trees is for the sake of the performers. The slabs do not

*3

crack under the sun if the mske s have selected the proper
wood, sunned, and dried the slabs well in the usual manner.
Performers in the Ibo country do not use sticks_that have
been rubberiseC, unlike those described by Kirby from South

cribed above.

03

l'"

Africa. fhey perform with saort st'cks as de

 

 

 

 

 

 

—
.__.____.____. J—
fi
“——

 

 

 

 

 

 

but

‘ t (1 ¥ \
\ \ “ f ‘_ ’- — W \ f
L “, \ \ / I
/ / /\ \ / ,\

\ \ \~l / / ‘ \
104).!“ ‘ 01.21,.L'
Big. 9

Fundamental vibration of a bar of xylophone.

86
CHAETER III
ACLUSTICS 0E lthLGJU

rimarv metions of a bar

It is generally accepted that d

"d

with both ends free and in the center are seen by holding

a six foot flexible stick about a foot fro om ea ach end. when
the stick is shaken it oscillates between the positions
snown in A in Fig.8 , the points at which it is held formins
nodes. Held nearer the ends, it vibrates as under B, with
three nodes. As its fundamental, which occurs when the two
nodes alone are present, a free bar gives out a tene 6% times
as acute as the fundamental of a similar rod fixed at one end,

or'a tone corresaonding to the first upper partial of the

latter. The same thing happens with the he; s of a xylophone
or marimba. The succeeding partials rise rapidly in pi ch,

bearing about the same relations to their fundamental as those

in connection with bars fixed at one end.
When such a bar is vibrating at its fund m1 ntal, it has
two nodes, each of which is 0.;2a1 from each end, where L

represents tie length of the bar, (See fig. 9 ). Jhen a slab

ests on two lOgs of bana a stems and struck in the middle or

at one end of the slab, the slab produces its funem “Rt 1 note,
and this fundamental note varies inversely as the square of the
length. Ere equency is l'ke that of the tuning fork in which

'n
the end ’V' ii where h is the thickness and l is the length.

87

The frequency of the harmonics of such a slab varies as
(2n - 1)2 where n is the number of ncdes. Since the smallest
number of nodes is 2, the relative frequency of upper partials
would bear the relations given by the numbers 9, 25, 49, 81.

Now let us examine an ngedegwu made by a reputable Ibo

 

make r .
I brought needeqwu from Nigeria and made the following

measurements:

Note Cents Len the and thickness Width Middle Weight
in ns. 1n ins. in ins. Egigggess in 0:3.

0% 2756' 22.5 1.9 4 1.9 28
0% 2540 25.2 1.8 4 1.8 29

B 2545 25.7 2.4 4 1.0 26

A 2090 325.2 106 4 08 2'7

0% 1975 27.2 2.1 4.1 1.5 54
F# “1800 28.4 2.0 4.2 .7 40.5
E 1620 29.5 2.2 5.0 .9 44

0% 1495 29.5 2.1 4.5 .9 59

0% 1505 50.6 2.5 4.5 .4 59

B 1090 51.7 2.5 4.5 .6 57

A 865 51.5 2.7 4.8 .7 55
04 855 55.0 2.7 5.0 .6 40
F} 590 55.5 2.4 4.5 1.0 59

\

Stroboconn A equals 440.

Each slab is semicircular, therefore, 'thickness' means
the thickest part.

In the vibration of a bar free at both ends, frequency
varies directly as the thickness and inversely as the square
of the~length. It appears as if the frequency of needeawu does
vary inversely as the square of the length. However, it is
very difficult to determine whether the frequency varies directly
as the thickness since most of the slabs have been hollowed

out so that the thickness varies from 2.7” at the end to .4"

88

in the middle. moreover, the two sides of each slab are not
always equal; the ends of the slabs are not cut square; the
body of each slab is not smooth and regular.

Each of the banana logs was 6' 9” long, 6” in diameter.
The slabs were threaded together in such a way that it was

not necessary to tie knots in between two slabs so that they

do not touch as in the diacrcm:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

s’cr‘mg
[ GI T t ‘ ' " ,, Pm". $488,744“ wt-
:1 M
\_«\\
Fig. 10

4 holes (a) were drilled in su0h a way that a straight hole
drilled from each side T 6%“ from either end apneared on top
of the slab M. It is through these holes that a string is
threaded as shown on the diacran. The overall length of the

string used was 9', the'thickness of the string was 8".

Workmanship was fairly smooth.

ChAPTER IV
"3130371111:

In performance, there are two performers when only one
nced swu is used. The two performers squat on the ground on
the same side of the nfielerwu. The principal performer is
on the right. He has two sticks for periorming. he plays on
most of the slabs except the four or five left for his descent
man. nangemann descr1oed the geriormance of this instrument

at Tshewasse (Sibasa, N.Transvaal) in 188 :

d
P-H

'.......Two men were playing at the same e. he
who played the higher sound had two beaters, wh le he
who played the lower sounds had three, two beaters for
the bass sounds bein3 held in his left hand, by means of

H11

which he struck diil erent tones at the same time. inc

music was ouite ar‘istic. The left hand of the descent-

player (Diskantis ten) or the left hand of the bass player

produced the quite imple though clearly recognisable
melody E D C B whileb the ren1aining tones, always five at

 

the same time, added partly the harmony and lartlr
variations hoving around the meloey in quick fi; urea and
new patterns.‘

It is the descant man who begins the perforr;ance by slayin“

..)

the ostinato bass, thereby establishing the tine and rhythm

efore the principal performer begins. The 1 “10‘? of the
princ1ipal performer ,played with both hands, contrasts in

absolute details with the melodv and rhythm of the descent
man. He employs all the techniques possible in his melodies
The principle of crossint the main beats as found in the

performance of drums, is also true in needegwu music. In

 

'anr 1n bud-Afrika,

 

 

 

1 the main rhythms are different, the
beats 01 these two players ceincide in ssme, the raythns
are diametrically opposed to each other; some melodies ar
intricate vaniations on the ostinato. dhythns an; met rs
give the melodies their characteristic basic elements.

In an ensemble, there is al my ys one n edegsu that marks
the main beat. This is done by the descent Jnan with the stick
in his left nanf. All the helocies are im_erovised; therefore,

there are no cuestiens aboat bar lines, but certa in prolonged

than others and therefore assume the role of stron: oeets
where thev are. This is unconsciously Cone, but the rhvth Lnic
pattern which follows tie tonal languafie of the eeople, the
ferformer has in mind, gives rise to these

dthms. Compare the followinq from 'Uboio Donuo'}

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

1 1 1 1__11 I
Lag—IQ __-_... + §-.--_L-- *T ‘ 0 1 AT fil 1T i __ .1- _ _
.o .. _. - AV“ \ L _. _ _ _— _
i} i it v q im._._r_irz) ‘1 ‘____
’ I I I (1 L, g, L
(M,

Fig. 11
Again, in conjunction with tie n edeswu that marks the
regular accent, another phase of the language of the Ibos which

players of needezwu employs 1s evident. These are

U)
1 J
[1.1
*‘b
C1"
(D
{L

accents. ”his means th.fit th ose notes that normally should not

be accented are accented. COIHJRTG the 1ollou1r from

1" 1 -Iv ~v -'-' c o ~v~1 r‘. _
ncnezona, w.J.C., Unpublished manuscript of 100 101k songs.

91

'Obodo Donuo' by Echezona:l

fl

   
 

   

 

N3~Ri CL ”Sq-fibut’ mu, o—.n ,--—-

0 this section also belongs shifting the accents in such a

a

way that a different time altogether is im:lied; again, this

esample comes from 'Obodo Donuo' by Echezone:

 

This could easily be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[qt 41> If .7
#34 :0 e , x Ir e ,
~ A“. h ' Li- Ll
mgro/ I 1 1 r 1' 4 D in? l
U '3‘ t T Y I l V b i I
7 I +5 C ' a}:
Fig. 14

Another way in which the lbo speeks has civen rise to
another technique used by the ngedecwu player. These are what

_...._...._. s

we may call asymmetric divisions. One can normally have 8
in a bar, which means that the Drincipal accent is on the

A

first note and a very slight one on the 5th. But in certain

 

Ibo melodies, the number of notes and accents may not follow
thrt accepted :ettern. One may have it thus expressed:
5 plus 2 plus 2 plus 3

8 , which means that in a bar, if it were

to be writt~n down, there is an accant on the first note, 4th

0

Echezona, W.W.C., Unpublished manuscriot of Ibo folk songs.

92

note, 6th note and 8th note. Of course, without tlm precec ing

music, it will be dii‘ficult to figure out that the music i
8
in 8 time. It i= th

L)

J

lp-Jo

s kind of division mor than anything

C

else that baffles most foreigners who wish to take the Ibo
folk songs down on paper, and they end up by saying that they
cannot understand it. It is only when a person knows the
language very well that he can fully appreciate this tyie of

division and be able to write i‘ down. Compare the following:

 

a4.2+?; I ‘ 1 I i s I 'lrE . F f a y
* 45"“: . . «- z, . m: a
J {LA Lu v Q Wtq .je ,_ 35") L . '2,“ L1 - 'xl‘i
5
This leads us to asymmetric meters. Certain meters like 4
5 plus 2 a plus 5
can be broken dow into 4 or 4 9,8,
‘51 § ! f 1 5 : . g
#1 9 - ' Ci ‘0 ? ' ‘ ‘

Changing meters are often met with when people are excited.

 

Sometimes, meters and measure- lengths chance so often that

collectors are flabbergasted. A melody may contain such
5/5’2)5,5

meters in quick succession: 2 4 4 4'2 etc. This type of

expression is much used by.modern comcosers like Owen Read in

his 'La Fiesta Mexicana' - a Iexica n folksong s*m_honv for

“

concert band. otravinsky uses this in his 'Rite of Spring',
Bartok in his 'Piano Pieces for Children' Vol. 11 no. Y'X,
and Copland in his 'El Salon Mexico'.

The needeawu ple yers, in an ensemble, use all these

techniques, each performer using the one that he thinks will

express best what he wishes to express. In an ensemble such

95

as I found at Diobu, there is no descant man; each performer
had his own naedeawu, and there were varying sizes. There
were about eight plaring at the same time. Somebody started
playing his instrument, the left hand marking the main beats,
and the right hand playing a simple rhythm. This man is soon

joined by another performer on his instrument, beginning

0 'v N

with his left hand and later, with his right hanc. One by

one, each performer joins, each improvising something different

.3

from the other players and yet, when listened to cs a whole,
the music is a contrapuntal conglomeration of rhythmic and
melodic patterns, one frequently hearing duple against triple
measure, triple against quadruple, and triple against
quintuple . The fact is that the performers do not realize
the difficulty of their performance, they take it as a matter
of course; but, believe me, I appreciate the difficulty.

In some parts of Ibo country like Ikwere in the Niger

Delta, and Nsukka, an ngedegwu is maae primarilv to be played

\
.. U

 

together and at the same time with other needeqwu, Solo
performance is not common. In other parts like Owerri and
Agbudu Udi, an needeéwu is played solo, and it is a rarity

to find more than one needeawu played a the same time. In

 

both cases the naedeawu is accompanied with abia (different
types of drums), oyo (a type of rattle), and Oja (piccolo

{.1
0

type of instrument).

94

An ngedeawu is played at festivals like Ana-Udi,

 

Okwuluma Agbudu, at the funeral of one who belongs to the
performing group (232), when visitors like ministers of
state visit a town, or at a wrestling match; for example,
at Ikwere, where a team of about eight needeswu play
‘ The best player at Udi now is thirty-

five-year-old Madukew Oyanta. Each village has
persons who play this instrument from childhood. Iormally,
people who make this instrument are different from the
performers, but performers often have to replace defective
slats without consulting the makers because it might be
expensive.

At Hsukka, it is a taboo for women to see the men-folk
play nredegwu, for it is played only at rituals. Ihey can
hear the music all right. To make sure that women do not see
the performance, a storied mud hut is built. rerformers play
on the top floor with door shut, winsows and doors of the
lower floor are also shut, an: it is illegal for women to go
into any of the floors or to see any of the instruments.
Violation of any of these taboos carries heavy penalty resulting
in dea‘h, I am told.

‘Naedeaqu is used in telling stories. When this is so, it

is unaccompanied by any other tyse of instr ment like Abia,

ovo, or oia mentioned earlier. It is only the descent man who

1

plays his ostinato and affirms by it that what the principal

performer is saving is true, (ife o nckwu melu eme). This is

u -_..

 

uncerstandable because sounds from other instruments r;.e the
necessary speech sounds from needemwu obscure and unintelligible.
As I mentioned earlier, Ibo language is tonal. Every sentence

can be pla3ed on the piano. The speech rhy hms and meters

14-

h ‘.
a fl

0)

explained er are ex ressed by the nfiedenwu, including the
non-accentual rhythms, shifted accents, asymmetric divisions,
asymmetric meters 0, and chanying meters. It takes an ex art to
tell a story that is easily understood by people, and when he
does, people smile when they should, express horror at
ap»ropriate places, and nod their approval, which show that
they are following the story.

Here is a story that has been told with an nredecm and
was perfectly understood by listeners:

”There was a powerful king who had, not seven wives or
twelve vives, but hundreds of wives; and the calamity of it
is that he had no children. One day, he ordered all his men
to collect palm-nuts. After pressing out the oil before him,
he called one of his servants to inspect it. As they were
looking into one of the pots, the oil seemed so fresh and
beautiful that the king said, 'Good wonder! all these years
have I longed for a child, but you have willed otherwise.
Would that you could turn this lovely oil into a child for mal'

He turned away to examine the oil in the other pets.

”hen he looked age in, the pot with the lovely oil had vanished;

in its place stood a beautiful girl, shining with health. he

took her home and called her, Odiuche, which means, 'flhat is
in my mind'. He performed the naming ceremony, telling all
present that he had at last achieved what he had wis ed for so
long.

After the ceremony, he told the servants never to lose

sight of the girl, and never to her out into the sun,

0’)
(D
r. l
D

L \

if the girl wanted anything which was outside, someone had to
get it for her. She was allowed to go out only in the early
morning or late in the evening; if the servants allowed her to
be in the sun and anything happened to her, he would deal

very severely with them.

One day, all the servants left Odiuche unattended. she
became hungry and asked that something be given her to eat.
Nobody paid any attention to her, so she went into a pot,
stood by to watch them cook. Then one leg began to melt and
soon, the other leg began to flow downwards into a pool of
oil, covering the whole of the kitchen floor. In the market,

a bird began to sing:

'The oil in the kings house has all melted, all melted;

The oil in the kings house has all melted, all melted;

He who brings his container will get his own, get his own;

He who brings his container will get his own, 1
Some of the king's men who were there heard this song of the
bird but were afraid to tell the king, because this king was

1

a very wicked man and they did not want him to kill them.

The bird flew down and sang again on a market stall and

4.0

still the king did not hear it. Ib ilew nearer a d n arer

singing this sona, and the king still did not hear it. At

97

last, it perched on the should er oi the monarch and sang
louder. As soon as the king heard the word, 'oil', he ran
home as fast as his feet could carry him, but on his arrival,
Odiuche was half melted. From the waist up, she was still

in the shape of a weian, but there was nothing beneath that.
The king we a very angry. he Called all his servants tOfether

3..

1e went into the kitchen and set fire

'WJ

and killed them, then
to it himself. There was no sense in living when all that he

talued most on ea arth was gone."

“I

It is unfortunate that this art of telling stories wi a
the needegwu is 'ast dying away as the older people are dying
out too. The number of experts who can play the ngedeg u is

very few now and young men are loosing the art of inter retin

what the needegwu s: ys because they drift early into the

 

townslips where such instrunents are rega r1: led by their fellor

.1.

countrymen as Strange, and therefore, they loose contact with

J.

this type of instrument.

vv —r« l a o s ’ ‘ ‘
m. repper , in his snort account 01 neederwu which he saw

talking he

(/1
C:
U;
(D
D
P.
:3

at Owerri, agreed thr11t the instrument i
notated the sound of needeewu and put down the words sung by
“101en as the words fall and rise with the notes of nxedepwu.
here are some of the sentences and notes that represent them.
I have made slight alterations on same notes to express fully

L‘A .‘A Q
U118 1116 (11111133:

 

keeper M. ”dur Un Xylophone Ibo". Af irican husic dociety
Ne‘a"31©tu©” V01. 1, 1:0. 5, (3.11116 leJLj, I). Lujo

 

 

.sapmegoao Spas Answepewav eaoflaoahx 09H

 

99

 

 

 

 

 

xi, r—F=T’

_—.— --»—- ——— ‘ .

_—

1'

 

 

 

a)
H

 

‘y:—+e—1 ~ 1_
1 1 , 'r
J a

1
l l,
d a

T7 i r
W. .—- w

Niq‘fib‘i‘mf’r‘q I K's—71 01‘ va- no

at WW4
1L»d
1MP”

Fig. 15.

93

Ana aqbam_na, ka anye lemano.

This means, ”Well danced, let's go home”.

:n1 ’ Ql- ~ .
1he next enample is:

     
  

KN

  

#t _

c' r

   

(3 - mie‘ 5cm" L -’

~ 3 ‘3 ’_I F l,
O “:39 5cm L E12, 3L],

 

Fig. 16.

This was a ”Dance to the steps of your predecessor.

    

<3

E my. nw'r-m—ne E .111 —- Run ’va—Q a {1' —- 13;?

Fig. 17.

The meaning is, ”Ly brother's friend, can you dance better than

lOO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 17 a.

Omoaka 'big'lo ’lema 'jolu.
It means, 'Children of Abigolo, imitate 'Jolu.‘

Let me first congratulate M. Pepper for his interest
an” for beina the first to write something down about the Ibo
Ky ophone. I am greatly impressed with his effort. I am an

‘

SO I a?T§Jreciate fully what he has done. l 31

’4'

all, however,
make a few observations on his account:
First of all, the following 's the range and tie scale

which M. Feeder said that he lound in use in this prrt 01

the Ibo land:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"1
.1 1 1" “‘1
_ L («1 DC) V1
1 {‘FJV? £2 1" - 1 J '
EL] {*1 ‘ D I _...~ --
1' C) L/ Lice

Fig. 18.

This is a synthetic scale that is quite foreign to the Ibos

}
(D
:3
CD
*3
9')
H
F.)

:
H

am of the opinion tlat h. fepier ran into an
inatrument of poor workmanship probably by an inexperienced

maker; or that he was in a hurry to put down something and

lOl

DIN-f

slabs of which have not quite drie‘. aany foreign collectors
get into such predicaments with the result that they carry
away improperly tuned instruments. As I indicated earlier,
after nfieuerfiu is tuned for tie first time while the slabs of
wood have not suite dried, the slabs are allowed to dry
pronerly in the shade and later, in the sun, before fine
tuning is made. All this period of drying takes weeks. after
the fine tuning is made, nncdeswu can keen ins eiini Wtel
without the slabs changing their pitches. Irofessional
recordinrs from dii fer ent parts of the Ibo country and speci—
me :1s 01‘ the actual instruments establish the fact that the
scale is that of a diatonic scale, but that the melodies
nerformed may be in different modes.

Loolcin3 asain at Bdrm 18 , it will be seen that he has
two aceomoanists, one at either OLd of the instrument. It
is very unusua to find such a situation where tr nere are
accompanists at both ends. Generally, there is only one
3 his ostinat bass, usin3 the lowest three

accompr nist pM in

or four notes; or a separate instrim it is procurred Specially

J.

for the accomsanist. In the latter case, the slabs are only

about four in number. ‘llie accom5anist may even be given a
full-sized instrument in tune with the other instrument, on

whichl 1e olavs the few notes of his ostinato. I presume

~

that he d: d not understand his inf01mant in tM1i res;ect.

N)

keeper's attempt at translating melodies pl fed on
nfiedegwu goes to confirm what I had written earlier, that

ngedemwu is used in talking and tellin: stories. I had already

102

dealt with this. One can easily see that M. keeper does not
really understand the language because the rising and falling
pitches of the music played by piedeggu do not often

1

correspond Witfl the sentences broken uo into syllables and

  

placed under the pitches that are sup osed to represent them.
See, for example, Fig. 19.
C . . _ .
E - njim .. , e—njim, i‘nysn-I dawn-am. e}:-
Fig. 190
The words written in are 'jnyim, enyim, enyim' etc. mhis

means, 'my friend, my friend, my friend' etc.

But, with K. Pepoer's inflection, the first ‘enyim' means
'my elephant'; the remaining inflections of 'enyim' mean
nothing in Ibo. In order for 'enyim' to mean 'my friend'

in Ibo, there should be three notes at a time, but the third

note should rise a tone, as shown in Fig.20.

 

 

 

 

 

l 1
[1' F ‘f‘k $“‘~‘~¥‘ ] I ~---. ‘
A IQ I x 1 1 I *1 1 1’? 1 1 x
. ‘7 I 1 1 J l 1 1i 1 I
l L x .1 - L .1 1 g Q
r—(j d V 0' 7 , ,
"- v ‘9/ '
3' ~ “‘9’“; e,“ “3.14,, e.“ hji’VL e}:

Fig.20.

Anart from these few observations, I think that M. repger did

a good job.

105

The range of the particular ngedegwu that I studied at

Amokew in Udi District of Enugu Province, is as follows:

RQS'ecvexl for +LQ. fginclpjl'
evvad ETEW. LO'SCant 83;; .fl: —— Cl

 

 

Hen__i| {—

R83

 

 

    

I

Fig. 21.

Women sing the words to the melody'ijx figure 22‘.
The words are;
Gbalaga be nna mu,

Ada, gbalari ya.

Ada, gbalaga be nna mu,
Ada gbalar' onye Kalabari.

Ada ka ya na di ya gbara akwukwg,

Ada gbala be ha.

Ada ka ya na di ya luru di,

Ada gbalar' onye Kalabari.
The explanation of this song is that a certain girl called
Afia was married to a Kalahari man. This man was nice before
they were married, but after marriage, he started to ill-
treat Ada. The first part of the song is where Ada was

brooding in her mind and asking herself why she should not

go back to her father's house. The second part of the song

shows that she has carried out her decision of returning
home 0
The principal performer of ngedegwu doubles the melody

sung by the women. This is notated as the top voice in treble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3* fi‘ _ . A i .
flit IIf‘I‘ 17 p P A P 1‘ 1‘ 1‘ 1x k 1\ R X
‘H‘ [4C 1 l .. Q ~ l' l A .J ' N l‘ I A 1
Li / [D ' V 1r g E’ y ' \-' v ‘

 

 

 

 

 

     

mu, 9-4q,5bcc~L¢~—‘r’9~nje .Qx-Zc‘ceé-Q-TL. — 41 k4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PA-’4h h b A k 1 in k A ‘
I/Tf LNH 1“ 'L\ I R i I\ B L k N 1 I\ D Ix - F H l
A 3r ++ - L - 1 a a r\ n h‘ n I 1 I I 1‘ 1‘ I‘ .‘ ff 1
«ll IT ‘ V L ' AL r L V Y A ' l A‘ A Y ' A v A l
C) 34 wk di '34 jLJQ_«~Q a_- kww—{wcfi F; «([4 jb—a, (a, 2:48. {1 3 , Fifi-{‘1 kg,

 

 

 

 

 

  

O

3:4 ha. I 3:4 CL;

   

F?- a. jGQvla-Y'o 4236, £21- (q-[,.q_-“‘ .

I

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 22. A melody sung by Amokwe women.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fi‘s. 23. .
Doubliflg and accompenyeflg melody of Fig.22 by ngedefl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section 4

COECLUSION

107

There seems to be a finer tuning in ubo—aka than in
ngedegwu although both instruments are collected from the same
area. This is easily explained, for ubo-aka is a much smaller
instrument than ESEQSEYE3 therefore, the former is easier
to handle and its metal prongs are small and can be pushed
in or out by any player quite easily. This means that if a
player is not satisfied with the tuning of the maker, it is
easy for him to tune it himself.

On the other hand, naedeawu is very much larger. The
method of tuning is by cutting and scraping the slabs of wood
as we have seen. This does not allow for very fine tuning.
Again, to appreciate the sound of needeqwu, it is best
listened to from a distance. This is an impediment to the
maker. He does his best to obtain roughly the pitches he
wants. Once he is satisfied, nothing more can be done by
another performer.

One other observation is that alter tie first octave
has been tuned, the subsequent higher notes are slightly
sharpafi mhis is evident in both instruments when the EESfiEhE
has more than eight prongs.

I must state that at the moment, there is a vastly
increased amount of singing, and a much wider range and use
of instruments than was the case in the colonial days. The

musical instinct is being developed under new conditions and,

in due time, some good exponents of singing and playing will

108

ell that some description of

H
d.
H.
U)
_..J
C.
(.9
d
:13
U)

be forthcoming.

sin “in; customs of the Ibos should be

('1'

; J
(’f'
9,;
l-J

he instruments a.nv:
placed on record be fore they are er tir ely overwhelmed by the
inrush of new conceptions of music.

The changes are inevitable, but they produce a feeling of
soue regret. The old type of music is always considered
crude and noisy, ut it is definitely vital and soul-stirring.
It penetrates deeply, and stirs the pulses of the Ibo in a
way which no modern instrument will or can do. On occasions,
it has almost a sinister power which casts a spell over an
assembly which must be felt, since no words will adequately
describe the sensations. Passions are aroused, abnormal
strength is instilled, men and women acting as they never
would under ordinary conditions. The effect of some of
these instrumental music on the Ibo can be compared with that
of the bagpipes on the typical Scotsman, but in an even
more pronounced fashion. In the case of the Ibo, the result
goes beyond a mere quickenin3 of the pulses; the end is often
an outburst of passionate abandonment.

Finally, I am appealing to any person who may read this
dissertation to contribute in the research into Ibo music and

musical instruments. You can do this in one or more

different ways. You can go out yourself and conduct research.
if you are willing, strong, healthy, have a strong musical

bachround, a ca atholic taste in music, and an open mind. You

.n

can give grants to qualified people to go out and conguct

research. I will add to this that grants should be given to

109

qualified Ibos, because they understand the language, which
b

o tonal, and because of color, for they will

0)

cr

we have seen
not appear strange to the other Ibos, who will therefore

admit them to rituals and give them information more readily.

Another way that you can help is by donating equipment

to the researchers. This would include good recording equip-

ment, tapes, Stroboconn, frequency analyser, and such

instruments.

g,—

Another way is to offer scholarships to the Ibos so that
they may understand both suropean and Ibo music before

4“ 145

then out to conduct research. But th 3 training will

f—‘o

sending
take a very long time, and as I said before, unless something

is done n w, wLat we probably will get will be suropeanised

Ibo music and that is not what we want.

110

,..1;_

§~1

JIule/u 11-11 1

Basden, G. T. Ui:er Ihos, lse8. London: sealer, service
{:1 C O L t a O

 

Caille, La. Jou; "n“ l histori ue du voja e fait au Cap de honne
nseerance, 1755. raris.

 

Carpenter H. U.u11a 1:0 the Cape, 1925. New York: Doubleday,
rage a Go.

 

Culver, C. A. Lusical Acoustics, 1953. New Yer»
hill nook Coy, Inc.

 

Echczona, d. F. C. Unpublished Kanus crip ts of Ice rolk sengg.

"r“ - 1 TD .2 *1. U, -1 - .~ ‘4 n 17 ,
111C). ‘30 1716;37.’ 1J3 atPJ. Ge 0 L‘ILQCDLJL JU-‘18 .11 T1111. UT (3:1 '3 JJOK", 84‘"); O 1.3 \II .LOI’ .1:

u. rutnam's sons.

 

 

Grove, Sir George A Dictionary of Kusic and Rusicicns, 195$,
oth edition. New Iork.
hamilton, C. G. Sound in rela ion to Lusic, 19oz. Boston:

 

Oliver Ditson Coy.

Hersey, Ge or 1 ”Canon on West AfriCLn Ay on1o~o Lelodi s
”ro om Joirnal of the Americvn Lusicological societr
Vol. II, No. 5, Fall, 1949.

Hornbostel, E. h. von. "A1“ric::n Legro Lusic”, flee. from
Airica, Vol. 1, ho. I. London, 0. .t.

horton, J. B. '.Jest Airic“n countries and peoples, 1668.
London.

Jones, A. M. African Music, 1953:Johannesburg: African
husic Society.

 

v

Junod, h. E. L”The Kbila or Iative Piano of the ishopi Tribe ,
from Bantu Studies, Vol. III, No. 6, 1339.
JohannedbuLg.

 

Kirby, L. The Lusical In.trum ants of the Lstive Races
South Airica, 1954. Benson: C.U}1., Lumpnrcy
I-Li 113013;}. 0

 

dcfaee, Colin. ”In this Ear Island”. asia. Dec. lvfié.

.1. 3 ' 7' ll \1 _ 1‘ .- _ ‘ 'r“ _‘1 n n I ' O ' '
*ePPGP, n. our un nylopnone loo” irem A1r1can Lusic oOClOt"
Lewslctuer, vol. 1, No. 5. June 362

 

111

(1‘

Esters, Gordon. Tree

-‘

(Luryublfixnie“

 

 

ice on forcussion, uissertstion -

p.

,n, J. fl. 5 Theory o§_sounu, 1577. Lonuon:
Lscmillsn 1 Co.

 

éscLs, Curt. History of Lusicsl Instruments, lst ed., 1810.
New York: J. J. Norton 1 Company, Inc.

 

~

3. The Origin of tne Xylophone, 1956.
teu by Camille mercei oiquot. karyisnd:

 

 

'33)
H,
*3
P'
O
(3

u
H
(C
(.1
[—1
o

Thesl, G. M. flecoris of south Eastern

 

iracer, Hush. Chooi Musicians, 1948. London: 0,U,P,
Thunbe g, C Vovsres Ce C. r. Thunberg, Vol. 1, 1796.
j

\_.

- -1. - _. -. .- - ~ - .1 1 - , 1o"
Janfiemfinn, D. sin Zwe1tes Reiseganr 1n ouu-A131La, loco.
Q

 

 

 

 

 

' 7

.‘l
C?"‘

 

 

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