Introducing the traditional African soundworld

Where are the sounds of music?

PAUSE. STOP. CLOSE DOWN. Retreat inside yourself. Go inside your head, your mind. Listen. What do you hear? Did you expect to hear silence? Instead, if you listen closely, you will hear vibrations – the sounds of the world. Depending on where you are this might be the wind, traffic, birdsong, bells, horns, the voices and sounds of other people, even your own heart beat. Yes, as Africans believe – music is all round you. From the very beginning of time Africans have responded to the sounds of the world to create music.

Bariba hunt music

Listen to this hunting track by the Bariba people from the north of Benin in West Africa. Here the person organising the hunt sends out coded messages to his fellow hunters that it's time to set out.

The sounds are played on a small whistle called a bohu guru. Do the sounds made by the whistle not perfectly reproduce some of the sounds of the natural world such as the owl? If so, what time would you expect the hunting party to be setting out on their hunt?

Silence and sound

Introducing the traditional African soundworld

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