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Agidigbo
The ''agidigbo'' or ‘’’molo’’’ is a large traditional plucked lamellophone thumb piano used by the Yoruba people of Nigeria to play apala music. It is a box, big enough to sit on a musician’s lap, with 4 to 5 strips of metal set up side by side on top like keys on a piano keyboard. The tongues are designed to vibrate. The musician uses their fingers to pluck them, the left hand plucking one or two rhythmic tongues, the right hand plucking the three melodic tongues. "The best players use as many fingers as possible." Players also tap the side of the instrument with a thick ring or the top with their thumbs or knuckles. The instrument produces sonorous tones. Because of the Yoruba language's nature as a tonal language, the agidigbo can act as a musical “speech surrogate”, conveying language through its tones. Characteristics The instrument consists of five metal tongues mounted onto the top of a box, approximately 2 ft x 2.5 ft and 9 inches high (esti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigerian Musical Instruments
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music. Little of the country's music history prior to European contact has been preserved, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. The country's most internationally renowned genres are Indigenous, Apala, Aurrebbe music, Rara music, Were music, Ogene, Fuji, Jùjú, Afrobeat, Afrobeats, Igbo highlife, Afro-juju, Waka, Igbo rap, Gospel, Nigerian pop and Yo-pop. Styles of folk music are related to the over 250 ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. The largest ethnic groups are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Traditional music from Nigeria and throughout Africa is often functional; in other words, it is performed to mark a ritual such as the wedding or funeral and not to achieve artistic goals. Although some Nigerians, especially children and the elderly, play instruments for their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apala
Apala (or akpala) is a music genre originally developed by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, during the country's history as a colony of the British Empire. It is a percussion-based style that originated in the late 1930s. The rhythms of apala grew more complex over time, and have influenced the likes of Cuban music, whilst gaining popularity in Nigeria. It has grown less religious centered over time. Apala music is an offshoot of Wéré music. Instruments include a rattle ( sekere), thumb piano ( agidigbo) and a bell (agogô), as well as two or three talking drums. Ayinla Omowura Yekinni (Y.K.) Ajadi and Haruna Ishola - amongst others - were notable performers of apala music, these two icons played a major role in popularising the genre. It is distinct from, older than, and more difficult to master than fuji music. Although fuji music remains one of the popular form of traditional music amongst Yorubas in Nigeria, apala is still very popular amongst Muslims of the Yoruba tribe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haruna Ishola
Haruna Ishola Bello (1919 – 23 July 1983) was a Nigerian musician, and one of the most popular artists in the apala genre. Music career He was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. and regarded as the father of Apala Music in Nigeria, performing with musical instrument such as agogo bells, akuba, claves, drums, akuba, lamellophone. Ishola's first album in 1948, ''Late Oba Adeboye (The Orimolusi Of Ijebu Igbo)'' released under His Master's Voice, was a commercial flop, but his relentless touring gave him a reputation as the most in-demand entertainer for parties among the wealthy Nigerian elite. In 1955, a rerecorded version of his 1948 album was released following the death of Oba Adeboye in an incident in an air accident on BOAC operated Argonaut G-ALHL, the re-released record soon raised his profile. Haruna Ishola began recording apala numbers in about 1955, and soon became the most popular artist in the genre, and one of the most respected praise singers in Nigeria. Ishola adapted and stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apala
Apala (or akpala) is a music genre originally developed by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, during the country's history as a colony of the British Empire. It is a percussion-based style that originated in the late 1930s. The rhythms of apala grew more complex over time, and have influenced the likes of Cuban music, whilst gaining popularity in Nigeria. It has grown less religious centered over time. Apala music is an offshoot of Wéré music. Instruments include a rattle ( sekere), thumb piano ( agidigbo) and a bell (agogô), as well as two or three talking drums. Ayinla Omowura Yekinni (Y.K.) Ajadi and Haruna Ishola - amongst others - were notable performers of apala music, these two icons played a major role in popularising the genre. It is distinct from, older than, and more difficult to master than fuji music. Although fuji music remains one of the popular form of traditional music amongst Yorubas in Nigeria, apala is still very popular amongst Muslims of the Yoruba tribe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamellophone
A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician depresses the free end of a plate with a finger or fingernail, and then allows the finger to slip off, the released plate vibrates. An instrument may have a single tongue (such as a Jew's harp) or a series of multiple tongues (such as a mbira thumb piano). Linguaphone comes from the Latin root ''lingua'' meaning "tongue", (i.e., a long thin plate that is fixed only at one end). lamellophone comes from the Latin word ' for "small metal plate", and the Greek language, Greek word ''phonē'' for "sound, voice". The lamellophones constitute category 12 in the Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments, plucked idiophones. There are two main categories of plucked idiophones, those that are in the form of a frame (121) and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ijebu Kingdom
Ijebu (also known as Jebu, Geebu, or Xabu ) was a Yoruba people, Yoruba kingdom in South West Nigeria. It was formed around the fifteenth century. According to legend, its ruling dynasty was founded by Obanta whose personal name was Ogborogan of Ile-Ife. Its contemporary successor is one of the country's List of Nigerian traditional states, traditional states. Early history The Ijebu Kingdom is estimated to be one of the earliest kingdoms founded in West Africa. Ijebu-Ode was originally a city founded by a leader from Ife, like most other early states in the Yoruba region. They began to build a series of walls and ditches around the city, construction of these walls began in 800–1000 AD. These walls would be known as Sungbo's Eredo. The walls extended to eventually cover the entirety of the Ijebu kingdom. The walls measured an estimated 3.5 million cubic meters of moved earth and sand and they are among the largest man-made earthen structures in Africa", for reference it use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comb Lamellophones
A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating back to 5,000 years ago in Persia. Weaving combs made of whalebone dating to the middle and late Iron Age have been found on archaeological digs in Orkney and Somerset. Description Combs are made of a shaft and teeth that are placed at a perpendicular angle to the shaft. Combs can be made out of a number of materials, most commonly plastic, metal, or wood. In antiquity, horn and whalebone was sometimes used. Combs made from ivory and tortoiseshell were once common but concerns for the animals that produce them have reduced their usage. Wooden combs are largely made of boxwood, cherry wood, or other fine-grained wood. Good quality wooden combs are usually handmade and polished. Combs come in various shapes and sizes depending on what they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamellophone
A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician depresses the free end of a plate with a finger or fingernail, and then allows the finger to slip off, the released plate vibrates. An instrument may have a single tongue (such as a Jew's harp) or a series of multiple tongues (such as a mbira thumb piano). Linguaphone comes from the Latin root ''lingua'' meaning "tongue", (i.e., a long thin plate that is fixed only at one end). lamellophone comes from the Latin word ' for "small metal plate", and the Greek language, Greek word ''phonē'' for "sound, voice". The lamellophones constitute category 12 in the Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments, plucked idiophones. There are two main categories of plucked idiophones, those that are in the form of a frame (121) and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mbira
Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal Tine (structural), tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs (at minimum), the right Index finger, forefinger (most mbira), and sometimes the left Index finger, forefinger. Musicology, Musicologists classify it as a lamellaphone, part of the plucked idiophone family of musical instruments. In Eastern and Southern Africa, there are many kinds of mbira, often accompanied by the hosho (instrument), hosho, a percussion instrument. It is often an important instrument played at religious ceremonies, weddings, and other social gatherings. The "Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe" was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists#Representative list of the Intangible Cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babatunde Olatunji
Michael Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927 – April 6, 2003) was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist, and recording artist. Early life Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Nigeria. A member of the Ogu (Egun) people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at an early age. His name, Bàbátúndé, means 'father has returned', because he was born two months after his father, Zannu, died, and Olatunji was considered to be a reincarnation of him. His father was a local fisherman who was about to rise to the rank of chieftain, and his mother was a potter. Olatunji grew up speaking the Gun (Ogu/Egun) and Yoruba languages. His maternal grandmother and a great-grandmother were priestesses of the Vodun and Ogu religions, and they worshipped the Vodun, such as Kori, the goddess of fertility. Due to his father's premature death, from an early age he was groomed to take the position as chief. When he was 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebenezer Obey
Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi (born 3 April 1942), known professionally as Ebenezer Obey, is a Nigerian jùjú musician. Early life Obey was born on 3 April 1942 to an Egba– Yoruba ethnic background family. Obey, whose real names are Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Fabiyi, was born in Idogo, Ogun State, Nigeria of Egba-Yoruba ethnic background. He is of the Owu subgroup of the Egba. Career Ebenezer Obey began his professional career in the mid-1950s after moving to Lagos. After tutelage under Fatai Rolling-Dollar's band, he formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlife– jùjú fusion. The band later metamorphosed into Inter-Reformers in the early-1970s, with a long list of Juju album hits on the West African Decca musical label. Obey began experimenting with Yoruba percussion style and expanding on the band by adding more drum kits, guitars and talking drums. Obey's musical strengths lie in weaving intricate Yorub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatai Rolling Dollar
Olayiwola Fatai Olagunju, known professionally as Fatai Rolling Dollar (22 July 1927 – 12 June 2013), was a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, described by the BBC as a "nationally celebrated performer." Biography He started his musical career in 1953 and mentored a number of musicians including Ebenezer Obey and the late Orlando Owoh. He was known for his dexterity at playing the guitar. Rolling Dollar's last major hit was "Won Kere Si Number Wa". In 1957, he formed an eight-piece band called Fatai Rolling Dollar and his African Rhythm Band, and they recorded numerous seven-inch singles for Phillips West Africa Records."Highlife singer, Fatai Rolling Dollar dies @ 85" ''Vanguard'', 12 June 2013. Death He died peacefully in his ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
