Limba song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Limba song accompanied by one big inkali, one tiny inkali and two ban. The two ban are pictured in the photograph. The song is about a devil dancer who came to Leicester (a village near Freetown) to dance; he caught fire and burnt to death. The inkali is a hollow log or cane or piece of bamboo with length-wise slits. The big one here is a wooden one, with metal ends; it is beaten with two plain sticks. The small one is a bamboo one, with what looks like a handle although the instrument is not held by that part. It has just one big slit and is beaten with one plain stick. The ban is a big wooden cylindrical drum with two drumsticks. These two ban are played by the same man, who stands between them and uses two hooked beaters, one for each drum. In the previous song, he had frequently git the rib of one of his drums, but in this song he beats only the skins of both drums. The big inkali is 30" long and has a diameter of 7.5". The small one is 17" long, with "handle" of 4". Measurements of one ban: depth 20", diameter 13". Other ban: depth 17.5", diameter 14".

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Further Information

• Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
• Object: Limba song
• Materials: No Data / Other
• Culture Group: Limba
• Dimensions: No Data
• Production Date: 1967.04.15
• Associated Places: Freetown [Place Recorded]
• Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Todenke Mansaray [Solo Singer], Bockarie Kamara [Big inkali player]; Salieu Kamaru [Small inkali player]; Ose Conteh [Both Ban]; Banieu Kamara [leader of chorus]
• Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
• Accession Number: CVO:303

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