Mende song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Mende song asking for assistance from Mother, accompanied by three shegbureh, one kongoma and one fa. The harmonies are more interesting in this piece than before (just 4ths and 5ths), because there is more variety and the harmonies are closer (sometimes 3rds and 2nds). The main singer seems to move from tonic up to augmented subdominant down to subdominant down to mediant (lowered) and down to tonic (1-4.5-4-3(b)-1). An attempt to get the tuning of the kongoma can be heard at the end of this piece. The photograph shows the kongoma and the fa. The shegbureh, apparently is always played by women, is a stalked gourd surrounded by a network of beads or buttons (occasionally shells) on strings. The end of the strings is held in one hand, the stalk of the gourd in the other. Rhythmic movements of the gourd produce the desired rattle of the beads or buttons against the gourd. The kongoma is a wooden box with a sound hole over which a few (in this case three) metal blades are fixed. The blades are plucked with the fingers of one hand while the side of the box is hit with the other hand. The blades are usually hacksaw blades. The fa is a seed pod with corrugated side rubbed with the rimmed lid of a tin.

Related Videos

Further Information

  • Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
  • Object: Mende song
  • Materials: No Data / Other
  • Culture Group: Mende
  • Dimensions: No Data
  • Production Date: 1966.12.21
  • Associated Places: Banda juma, Sowa Chiefdom, Pujehun District [Place recorded]
  • Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Isath [Shegbureh[; Mariama Conteh [Shegbureh]; Thasa Conteh [Shegbureh]; Swemani Logias [Kongoma]; Sweman Sowa [Fa]
  • Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
  • Accession Number: CVO:251

Related Objects

Mende performance

Sound Recording, Musical instruments

Mende performance

Sound Recording, Musical instruments

Mende song

Sound Recording, Musical instruments

Mende religious song

Sound Recording, Musical instruments

Mende love song

Sound Recording, Musical instruments