Fula song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Fula song, entitled "Sabana" which is the name of someone who sings to his cattle when he has nobody else to sing to. There is some speaking before the actual singing. The item is accompanied by two nyayaru, one pair of lala and one horde. A nyayaru and lala can be seen being played in the photograph (not these ones). The nyayaru has a half-gourd for its sound box, a stick for its neck and a bunch of stretched hair for its string. In this item, each of the two nyayaru has a large sound hole in its calabash sound box and a curled-up metal extension at the end of its neck. A small stick is shoved under the string by way of a bridge. Guana skin is stretched over the top held of the calabash; lower down there is a horizontal strip of woven leather. The lala is a hook-shaped instrument with wooden discs strung on to one arm of the hook to make up a rattle. The horde is a big held-calabash held against its player's body and knocked with rings (called kurunda) on his fingers. The sound box of one nyayaru in this item measures 9" around the curve from the rim down to the lowest point; the rim itself is 21.5" measured right round; the neck is 13.5" long and the metal extension 8.5"; the bow string is 20", the bow itself is 22". The other nyayaru has the same measurements except for: rim of sound box right round 20", neck 13", extension 9". Arms of right hand lala 9" and 8"; the 15 discs are on the longer arm. Left hand lala has 14 discs; its arms are 11.5" and 9". The discs have been cut out of a large calabash. The horde measures 22.5" around the curve from one end to the other. Its player's right hand has one ring on the thumb and two rings each on index and middle fingers, one each on fourth and fifth fingers. His left hand has nothing on the thumb and fifth finger, one ring on index finger, two rings on middle finger and three on the fourth finger.

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Further Information

  • Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
  • Object: Fula song
  • Materials: No Data / Other
  • Culture Group: Fula
  • Dimensions: No Data
  • Production Date: 1967.06.06
  • Associated Places: Freetown [Place Recorded]
  • Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Abdulai Bah [Singer and horde]; Allieu Bah and Babana Keita [Nyayaru]; Allieu Kamara [Lala]
  • Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
  • Accession Number: CVO:317

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