Mende song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Mende song accompanied by two kogilii and one shegbureh. The photograph features kogilii, but not these ones. The meaning of the song is: "We have loved, but you were not good to me; I am leaving now". Normally, the shegbureh is played only by women, but Musa Sano, who had played a third kogilii in previous songs, borrowed a woman's shegbureh in order to create the impression that there was now a different group playing and thus to obtain a second financial reward for the group. It may well be that the words of the song are connected with this attempt, all the more so because a shegbureh really has a kind of net: it is a stalked gourd surrounded by a network of buttons 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 buttons against the gourd. The kogilii is a small metal cylinder (but not going right round) held in the hand and hit with a metal beater - sometimes also with a ring on the thumb, as in the present piece. The leading singer is a left-handed player, as is the improvised shegbureh player. The height of the shegbureh gourd, measured around the curve is 10", the length of the stalk 3". The original three kogilii were 9.5", 8.5" and 6" long, but there is no certainty which is the three was dropped in favour of the shegbureh.

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Further Information

  • Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
  • Object: Mende song
  • Materials: No Data / Other
  • Culture Group: Mende
  • Dimensions: No Data
  • Production Date: 1970.12.25
  • Associated Places: Hangha, Kongowa Chiefdom, Kenema District [Place recorded] [Origin of item]
  • Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Chris Marshall [Sound Recordist]; Momo Segbwema-Hangha [Lead singer and kogilii]; Brima Hangha [Kogilii]; Musa Sano [Shegbureh]
  • Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
  • Accession Number: CVO:362

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