Mende song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Mende song, accompanied by a shegbureh. The photograph features the performers and the shegbureh on the far left of the photograph. The meaning of the song is: "A hunter was fond of eating. He shot and ate a forbidden bird. People laughed at him". The shegbureh, apparently 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.

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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: 1966.12.20
• Associated Places: Sahn, Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District [Place Recorded] [Origin of item]
• Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Jasi [Lead singer and shegbureh]
• Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
• Accession Number: CVO:233

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