The kamélé n'goni is a calabash harp of six or more strings, and a young instrument in the musical history of West Africa.
Stringed instruments made from gourds are found across the Sahel, and distant cousins of the kamélé n'goni include the three stringed bolon of Guinea, and 21 stringed kora.
The story of the kamélé n'goni though begins in 1950's Mali, when Allata Brulaye Sidibé took a much older instrument, the donso n'goni or hunter's harp, and modified it to create a new instrument, the kamélé n'goni (youth's harp).
The donso had for centuries been the musical instrument of the highly organised and secretive hunter's societies of Wassoulou, an area of forested Savannah in south west Mali near the border with Burkina Faso. The music of the donso was revered for it's power to charm dangerous animals, and much like the music and instruments of the griot, could only be played by those born into or initiated into the tradition.
The kamélé n'goni thus developed amongst the youth from a desire for an instrument which required one neither to be a griot or donso, and an instrument with which one could compose ones own music.
Allata Brulaye Sidibé was the first to record the instrument with his niece Coumba Sidibé, and modified the original by shortening the neck, adding further stings, and using a smaller calabash for a resonator. The result was a higher pitched instrument tuned to a pentatonic scale, played with just the fore finger and thumb of each hand.
A funky new sound was developed produced by quickly dampening and muting the open strings, creating staccato and syncopated rhythms. When accompanied by a djembe drum or simple iron bell, the new music was so irresistible to dance to there were even attempts by conservative elders in Mali to ban the instrument! It was seen as encouraging the youth to dance all night without inhibitions, at exactly the same time as as rock and roll was worrying parents here in the UK.
However like rock and roll, the kamélé n'goni had come to stay, and a generation of musicians would follow who have made Malian music world famous by blending the instrument with electric guitars and drums.
The great diva Oumou Sangaré has used the kamélé n'goni as the foundation of her sound. Revolutionising Malian music she has used the modernity of the youthful instrument to accompany her outspoken lyrics calling for change on social issues such as polygamy and forced marriage.
Made from a 1/2 gourd or squash, nylon fishing line of different gauges is used for strings
Stringed instruments made from gourds are found across the Sahel, and distant cousins of the kamélé n'goni include the three stringed bolon of Guinea, and 21 stringed kora.
The story of the kamélé n'goni though begins in 1950's Mali, when Allata Brulaye Sidibé took a much older instrument, the donso n'goni or hunter's harp, and modified it to create a new instrument, the kamélé n'goni (youth's harp).
The donso had for centuries been the musical instrument of the highly organised and secretive hunter's societies of Wassoulou, an area of forested Savannah in south west Mali near the border with Burkina Faso. The music of the donso was revered for it's power to charm dangerous animals, and much like the music and instruments of the griot, could only be played by those born into or initiated into the tradition.
The kamélé n'goni thus developed amongst the youth from a desire for an instrument which required one neither to be a griot or donso, and an instrument with which one could compose ones own music.
Allata Brulaye Sidibé was the first to record the instrument with his niece Coumba Sidibé, and modified the original by shortening the neck, adding further stings, and using a smaller calabash for a resonator. The result was a higher pitched instrument tuned to a pentatonic scale, played with just the fore finger and thumb of each hand.
A funky new sound was developed produced by quickly dampening and muting the open strings, creating staccato and syncopated rhythms. When accompanied by a djembe drum or simple iron bell, the new music was so irresistible to dance to there were even attempts by conservative elders in Mali to ban the instrument! It was seen as encouraging the youth to dance all night without inhibitions, at exactly the same time as as rock and roll was worrying parents here in the UK.
However like rock and roll, the kamélé n'goni had come to stay, and a generation of musicians would follow who have made Malian music world famous by blending the instrument with electric guitars and drums.
The great diva Oumou Sangaré has used the kamélé n'goni as the foundation of her sound. Revolutionising Malian music she has used the modernity of the youthful instrument to accompany her outspoken lyrics calling for change on social issues such as polygamy and forced marriage.
Oumou Sangaré accompanied by Brehima Diakaté, considered one of the greatest living players of the kamélé n'goni
Sill other artists such as Issa Bagayogo nicknamed `techno Issa', have experimented blending the kamélé n'goni with electronic music.
