Mandinka Balafon Music
The mandinka balafon is of particular interest to me. I recently completed
building my own instrument, basing my work on measurements taken from an
instrument owned by the University of Oregon, as well as photographs and
diagrams made by Karen Scholler.
For more information on the instrument that I built, see this page:
Qehn's Balafon
What first attracted me to the balafon was the tuning of the instrument. In Lynne Jessup's book The Mandinka Balafon: An Introduction with Notation for Teaching, she describes the equidistant heptatonic scale, or what Hugh Tracey, in reference to the timbila of Mozambique, calls the minor whole-tone scale.
The examples below are taken from the Jessup book.
To hear attempts at using pitch bends to approximate to tuning of the balafon on these examples, go to this Test Page.
| Sori |
Jula Jekere, version 1 |
Jula Jekere, version 2, 4 different patterns |
Silati Ngaleng/Masani Ceesay |
| Mali Sajo |
Kolong Kuma, version 1 |
Kolong Kuma, version 2 |
Kolong Kuma, both versions as a duet |
| Faringbulo, 2 variations |
Lambango, 2 versions, then as duet |
Ala L'a Ke |
Apollo, version 1 |
| Apollo, version 2 |
Tabara |
Mbu Muso |
Tiramakang |
| Sunjata, version 1 |
Sunjata, version 2 |
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