Burundi: Musiques Traditionnelles (1967/1988)
Original: 11 tracks, 32 minutes;
CD reissue: 17 tracks, 65 minutes
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Once recorded music really took off as a widespread and household form of entertainment in the West, the first way that people really heard the music of other cultures was in the form of field recordings. Field recordings are, understandably, music made ‘in the field,’ a slightly over-academic way of saying that the music is captured in its intended context as opposed to being recreated in the acoustically precise but culturally sterile recording studio. These sort of recordings were often made of traditional music, primarily for the use of anthropologists and ethnomusicologists for close study of the cultures of which they represent, but they quickly found a market among non-academic listeners who wanted to explore the world in sound. These field recordings marked one of the earliest inklings of the future phenomenon of ‘world music.’
Ocora (now Ocora Radio France) was – and remains – one of the most valuable sources for listener-friendly field recordings of music from all over the world with an astounding breadth of catalogue, releasing albums since the 1950s. One of the releases from those early years was Burundi: Musiques Traditionnelles and – and this is a claim for which I have absolutely no proof – I would guess that it is probably the most popular album they’ve made. Certainly one of the most influential – as I’ve mentioned before (now that I think of it, I should have left this nugget of revelation for this post, but I obviously didn’t think that far ahead), it was this album that introduced the world to the royal karyenda drummers whose sound went on to inform the music of Joni Mitchell and new wave artists such as Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow.
This album is more than just drumming, however, and features all sorts of traditional Burundian styles. Almost every track shows off a different instrument or ensemble – inanga (trough zither), umuduri (musical bow), indingidi (one-string fiddle), ikembe (lamellophone) and an unfortunately unnamed but very cool fife-like flute are all featured, as well as several different vocal techniques. It’s these vocal styles that I find the most intriguing, as some of them sound unlike anything else. Two of the tracks feature greeting songs by young girls, one solo and one a duet; the sound that they make is astounding. I think it is like yodelling – where the voice flips from chest voice to head voice and back – but very rapidly and without changing what note is being sung, for a really uncanny effect. When the two girls sing in a very close canon, the effect is magnified so much more. Then there are two tracks demonstrating the ubuhuha technique that I honestly have no idea how it’s made, and even less idea on how to describe it. Maybe it could involve buzzing one’s lips into a cupped hand, or perhaps singing into a reed-like leaf? I would love to know.
With the near-ubiquity of produced and polished studio recordings for music all around the world, field recordings are falling out of fashion for their dry, academic gaze. Nevertheless, these on-the-ground recordings offer a very different way to listen to, experience and appreciate music, including styles and instruments that have never been (or can never be) recorded otherwise. If you’re looking for a place to start, the Ocora Radio France catalogue is a wonderful resource, and Burundi: Musiques Traditionnelles is a particular highlight.
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