With the ability to morph from the pure, multi-sampled recordings to heavily treated, filtered and arpeggiated forms of the same, Emile is making a concrete contribution of the Afro-futuristic aesthetic that’s to be bubbling up in East Africa. “If the recording and processing methods were adhered to correctly,” notes Emile “the dynamic essence of the instrument would be embodied in a virtual context, with most of the organic nuances intact when playing different velocities on any MIDI device.” Working from this basis, he then added a few well-thought out macro controls to each Instrument Rack to control Arpeggiator parameters, Reverb, Filter Delay and sample reverse. Good quality recordings were essential to achieving this goal. I sat down with all the artists and asked them about the history of all the instruments – everyone was very happy this vision of cross-pollinating the traditional with music technology." “I wanted to approach this project with the utmost respect to the culture and history behind the instruments and musicians but with the ability to push the sonic boundaries with the use of Ableton Live. Battling with less than ideal conditions, (sound insulation was in scarce supply and samples had to be recorded during lulls in other workshops), Emile set about capturing and translating instruments with unfamiliar and unique qualities into playable Racks – perhaps the first time these instruments have appeared outside of a traditional context. And so to this end, Santuri convened a line-up of ‘roots’ musicians including Olith Ratego, Abakasimba Troupe, Msafiri Zawose, and Giovanni Kremer Kiyingi, to work together with Behr, who happens to be an Ableton Certified Trainer, in a workshop on building Instrument Racks in Live.īehr’s deep interest in African instruments had led to him previously developing an mbira Rack, and over five days in Nairobi he had the opportunity to record four more distinct instruments found only in the East Africa region. Santuri has been thinking about this issue for a while, and has been organizing ideas around developing an East African sound bank – a resource for producers, DJs and music makers to access sounds and instruments from their own backyard – and to share those sounds with producers around the world. Most producers in the region do not have access to recording studios, quality recording equipment or even musicians to record. Mirroring the global trend, the bulk of music production and recording in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda has moved beyond traditional studios. With sounds collected from around East Africa, there’s much more scope for creating unique music that reflects the deep vibes of the region.” Making an East African sound bank The music produced can be good, but has none of the contextual authenticity that comes with adding a texture of heritage. Gregg Tendwa, a cultural activist from Kenya and co-founder of Santuri East Africa explains how this came about: “Many musicians and producers from East Africa depend on standard sample libraries that are available on their DAWs. Four such instruments have been developed into unique Ableton Live Racks by Johannesburg's Emile Hoogenhout (a.k.a Behr) and can be downloaded for free. One of the strands for this has been to encourage the development of an East African sample library, including new digital instruments based on and inspired by traditional instruments from the wide and varied cultures of the region. New festivals, parties and events have sprung up in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda focussing on a desire to represent and promote an ‘Afro-futuristic’ or ‘World Music 2.0’ attitude – and new styles, interesting collaborations and fresh approaches to live performances have flourished.Ĭollectives like Santuri East Africa have been at the forefront of this development, and have begun to further the conversation by looking at technology as a platform for traditional culture and heritage. A year on and things have continued to develop at pace. Around a year ago we reported on a movement from East Africa that explored a new sense of excitement in the region, working at the intersection between traditional musical approaches and electronic music culture.
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