Some Music for the Kalumbu

Author(s): Marjorie Davidson

Source: African Music, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1965), pp. 18-25
Published by: International Library of African Music
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30249596
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SOME MUSIC FOR THE KALUMBU

by
MARJORIE DAVIDSON
The kalumbu
or musicalbow is probablyfoundmoreoftenthananyotherindigenous
in Zambia.
instrument
and there
I have been able to makea carefulstudyof severalof theseinstruments
bothin thetuningand generallayoutof themusic.
are manypointsof interest
Two of myplayersused a largebow whichtheysaid was peculiarto theIla people.
tree.Nowadays
This consistsof a stickabout fivefeetlong fromthe mulishabulumbu
it was thesinewof an animal.One of my
wireis usuallyused forthestring.Formerly
the kudu. The calabashresonatoris
informants
suggestedthatit was almostcertainly
fromsome kindof pumpkinwhichtheycall kankuli.The smallstickused in playingis
a hardgrasscalledkampumpwe
whichis also used forthatching.
The instrument
can be tunedby movingthecalabash,whichis attachedto a piece of
wireactingas bridge,up or down the stick.
The approximate
tuningis a minorthirdbetweenthe open noteswiththe stopped
notea semitoneabove thelowernoteand a tonebelow theuppernote.
The followingare two tunings:
HIGH

(a)
(b)

132
120

LOW

STOPPED

112
100

INTERVALS. In tempered
semitones.
High to low
High to stopped
Low to stopped

120
105

(a)

2.84
1.65
1.19

v.p.s.
v.p.s.

(b)

3.15
2.31
0.84

The players
Thereappearsto be a fairvariationin tuningwithina certainframework.
seem to adapt themselvesto different
forexample,the pertuningswithoutworrying
former.I mentionlaterwho althoughhe had a different
tuning,playedhis musicon
thiskalumbu
quitehappily.I have not,however,enoughevidenceon thispointas yet
to be definite
aboutthis.
Fromabout tendifferent
examplesof themusicwhichI have studied,thefollowing
generalpatternemerges:
(a) TUNING DEVICE
This is a shortpassagewhichtheplayeruses to checkhis tuning.It is usuallypresent
in someform,butit variesfroma veryshortfigureto a passagewhichis longerand of
morerhythmic
interest.If the playeralreadyknowsthathis instrument
is in tune,he
maydispensewithit altogether.
(b) THE INTRODUCTION
This is an instrumental
passage,long or short,accordingto themood and inventiveness of theplayer.It mayvaryin detaileach timehe playsit. In some cases it is then
used,eitherin partor as a whole,to providea groundbass forthe song. This will be
discussedfullyin theexampleswhichfollow.

SOME MUSIC FOR THE

KALUMBU

19

(c) THE SONG

The voice
This maybe sungby one or morevoicesaccompaniedby theinstrument.
in
or
with
the
instrument.
be
in
unison
may
harmony
(d) THE INTERLUDE
The interludecomesbetweenversesof the song and is usuallyon the samepattern
each timeit appears.Wherethereis onlyone verse,theinterludemaycome between
therepetitions.
Sometimesthereare no interludes.At othertimesthereis an interlude
of a few notes betweenphrasesor versesand a longerinterludesomewherein the
middleof thepiece.
(e) THE CODA
is rathermorefree
This servesto "roundoff"thewhole,and like theintroduction,
thanwhenthevoice and instrument
perform
together.
My firstexamplesof the musicare fromNawa Chapupa,a Lenje musician.I begin
witha straightforward
example,a Lenje song withonlyone line of words:
"Bantalashawabansonimoye."
The playerused no tuningdevice because he said thathe alreadyknew thathis
was in tune.Whenpressed,however,he producedthefollowing:
instrument
Example I.
. = 93

theexactpitch.It is writtenthusto avoid accidentalsas far

This does not represent
as possible.
whichis used as a groundbass
His piece beginswitha short,simpleintroduction
whenthevoicesenter.
Example II.

.1=120

strandsof melodywhichcombine
Thereare two voices whichsingslightlydifferent
One voice duplicatestheinstrument,
here.
to makeoccasionalharmonyin fourths.

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Here are thetwo voice parts,writtenon one stave:

Example III.

w - ba

Ba-nta. -sha

nso-ni

mo

Here is thesong and instrumental

partcombined:

ExampleIV.

* Ba-nta a sha

Voice 8velowvr

Ar
BaThis
extremely.
ntsimple
piece..
*k417

4.]dWI

t ground

both
in its
construction.ye
wshows
varietyand
montinuity
i

bas5i

Note (a) The overlappingat * whereone voice is cut shortso thatthe firstnote of
therepeatedmelodycoincideswiththefinalnote of its firststatement.
and thesingleverseis repeatedad lib.
(b) are areno interludes
The conclusionconsistsof two statements
of the groundbass followedby a freer
passage.

ExampleV.
-

this extremely
more rapiined
the const
in prepetarition
for
by
in
a
in main
const
in prepetarition
for the song. It
Contiregular
by theby
the
shownin themovementof thevoice parts.
My secondLenjepiece,again,has onlyone lineof words:
"'Mwanakashikusuminawalibanakukomena."

and
It resemblesthefirstone in thatit has a groundbass takenfromtheintroduction
in severalways.
but it differs
thereare no interludes,
fallsintotwo sections,thefirstis freein stylewhilethesecondis
The introduction
forthe song. It is a sectionof this,
regularand in a morerapidtempoin prepartion
whichI have markedwitha squarebracket,thatis used as thebass forthesong.

SOME MUSIC FOR THE

21

KALUMBU

ofmelody,
butthereis moreharmony
here(conAgainthevoiceshavetwostrands
of
fifths
inthemaingo their
sisting fourths, andoctaves)becausevoiceandinstrument
rather
thanharmony
sinceit is a comseparate
ways.Thisis of coursecounterpoint
bination
ofindependent
melodies.
I shouldmakeit quiteclearthateachvoice
Perhaps
ofmelody,
butthatonebeginswithphrase1. andtheotherbegins
singsbothstrands
withphrase2. Hencetheharmony.
ExampleVI.
Introduction. = 112

=150

Mwo, n1ak.h
Instrument.

kuIsu

wI I

no ku
bo1(d
1o--

lib.

Conclusion

Anotherplayer,Tonga by tribe,using the same bow, gave a performance

which
showedfarmorefreedomin theintroduction.
do
not
as
I
quote this,however, I lost
touchwiththeplayerand I am not satisfied
thatI have writtendown therhythm
accuratelyfromthetape.
The song is of interestbecauseit is made up of sentenceseach consistingof three,
two-barphrasesfollowedby a two-barinterlude.

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I quote thefirstsixteenbars:
Example VII.
S=112

Voice

hel _lee
ci.bu.nga wele-le-le
Instrument

e.
Le-le ci .bung9a we-lej-e-le

On thewhole,thevoice
Thereis no groundbass in thisexampleand littleharmony.
but thereis a littleharmonyconsistingof fourths
has thesamemelodyas thekalumbu,
and fifths
in bar nine.
partlydue to theconstruction
My finalexampleseemsto me of exceptionalinterest,
to me.
of themusicand partlybecauseofthetuningwhichwas a greatsurprise
The bow is a muchsmallerinstrument,
playedby SamuelShimoombawho is Ila by
in size and tuning,he insistedthatit is stillan Ila bow,
tribe.In spiteof thedifference
certainthatboththetuningand thebow are Tonga.
butI am practically
The tuningis as follows:
(c) Stoppednote
(b) High note
(a) Low note
182
110
103
This givestheintervals:
a to b
9.86
temperedsemitones
a to c
1.14
temperedsemitones
8.72
b to c
temperedsemitones
is approximately
a minorseventh.
The distancebetweenthe open notes therefore
Fromthelow noteto thestoppednoteis a semitoneand fromthestoppednoteto the
witha new
highnoteis a majorsixth.At one pointthestringbrokeand afterre-tuning
one, the playerused a majorseventhbetweenthe open notes!Here is a comparison
The open notesare givenfirst.
betweenthefirstand secondkalumbus.

SOME MUSIC FOR THE

ExampleVIII.

23

KALUMBU

b.

N.B. Not exactpitch.

withan introduction
considerable
The playerstarted
ofrhythm.
showing
flexibility
Thequaversareofthesamevaluethroughout.
Example IX.

1
!+

1 1

11M

Iil

M 1r

1'

Whenthevoice enters,theintroduction
is used in itsentirety
withone trifling
alterationas a groundbass fortwo phrasesof thesong.I was fascinated
whenI discovered
thispointwhichseemsto meextremely
thecharmofthemelody
interesting.
Incidentally,
linehereis greatlyenhancedby thefreedomof therhythm.
Example X.

d) . =112
voice

ml

Example XI.

myoa

ngu

Ngrx

-,yo

b)
m ba
A- i ma
ndamu.zyi_

NgoExample
mXa nu

muw-lu - be

Iyoi

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We have a musicalsentenceconsistingof fourphrasesof threebars each.

The groundbass (markedwitha squarebracket)is six bars in lengthand takesin
and octave.Aftera repeatof phrase
two phrasesof thesong.Harmoniesare at thefifth
in varioussimpletimes.
a
the
music
into
contrasted
section
(a)
passes
sharply

Example XII.
b)

d)

Ku.mwo - noa

boo

n
- lyo
m(a)ukoq
- . mbehe.funyu.koku-lu

etc.

Phraseb2and c2followand thenthereis a returnto d. Afterthisthephrasesfollow

each otherin thisorder-/ba/bc/d/bc/d/b/.So faras I can see thereis no particular
patternas faras the song is concerned.Questionedabout it, theplayersaid thatthere
was no fixedorder.It seemsthathe sangas thespiritmovedhim.
A fairlylong interludefollows.I quote eightbarsonlyto show how thefreedomof
is maintained:
rhythm

Example XIII.

IN
.
-------,

J..

.ri,

and it mayalso be notedthatthe

to phrased is includedin theinterlude
A reference
earlypartis oftensuggestiveof theintroduction.
piecesof kalumbu
CuriouslyenoughsinceI regardthisas one of themostinteresting
witha flourish
musicI have comeacross,thereis no coda. The playerfinishes
abruptly
of theearly
of 3 noteson A. Perhapshe had exhaustedhimselfwiththeinventiveness
partl
Whenquestionedabouta tuningdevice,Mr.Shimoombaobligingly
puthisinstrument
out of tune and showedhow he tunedit by repeatingthisshortfigurein sequence,
each timehe movedhis calabashtillhe reachedthecorrecttuning.

SOME MUSIC FOR THE

KALUMBU

25

Example XIV.

The overallpattern
revealssomeevidenceofdesignalthoughitis, on thewhole,free.
a b c b2
a, d b, c2 d b
a b c b
c,
c
Interlude
c.
c
d

d b
d b
b
b c2
b

This shortarticlegives only a few of the pointsof interestin the construction

of
music.Furtherresearchwill,I am sure,producemanyfascinating
discoveries.
kalumbu