The Bottom!

Hope you've been enjoying the information I've been sharing about West African Instruments. Since I've been giving you a brief history lesson on the area in West Africa where my journey thus far has brought me it only makes sense that I introduce you to the instruments. So many of them you already know, but int the form the west is currently using.

 So let's continue. This post is about one insturment and this is one of my favorites as well! This instrument is bad! It’s the base, the bottom! Most players of this instrument are skilful enough to play the strings and drum on the calabash base or skin as they strum. Same way you see a Double Bass player gets down.

This thing right here will make you shake! Oooh weee, it stirs something deep inside!

The Bolon is best known in *Mande People as an instrument of war songs either encouraging warriors in battle or accompanying the exaltation of the bravest warrior in the royal army. Therefore Bolon players always bore witness to the fighting. The Bolon speaks to the warriors, praises their merits and emboldens them. No matter how hot or bitter the fighting, the Bolon Fola could never leave the battlefield. The warriors depended on him to give them hope and courage.

*Mandé or Manden is a large group of related ethnic groups in West Africa who speak any of the many Mande languages spread throughout the region. Various Mandé groups are found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Chad, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The Mandé languages belong to a divergent branch of the Niger–Congo family, and are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé. The Mandé peoples and the Akan people share a long history of trade and many similar cultural elements

The sound of the Bolon informed the people of a victory or defeat, even at considerable distances. Then everyone would gather together; the king on his throne surrounded by his court, warriors, local folk and surrounding populations. Everyone would listen in solemn silence. The Bolon Fola would play to a captivated audience. Being witness to the battles he would report on them, retracing the story word by word, with the aid of his Bolon. Then, turning to the king, he would tell how the victory was only possible through his intelligence and wisdom;”You have not finished growing, you will grow again”.'

If the army was defeated, he would say: “Your fate is still greater. We must learn to stay great even in defeat, which is only temporary. The world does not end with today.”

Whatever the outcome of the battle, the Bolon Fola(Bolon Master or Player) would have the magic words and the to keep the king's, chiefs', warrior's and villagers' hope at heart, and the mystical power of the Bolon too.

Bolon was never a musical instrument to be played purely for enjoyment, so relatively few Bolon masters exist. The art died down during colonial times as tribal wars ceased, but now it’s played for its sound to be enjoyed!

It has only 3 strings, neck shaped like a warrior's bow, antelope skin sewn onto the calabash like a bara drum, and a metal resonator at the end of the neck that gives added projection to the bass sound. The neck is usually held with the right hand, and hit percussively by rings on the fingers or with a v-shaped stick, while the left hand plucks the strings. The player may and usually hits the calabash with the rings/stick, or play the skin like a drum.

So what does that sound like to you? Bam, Double Bass like you see in a jazz quartet or trio. Africa! The Bolon was around long before the Double Bass! 

There are 4 and 5 string versions of the Bolon. There was a later adaptation the 5 string Bolon invented by, Djigui Traore, one of the last great Bolon Masters in Mali.

Have a blessed and safe weekend! Always remember to give thanks, for GOD is good! 

Next Friday, more drums.