Learning a rhyth called konkonba, or konkomba or Kankanba

[James]

...but can't find any informantion on it.

Have you heard of such a thing?

I'll try notate or record it when I get a chance.

[Dugafola]

i've learned a harvest rhythm called Kankanba.

then there's konkoba and aconcon that may be adding to the confusion.

[kawa]

You are surely talking about Konkoba (the great harvester). It's a Guinean rhythm.

It's a rhythm primarily played for harvesters.

Its particularity is that it is a ternary rhythm in 3 beats (like Koreduga).

There are many versions of it.
-You can find one in "Chants et percussions malinkés, vol 1", Famoudou Konate
-You can find another in "Fadouba Oulare", Fadouba Oulare
-There is a 3rd version which is often played, but I can't remember where you can hear it
-There is a 4th version you can hear on "Come Drum", Fadouba Oulare

Also there is a modern version for ballet dancing. It has almost nothing to do with the previous ones regarding the speed. It is played very very fast, in order for the dancers or the acrobats to show their skills.

Take a look at this video, first part = usual way of playing konkoba, second part = modern ballet version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArNVhum0xxM

Kawa
http://kawatvinternational.wordpress.com/
http://kawatv.wordpress.com

[Daniel Preissler]

Its particularity is that it is a ternary rhythm in 3 beats

You will find that very often in written words. But Konkoba is a rhythm with 6 beats. I haven't come across a rhythm having only 3 beats in traditional maninka-djembé-dundun-music yet. It's to be seen in the video that Kawa has linked: The first part is a ballet adaptation of the Baro Konkoba (with 6 beats). The traditional dance, too, has 6 (and sometimes 12) steps on the downbeat - even if in this video it is played too fast to do the traditional steps properly.

Greetings, Daniel

[bubudi]

i agree, it's 6 beats. i think the confusion comes from people who play only djembe, and know only the first accompaniment. that's only 3 beats of course. but that is just one small part in the rhythm. one always needs to consider the dunun cycle...

[music]

Hmmm.....if I were to write the root structure out I would write it as either 2 or 4 measures of 9-8 time. Just as in other styles of music writing we often refer to the structure of a measure when speaking of the "beats", rather than defining it by the length of the repeating phrasing. A symphony that has a repeating theme of 32 measures is still labeled as a piece in common time, or 3-4, or whatever.

Korojuga is often played in Mali only having a one measure, 3-pulse repeating structure. Although it is also played as a 6 and 12-pulse structure depending on the dununba and lead phrasing. And this multiple pulse structure may occur in any one playing of the rhythm.

Just some thoughts.

[Daniel Preissler]

your remarks on Korojuga as you call it may be correct, but Konkoba does not exist in a 3 pulse structure.

1) the dunduns keep der 6 beat structure
2) the djembe acc. keeps it, too
3) dance as well

No way to make a 9 pulse structure of it. It's a myth! There are the theoretical possibilities 6, 18 and 36, I would in any case choose the 18 pulse structure.

Little structure lesson on maninka (djembé and dundun) music:
there are 12 pulse, 16 pulse and 18 pulse rhythms (just the three), me, too, I count/see the 24, 32, 36, 48, 64 (and so on) lengthes among them.

[music]

well, a rhythm in 9-8 time typically has a 3-pulse structure, not nine. There seems to be some misunderstanding of musicology in the discussion. No worries. Thanks for the reply.

[Daniel Preissler]

there's no misunderstanding from my side d;-). But maybe it's different in english: what you call 3-pulse structure is a 3-BEAT structure to me (three beats with 3 pulses each, but it doesn't exist in Konkoba). We were talking about the same, don't worry. Just read my comment again and listen to some Konkoba versions. There's no 3-beat structure.

[music]

Anyone know why the djembe rhythm konkoba and the jeli music and idol by Kabinet Kouyate (Konkoba) go by the same name?

[bubudi]

i was hoping you had a good story on this, rusty

i would guess that it is due to the different meanings of the maninka word konko. a konkoba both means a great farmer and a great forest.

[music]

In hanging out with the Konkoba family in Siguiri, I basically got that the meaning of the name knonkoba for them was the master of the forest, which seems to also imply "master of mystery" since the forest is seen as a very mysterious realm. I was surprised to find few people who knew of a djembe rhythm called konkoba, although many jeli will refer to music by the name of a vocal song and not the djembe rhythm, which could explain the difference in knowledge.

[Jessie]

I have also learned a rhythm called konkomba from bolokada that is a rhythm in 4/4 and I believe has some relation to a bird.

[Dugafola]

I have also learned a rhythm called konkomba from bolokada that is a rhythm in 4/4 and I believe has some relation to a bird.

kankanba. harvest and soli related.

[James]

Yea it turns out it's Kankanba....