bolon

[the kid]

soliman camera plays yankadi and mani on bolon. power singing.

accoustic bass - bolon is made from a calabash(gourd) wrapped in skin, wood and goat skin strings. Yankadi is from boke village in guinea. they call this rhythym reggae africa.

[maimouna]

does anyone know where i can get some traditional bolon strings? i have a bolon and the strings busted almost as soon as i got it. i love the instrument and want to play it. any help would be appreciated.

[Onetreedrums]

I also had some bolon strings break and replaced them last week. The strings are made of goat skin and they broke because they became dry and brittle. I cut some quarter inch strips of wet goat skin (I cut on a little thicker for the lowest string) and twisted and stretched them until they began to hold their shape a little. I tied one of the ends into a knot to hold it in the bridge. I let them dry a little and stretched and twisted them some more until the looked very similar to the previous strings that snapped. After the dried out entirely I melted some shea butter in my hands and ran the new strings through my hand to saturate strings. I strung up my bolon with the new strings and it sounds way better then it did previously. If the strings dry out in the months to come, I'll apply a little more shea butter. I hope that helps.

[BobF]

Nate, any tips for playing the bolon? I just got one a couple weeks ago and don't know any bolon parts.

[bubudi]

the bolon has been around since before the beginning of the mande empire and is considered the ancestor of the other mande harp-lutes, the donsongoni, kamelengoni and kora. the instrument was traditionally played by jon (slaves) to give courage to warriors before battle, and its use also extended to royal processions, funerals of warriors or other important people and to encourage workers in the fields (among the bambara and senufo).

the bolon is played by the maninka, susu, bambara, fulbe, senufo and kissi people in guinea, mali, ivory coast, burkina faso and sierra leone. it appears similar to the simbi or donsongoni (hunter's harp), but has a few distinguishing factors: 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 also hit the calabash with the rings/stick, or play the skin like a drum.

there are 4 and 5 string versions of the bolon. this was a later adaptation. the 5 string bolon was invented by djigui traore, one of the last great bolon masters in mali, who is now about 70 years of age. famous modern players of the bolon in a non-traditional context: djigui traore, tom diakite, famara camara, abdou diallo and sadioko diarra.



recordings: 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. les ballets africains occasionally featured the bolon. amadou and mariam, habib koite and many others have included bolon in their recordings. famoudou konate features bolon on one track in each of the 2 volumes of his malinke rhythms and songs. some notable recordings by well known bolon players include:

djigui traore (rare k7)
tom diakite - fala (2009 iroko sound - hard cd to find)

some videos on the web:

yorro diallo, the great bolon master from sikasso, mali, playing bolon in bamako, mali (1999)
http://djigui_traore.mondomix.com/fr/video1478.htm

mohamed kouyate from sangbarala, guinea, playing bolon in simbaya (conakry) (2008)


souleymane camara from boke, guinea, playing bolon in banjul, gambia (2003)


soul camara making a bolon from scratch


wurrie diallo demonstrates bolon (2008)

[bubudi]

does anyone know where i can get some traditional bolon strings? i have a bolon and the strings busted almost as soon as i got it. i love the instrument and want to play it. any help would be appreciated.

these days nylon strings (i.e. fishing wire) are used, and that is easy to get in various thicknesses. if you want to stick with the gut strings, you will need to make them yourself. originally, antelope skin was used, but goat will do nicely. the thin strips need to be twisted and softened like nate described above.

[bubudi]

history of the bolon

(adapted from justin morel junior's publication 'le petit histoire du bolon' in french)

the bolon is best known in medieval mande 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.

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:

'our 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 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.

[Paul]

Nice post.
Thanks for the info

[boyd]

Could anyone tell me if there is a specific tuning- or if there are accepted intervals between strings?

thanks, boyd

[bubudi]

there do seem to be accepted intervals, but i've never analysed them. this music is purely percussive. there's no melody in bolon music (in the sense that 'melody' is applied to western music). you could easily work out the tunings of each string from the video and then work out the intervals. the bolon can be played equally well with pentatonic and heptatonic ensembles. i've seen it with both.

[bubudi]

mamady kouyate from sangbarala plays bolon and sings the mamady song.


mamady kouyate again, this time with the mariama song

[bubudi]

seydou kourouma singing and playing bolon in conakry, with mohamed kouyate on kora and some unknown kid crying in the background seydou sure can sing.

[e2c]

djigui traore (rare k7)

He also recorded for the French Cobalt label (which is distributed by Buda Musique) in 1999. The disc's title is simply "Djigui." Has a very nice cover shot of him in what appear to be hunter's clothes; 8 songs in all.

He played 3-string bolon for this, using a curved stick. (There are some good pics of him holding the stick.)



Apparently Nahawa Doumbia was the person who tipped off the producers to Djigui. (They credit her in the liner notes.)

[cheikhsekoubacamara]

Does anyone know of a bolon recording that features bolon players from Burkina Faso? I lost this cd and would like to replace it.

[bubudi]

welcome sekouba!

do you know the name of the group, the name of the recording, or any of the musicians on it? is it only bolon music on this recording or are there other instruments as well?