{"id":77540,"date":"2019-05-03T03:25:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T01:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=77540"},"modified":"2019-05-03T03:33:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T01:33:38","slug":"ethno-malawi-music-keeping-traditional-instruments-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2019\/05\/03\/ethno-malawi-music-keeping-traditional-instruments-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethno Malawi Music: keeping traditional instruments alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Banda Jnr: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Technology threatens to wipe many things out, one of which being traditional instruments.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are people who are ready to save such instruments from extinction.<\/p>\n

Ethno-musician Waliko Makhala is a case in point. He remembers that there was a time he was tasked, as part of a project, to look for players of different traditional instruments such as Bangwe and Kaligo.<\/p>\n

Sadly, there were only a few players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that we value these instruments because they are part of our culture. We need to preserve them and make sure that the younger generation know them,\u201d<\/em> Makhala said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is why Music Crossroads Malawi, led by Mathews Mfune\u2014 in partnership with veteran ethno-musician Charles Chavalamangwere Mkanthama\u2014 decided to create the Pakhonde Music Camp which graduated its name to Ethno Malawi Music Camp last year to connect with other Ethno camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw that there was a gap. The country has a lot, as regards traditional instruments, but they are not being played. Most of these instruments are being played by the older generation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, through the Ethno Malawi Music Camp, we thought we should have a platform where we could bring out these instruments,\u201d<\/em> Mfune said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This year, the Ethno Music Camp is taking place at Chingalire in Lilongwe.<\/p>\n

The first two events were held in Ntchisi before moving to Kayesa Inn in Mchinji last year.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s venue \u2014 Chingalire\u2014 is home to musician Ben Mankhamba.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy that, this year, the Ethno Music Camp is being held at Chingalire,\u201d<\/em> Mankhamba, who is Village Head Chingalire, said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mankhamba, who performed, made sure that his subjects participated in activities.<\/p>\n

Mkanthama is another advocate for the use of traditional instruments. He has been instrumental on other fronts, as he has been playing the nsansi for Kalonga Gawa Undi.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
RARE TALENT\u2014 Mpotandebvu plays the pango<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He also trained Patrick Chimbewa in how to play the nsansi. Makhala facilitating a session on ethno-music, said several players need to be involved in the project which could at the end even help in creating the real identity of the country\u2019s music.<\/p>\n

While, last year, the ethno-music camp brought Kaligo player Magomero to the fold, this year has seen one of the few pango players Rabson Mpotandebvu being part of the camp.<\/p>\n

Pango is a traditional instrument that is also known as bangwe and some of the well-known giants of the instruments include Tambala Chitenje and Limited Fungo.<\/p>\n

Mpotandebvu, who is based in Lilongwe, has been playing the pango since the 1970s, having learnt it from his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an instrument I have loved to play until today. Whenever I want to talk about different issues I take time out to play the pango. I have several songs with me but most of them are not recorded. I have tried to send some of them to different media houses but I am not sure if they are being played,\u201d<\/em> Mpotandebvu said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Born in 1956, Mpotandebvu said he has passed on the skills to one of his children, who he believes will continue the legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not the only pango player I believe, there are others out there and they need to be brought to light,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The future is bright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Banda Jnr: Technology threatens to wipe many things out, one of which being traditional instruments. Fortunately, there are people who are ready to save such instruments from extinction. Ethno-musician Waliko Makhala is a case in point. He remembers that there was a time he was tasked, as part of a project, to look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77540"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77553,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77540\/revisions\/77553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}