African instruments have been present in Africa since prehistoric times, but African music is not just an “add-on” to life as one might see it in the western world, kora live it is an integral part of their social fabric and life itself. There the written word was virtually non-existent until colonial development, music and song were used as a means of recording history that could be passed from one generation to the next.

Rhythm almost certainly originated in the area we now know as Africa. To the African musically trained ear, almost all modern, non-African music containing variations on African rhythms can be heard. The instruments used to express this music have evolved over millennia and fall broadly into one of five groups of instruments; Drums, strings, shakers, bells or other percussion instruments. Here are some examples of some of the most commonly used African instruments.

djembe

in West African Guinea, the djembe is a hand-held drum played by a person almost exclusively with their bare hands. Usually up to three meters high. The striking head is typically 14 inches in diameter. The shell is made of a hardwood such as ‘ lenge ‘ or ‘ harre ‘ and the shaved skin of a goad is stretched over the head of the drum, using an arrangement of metal rings and sinew to tighten the skin. A master drummer ( djembefola ) can produce over 36 different sounds from the djembe using only his hands. It is usually played in a group of drummers and each djembe is tuned and sized for a specific tone.

kora

Originating in West Africa (and now played almost exclusively in that region), the kora is a 21-string bridge harp (but the number of strings varies from region to region). A kora is constructed from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cowhide to form a resonator, and has a notched bridge like a guitar. With a harp-like sound, the kora is played with the hands, playing bass notes with the left hand and the accompanying melody with the right hand.

shaker

Across Africa there is a tree with a seed coat that in its natural form makes an excellent shaker, and it was probably this type of shaker that had been used from the beginning of Rhythm. Shakers are said to add the ‘spice’ to African music and have evolved over the years, although the use of natural materials is still the norm. In West Africa, a very common and popular shaker called a ‘ shekere ‘ is made from a dried gourd with the beads woven into a mesh covering the gourd. Similar gourd and bead or gourd and seed percussion instruments exist throughout the African continent.

Information on George Adamson

The lion’s father, George Adamson, was one of the greatest conservationists of all time. He was a man ahead of his time – a hero whose devotion to Africa’s lions is unparalleled. He sacrificed his entire life for the conservation and welfare of Africa’s endangered lions – battling poachers, bandits, bureaucracy and his own old age, just to preserve their habitat – the fauna and flora of Kenya’s untamed wilderness.

George Alexander Graham

George Alexander Graham Adamson was born on February 3, 1906 in Etawah , British India. His mother, Katherine, was English and his father, Harry, was Irish. After training in the UK, George and his brother Terrance moved to Kenya to work on a coffee plantation. However, this lifestyle did not suit George’s adventurous nature and after trying various ventures such as goat trading and prospecting for gold, he finally accepted the position of warden in Kenya’s game department in 1938. In 1942 he married the Austrian artist Joy Bally. Together, the nature-loving couple lived happily in their exquisite surroundings.

The cannibal

It wasn’t until 1956 that fate took an unexpected turn that would change the Adamsons’ lives forever . Earlier this year, George learned that a maning lion was terrorizing some villages. George and his party pursued the male lion and killed the man -eater . Just then, the lioness burst out of nowhere and unexpectedly attacked her – leaving the men with no choice but to shoot her. Only later did George learn the reason for the aggression of the lionesses – their three newborn cubs.

Knowing full well that the cubs would not survive on their own in the wild, George brought the three baby lionesses to their home, where he and Joy tried several recipes until they finally came up with a lion’s milk formula that the cubs accepted and fed up. Over time the young cubs grew into adorable and playful little lions and brought good luck to George and Joy who would never have a child of their own as Joy had three miscarriages over the course of their marriage.

African bush.

As the boys grew it became apparent that they could no longer be kept as cuddly toys and so the older two were sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands – an excellent facility where George visited them years later. The youngest sibling, named Elsa, was kept at the urging of Joy, who, despite all conventional wisdom and advice, embarked on the nearly impossible task of driving a nearly domesticated lion wild. This had never been done before. George supported Joy in her decision and together the two set about teaching Elsa how to hunt and fend for herself in the African bush.

After many months of hard work and dedication, Elsa finally got her first kill. Over time she also learned to interact with other lions and was eventually able to be truly independent in the wild – being able to “live free” after being “born free”. This remarkable story was soon made into a film and brought George and Joy much fame and limelight. Humbled as ever, George avoided most of the attention and began his long and somewhat lonely journey to conserving the region’s wild lion population. Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who played George and Joy respectively in the Oscar-winning film Born Free, became great animal lovers and lifelong friends of George.

George continued

George continued his work with lions in Meru National Park in Kenya’s Northern Frontier Province. Sadly, Elsa died aged just five, believed to be tick-borne, and breathed her last in George’s lap – causing grief to a man who was to have many more heartbreaking moments in his life. kooralive Just five years after the film’s release, George was forced to retire from his position as head game warden after one of his lions, “Boy,” mauled another warden’s son.

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