The Pygmies are a broad group of people who live in Central Africa, especially in Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Music is an important part of Pygmy life, and casual performances take place during many of the day's events. Music comes in many forms, including the spiritual likanos stories, vocable singing and music played from a variety of instruments. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A vocable is a word used without meaning. ...

The African Pygmies are particularly known for their usually vocal music, usually characterised by dense contrapuntal communal improvisation. Simha Arom (2003) says that the level of polyphonic complexity of Pygmy music was reached in Europe in the 14th century, yet Pygmy culture is unwritten and ancient, some Pygmy groups being the first known cultures in some areas of Africa. Music permeates daily life and there are songs for entertainment as well as specific events and activities. Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. ... Counterpoint is a musical technique involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines. ... Improvisation is the act of making something up as it is performed. ... Simha Arom is a French-Israeli ethnomusicologist who is recognized as an expert on the music of central Africa, expecially that of Central African Republic. ... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ...

Formally Pygmy music consists of at most only four parts, and can be described as an, "ostinato with variations," or similar to a passacaglia, in that it is cyclical. In fact it is based on repetition of periods of equal length, which each singer divides using different rhythmic figures specific to different repertoires and songs. This interesting case of Ethnomusicology and Ethnomathematics creates a detailed surface and endless variations of not only the same period repeated, but the same piece of music. As in some Balinese gamelan music, these patterns are based on a super-pattern which is never heard. The Pygmies themselves do not learn or think of their music in this theoretical framework, but learn the music growing up. Ostinato, an Italian word meaning stubborn (compare English obstinate), is to classical music what riffs are to popular music. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ... In music a passacaglia (French: passacaille, Spanish: pasacalle) is a musical form and the corresponding court dance. ... Ethnomusicology (from the Greek ethnos = nation and mousike = music), formerly comparative musicology, is the study of music in its cultural context, cultural musicology. ... Ethnomathematics is the study of mathematics that considers the culture in which mathematics arises. ... Bali is an Indonesian island located at , , one of the Lesser Sunda Islands. ... Saron - Indonesian Embassy in Canberra A gamelan is a kind of musical ensemble of Indonesian origin typically featuring metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs. ...

Colin M. Turnbull, an American anthropologist, wrote a book about the Pygmies, The Forest People, in 1965. This introduced Pygmy culture to Western countries, many of whose inhabitants were intrigued by the seemingly-simple lifestyle they led. Turnbull claimed that the Pygmies viewed the forest as a parental spirit that could be communicated with via song. Some of Turnbull's recordings of Pygmy music were commercially released, and inspired more ethnomusicological study, such as by Simha Arom, a French-Israeli who recorded a kind of whistle called hindewhu, and by Mauro Campagnoli, an Italian ethnomusicologist who studied in depth the musical rituals and instruments of Baka Pygmies, also by taking part into their secret rite of initiation. Some tracks were then used by Bill Summers, Herbie Hancock's percussionist, in the song "Watermelon Man," from the album Head Hunters (see hocket). In 1992, the popularization of Pygmy music spread with the release of Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez's Deep Forest. Though the fusion of New Age spirituality with sampled Pygmy music and soft techno was heavily criticized by music purists, the album was a multi-million selling success. Soon after its release, controversy continued amid accusations that none of the money made from recording was given to the Pygmy performers. Despite the controversy, a percentage of the proceeds from each album were donated to the Pygmy Fund set up to aid Zaire's pygmies. Colin Macmillan Turnbull (November 23, 1924 _ July 28, 1994) was a Scottish-born anthropologist who gained fame with his book The Forest People (1962), a detailed study of the Mbuti Pygmies. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Ethnomusicology (from the Greek ethnos = nation and mousike = music), formerly comparative musicology, is the study of music in its cultural context, cultural musicology. ... Simha Arom is a French-Israeli ethnomusicologist who is recognized as an expert on the music of central Africa, expecially that of Central African Republic. ... Mauro Campagnoli (born in Turin, 1975), is an Italian anthropologist, ethnomusicologist and composer. ... The Baka, also known as Bebayaka, Bebayaga, Bibaya, or Babinga, are a Pygmy ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon, northern Congo (Brazzaville), northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. ... Initiation rites are formalized, ceremonial rites of passage as an individual moves from stage to stage within a social career or formally acquires such status. ... Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is a jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Hancock is one of jazz musics most important and influential pianists and composers. ... Head Hunters is an album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music) on Columbia Records. ... In music hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Deep Forest is a musical group comprising of two French musicians, Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...

Pygmy styles include liquindi, or water drumming, and instruments like the bow harp (ieta), ngombi (harp zither) and limbindi (a string bow).

Discography

• African Rhythms (2003). Music by Aka Pygmies, performed by Aka Pygmies, György Ligeti and Steve Reich, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Teldec Classics: 8573 86584-2. Liner notes by Aimard, Ligeti, Reich, and Simha Arom and Stefan Schomann.
• Music of the Rainforest Pygmies. Historic recordings made by Colin M. Turnbull. Lyrichord: LYRCD 7157.

The Aka are a wandering African pygmy people, with large heads and slender necks, who live by hunting. ... György Sándor Ligeti (born May 28, 1923) is a Jewish Hungarian composer (now living in, and a citizen of, Austria), widely seen as one of the great composers of instrumental music of the 20th century. ... Steve Reich Steve Reich (born Stephen Michael Reich, October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. ... Colin Macmillan Turnbull (November 23, 1924 _ July 28, 1994) was a Scottish-born anthropologist who gained fame with his book The Forest People (1962), a detailed study of the Mbuti Pygmies. ...

Further reading

• Abram, Dave. "Sounds From the African Rainforest". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 601-607. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

See also

Pygmy groups

• Baka
• Aka
• Twa

Researchers who studied Pygmy music: The Baka, also known as Bebayaka, Bebayaga, Bibaya, or Babinga, are a Pygmy ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon, northern Congo (Brazzaville), northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. ... The Aka are a wandering African pygmy people, with large heads and slender necks, who live by hunting. ... The Twa are a pygmy people, of short stature, who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of anthe Great Lakes region of central Africa that now comprises the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. ...

• Colin Turnbull
• Simha Arom
• Mauro Campagnoli

Colin Macmillan Turnbull (November 23, 1924 - July 28, 1994) was a prominent British anthropologist who gained fame with his book The Forest People (1962), a detailed study of the Mbuti Pygmies. ... Simha Arom is a French-Israeli ethnomusicologist who is recognized as an expert on the music of central Africa, expecially that of Central African Republic. ... Mauro Campagnoli (born in Turin, 1975), is an Italian anthropologist, ethnomusicologist and composer. ...

External links

• Baka Pygmies: music and culture with ethnographic notes
• Ethnomusicological fieldworks among Pygmies
• Philadelphia CityPaper.net: 20 questions Louis Sarno an interview by Deni Kasrel, June 13–20, 1996 regarding BaBenzl Pygmies
• Deep Forest music site - with music samples