Music in Burkina Faso

Local Dance Troupe

When I left for Burkina Faso many of you assumed I would end up playing African music and bring back African instruments to play with Mud in Yer Eye when I returned. In my village, the only musical instruments seem to be rhythm instruments.  The first week I was here I was invited to a celebration of the success of an onion storage project.  A gardening group in my village had built a place to store and preserve onions until a time when there were not so many for sale by others.  They were telling other folks about how they did the project and how much more they were able to earn by waiting until there was less supply and more demand.  For entertainment they had a dance troupe with male musicians who sang and played drums. The men who danced held and shook a kind of instrument that seemed to represent the dabas with which you cultivate the ground. It consisted of two gourds that had pebbles or shells or something inside to make a rattling sound.

  
The women danced in a circle, bending at the waist and waving their heads and arms back and forth. This may have represented planting and harvesting, but I am not sure.

Wedding Dances

The next place I heard music and saw dancing was at the church after the wedding of the daughter of my homologue.  Here the women again danced in a circle, while a couple of women beat drums in the middle of the group and everyone sang to provide the music.

At the reception for this wedding, in my homologue's courtyard, the music was provided by improvised drums (the big blue barrel and the small blue jerry can) and a pot lid that made a sound a bit like a triangle or symbol.

Again, people danced in a circle, with lots of head, shoulder and hip shaking.  Everyone was singing some traditional song while the folks were dancing. The bride, in the purple dress, joined in the dance, although the groom was nowhere to be seen.

At another wedding this girl played the traditional rhythm instrument made of a gourd and shells.  Here she is holding it on her head to show off the design for me, but you play it by tossing it up in the air and the shells make a very loud noise when you catch it and the shells hit the gourd. Voices again provided the melody.

 

Nightclubs

In Bobo we went to a nightclub hoping to hear some traditional music.  We did heard songs sung in the local language, but some of the instruments were modern ones, including a keyboard and electric guitars. 

You can see a modern drum set in the picture below, behind this guy playing the electronic keyboard, but this group was not using it.

 

 The rhythm was provided by a large gourd this guy played as a drum. He pounded it with his closed fists, or tapped on it with wood pieces attached to his fingers so he could make a variety of sounds.

We finally did find some traditional music, on New Year’s Eve, in Ouaga.  We had dinner and heard a band play traditional music using a balaphone, a gourd drum, some stringed instruments and flutes.  It looked like the man with the flute had a whole bag of them, like our harmonica players in Mud, one for each key that might be used. Here is a very brief snatch of the music.  It took 3 hours for me to upload it!

The best musical encounter, however, was at the music museum on Ouaga.  After Elizabeth and I took the half hour guided tour of the 15 or so drums and the balaphone played by a famous musician (no photos allowed), our guide asked if we would like to hear some live music. Here are the musicians who did the drumming.

For one number, this man played the balaphone. The balaphone would be a fun instrument to learn to play, but it would never work with western music.  It is tuned to a five tone scale.  The interesting thing about the tuning is that every note harmonizes with every other note, at least according to Wikipedia.

The woman in yellow danced to a couple of numbers and then invited us to dance. Elizabeth used my Flip camera and got a bit of me doing the traditional Moore “bump” dance with the woman.  I hope the videos plays smoothly for you. Here I can get only about 3 seconds at a time.

On Being a Tourist in Burkina Faso

Gas Stations

Being a tourist here is not quite like being a tourist in the states. For example, after a visit to my village, we needed to refill the tank with diesel fuel.  The one gas station in my village was out of it.  We hoped we would be able to get to the next village large enough to have a gas station.  We found a place along the way that did have diesel fuel, but the attendant had to pump the gas by hand.  I don’t think I have even seen anything like this before.

  

Speaking of gas, one of the things you see all along the road are “gas stations” that consist of whisky bottles filled with a liter of gas for motor cycles. When I first saw these I thought the contents really were whisky and I was surprised that it would be sold from a stand like this.  Our driver said he would not trust the gas from places like this to put in a car, but people with motos use it all the time.

 

 

What with all the terrible roads we drove on, I was not too surprised when we got a flat tire.  Here there is no AAA to call to come to the rescue and I was glad we had a good spare tire. We had to take time out to look for a replacement.  We stopped at several villages along the road before we found a place that had the right sized tire and we were keeping our fingers crossed that we would not end up with another flat before we found one. Luckily this was our only tire disaster. 

Another challenge for the traveler is avoiding the animals that may decide to cross the road in front of you.  As in the American west and England, the animals have the right of way. Here are a few we had to avoid:

Cattle

 Pigs

 Pentards

I have always been a bit surprised to see signs that say STOP, regardless of the language of the country.  This sign, however, takes the cake.  Is it a stop sign or a yield sign?
 

We stayed in a variety of places, with very different levels of accommodation.  The most luxurious was the home of the Country Director, where Dawn and her family, and later Elizabeth, were generously given three nights in very comfortable beds, with hot water, fans, and even access to air conditioning, although they did not need it at that time of the year. When we stayed at the Ranch with the elephants, we stayed in these small cottages that do have running water, but it is whatever temperature it happens to be in the water tower. 

 

There we had electricity only between 6 and 10 at night. Elizabeth took this picture of me (with her flash) so you can see how we managed to carry on even when the power went off at 10 or in the morning before the sun came up. I have the cloth over my shoulders because it was quite chilly.

 

Where Elizabeth and I stayed in Banfora, I was able to access the internet with my cell phone connection from our room, but it was very slow.  In the morning I saw the sign at the registration desk saying (in French) there is WIFI here.  Elizabeth was happy to get on high speed internet to take care of a few things at JCU.

 

In Bobo, with the family, we stayed in a very nice small family place that was something like a motel, but not on a main street. There some of the rooms had hot water, but not others. We had one of each kind.  As you can imagine, the shower in the room with hot water was used by all of us. The courtyard was beautiful, and a really nice place to hang out and enjoy the lovely setting.

When I was traveling with Elizabeth we stayed at a very nice hotel in Bobo.  Here she is, by the swimming pool.  It was a bit cool for a dip this time of year, but in the hot season I am sure it would be much appreciated.

 

While we were traveling in a 4X4, we got much the same treatment as the folks in this bus every time we stopped at a toll booth or near a bus stop.  Women spend the day waiting for the next bus or car to stop.  They run to the bus, holding up whatever they have to sell: onions, apples, water, bread, eggs, or sweet treats made from sesame seeds and honey. I am surprised many of them are not injured by passing vehicles. I am also surprised that they usually get paid for what they pass through the window.

One of the most eye-catching things they sell are bunches of carrots. They scrape off the skins and keep them moist so they are bright orange and ready to eat.

One final thing I found odd about driving on the two lane highways here is the use of turn signals.  Roads, of course, have hills and curves, and some vehicles go faster than others.  When a faster one comes up behind a slower one, it is not always clear whether it is safe to pass.  On some roads there are lines between the two sides of the road, dashed when it is safe to pass and solid when it is not. People do not always respect these signs, especially when the vehicle ahead is going very slowly.  In order to signal a person overtaking you that it is or is not safe to pass you put on your right turn signal if it is safe and your left turn signal if it is not safe.  That makes a kind of sense, because if the vehicle ahead of you is signaling a left turn, you would not want to pass.  However this has been extended to putting on the left turn signal when you are approaching an oncoming vehicle. At first I thought it was a bit odd, because when you see this, it looks like they are about to turn in front of you.  Our driver explained that people do it so that the oncoming drivers know that you have seen them and you are not asleep at the wheel. An interesting custom!

Bobo-Dioulasso

In and around Bobo

Visits this year from my daughter Dawn and her family and from my colleague from John Carroll University, Elizabeth Swenson, gave me a chance to see some tourist sites I would not otherwise have visited.  

Koro

I have written about Tiebele, the village of painted houses.  Another village that is opened to tourists is the village of Koro, located on a high plateau near Bobo-Dioulasso. This is a picture of the slope up to the village.

This is an example of how you manage to make a foundation for a house on the side of the hill.  I guess you just hope there are no earthquakes!

We did see a few people who appear to be living here, although many of the houses seemed to be vacant, like this one.

Our guide told us many of the people live down on the plain most of the year, especially during the growing season, and return to the village only for ceremonies and special events like weddings and funerals. Life can’t be easy here. We passed these women carrying water up the hill as we were leaving. Can you imagine doing this several times a day to have water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, and bathing?

 

One of the things they pointed out to us was the place where the men meet to discuss problems.  Only men are supposed to enter this area, so here is a picture of my son-in-law, Jay, sitting in the place reserved for men. This structure is very similar to the one Janet and I saw in Mali, in the Dogon county, when I visited her there in 1984. 

Here is a view over the rooftops of the village to the plain below.  You can see the village is a long way up, which would make it easy to defend

 

There were fetishes here, similar to those we saw at Tiebele.  We were told this one at Koro was put up by someone who was hoping for twins.

 

The other village tourists can visit is in the heart of the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. It is referred to as the Old City and, as with the other places, you can visit it if you pay a mille (about $2) per person, and tip your guide at the end of the visit.  The money helps with civic projects, we were told, and it is the way the guides make their living. Unlike Koro, it was clear that there were lots of people living here. This is a typical street in the old city, with women at work.

There were also lots of kids around.

One of the things we were shown was a big fetish site. 

Here is a close up of the chicken feathers from someone’s sacrifice here.

This is the place the men of the old city meet to resolve problems.  Our guide said they do not turn malefactors over to the city police but discipline them themselves. Penalties can include fines or beatings.

This is the oldest house in the old city, supposed to date from the 11^th century.  They must refresh the coating pretty often to preserve it.

Because this is a tourist attraction, along the way the guide took us to several places where we could buy souvenirs. At the first place there were a couple of folks playing traditional instruments and singing songs in the local language. Here you could buy instruments, carvings, and CDs of the group that was playing there.

Another stop was at the black smiths’.

  
They were making figures out of the iron. Nice, light little souvenirs to take home with you. They are only about 5 of 6 inches tall.

We also visited a place that sold bags and purses, and one where people were making figures out of bronze, but I will tell you about that in a future blog on arts and crafts in Burkina Faso.

Another tourist attraction is the grand mosque.  Here is a view from the entrance to the old city that is right across the street from it.

When I was traveling with the Garrett-Larsens we took a tour of the mosque.  The interior was mostly pillars holding up the roof.  There is not a large, open area such as you see in churches, but just corridors between the pillars.  

 

Here is the place where the Imam stands when he is teaching the lesson on Thursdays when the Muslims have their biggest gathering of the week.

 

Here are the steps we took to get up to the roof of the mosque.

 

Up on the roof  you could see something of how the building was constructed. 

There is a loud speaker that broadcasts the call to prayer five times a day (or more).  You can see it toward the top of this spire in the picture below. In my village there is a wake-up call broadcast at 4:30 every morning sofolks can be up and be ready to pray at 5:00. No need for an alarm clock! I can’t understand anything that is said, of course, because it is all in Arabic.

Another thing we liked in Bobo were the decorations in the middle of their traffic circles. This one is in honor of women.

This one lighted up at night, with the top part green. the bottom part red, and a yellow star in the middle, like the Burkina Faso flag.  To us, it looked like a Christmas decoration. It looks pretty cool as a crystal pyramid, too.

In Ouaga we visited the national museum,  no photos were permitted inside, but here are a couple of the buildings.

We also visited the music museums in Bobo and in Ouaga, but I will tell you more about that in a later blog on music in Burkina Faso.