Singing Wells

Discovering, recording, archiving and promoting the traditional music of East Africa. Check out our YouTube channel:

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

The joy in Kidedeya's performance is evident in every photo that we took of the occasion. They were a group of wonderful dancing and costume changes: every song meant we got to bear witness to a new and wonderful outfit!

#costumechange #africandancing #tanzania #kidedeya

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

This upbeat bop has been submitted by Jay P Production for our latest installment of the Global Influences Project. We love how they used this beat to create something that got the whole team wanting to dance!

#newmusicfriday #africanbeats #africanmusic

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

Liwambwe was a fairly new group that we met on our travels to Tanzania in 2017. When we met they had been playing off and on for three years. They had unique drums, including small drums with wooden spikes on bottom to be embedded in sand, called the Siganga. #liwambwe #tanzania

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

Tarajazz was formed by the director, Suleiman Makame. He became interested in Jazz and created an African fusion with Taarab about three years ago. He combined African rhythms such as Msewe and Kyaso with Singeli (a new tribal rhythm).

#tarajazz #fusion #taarab #zanzibar

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

One technique we see used over and over is that of heating drums to tune them. It's a fascinating process to witness in person. We can't wait until we are back in the field so we can find out more about other cultural traditions and techniques!

#drumtuning #africandrumming

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

This beautiful shot is of one of the members of Kumbaka Asee who we met back in 2014. They in the musical style of Kilumi, wathi wa kikamba. They are also from the Kamba ethnic community (ukamba wa kitui). They were formed in 1974.
#beautifulphotography #portrait #kumbakaasee

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

Sometimes a photo says more than we ever could. How powerful is this shot? This is some of the Sila Dancers who we met on our 2012 trip to the Rift Valley.

#powerfulimage #photography #siladancers #riftvalley

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

We met Umuny Jubi Ite Yaa on our 2012 field trip to Northern Uganda. There were three young percussionists on Bul (Drums) and then about 8 dancers. Recording a group of young performers is a good sign: it means the music is alive and well!

#youngmusicians #northernuganda

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

10 years, 10 million views. It all feels too perfect! Thank you to our teams, all the artists we've worked with, and to everyone finding so much happiness and entertainment in our project.

#10millionview #youtube #singingwells #musiccharity #eastafricanmusic #celebrations

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

We are so grateful to all our subscribers, for supporting our project and the artists we work with, and making it so clear that Singing Wells brings a huge amount of value to people all over the world!

#traditionalmusic #grateful #youtube #fans #subscribers #ethnomusicology

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

A huge aim for us in the conservation of traditional music is spending some time focusing on the instruments as well as the artists. Here are a selection of 4 of the instruments that we have worked with: Bigwala, Nyatiti, Adungu and Filimbi

#conservation #ethnomusicology

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

Today, we leave you with our incredible promo video, created by the brilliant @BigHunterAllen and featuring footage from our latest Tanzania trip, showing the vast array on talent that East Africa has to offer.

#newtechnology #filming #360filming #tanzaniamusic #eastafrica

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

We love the powerful beats of this submission to the #GlobalInfuencesProject from part-time producer Kimani. We love that this project is inspiring modern artists to use these traditional rhythms to influence their upcoming work.

#traditionalmusic #newmusicfriday #africanbeats

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

Our Top 20 countdown has shown us that there have been some incredible highlights of our field trips, history that has been made and uncovered, legacies that have been created and shared.

#anyimlac #top20moments #amonewatmonmathew #watmonculturalgroup #taarab #singingwells

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

What would Singing Wells be without the incredible team that have joined us over the last decade? Thank You so much to everyone who has been a part of the Singing Wells community.

#singingwells #teamwork #decade #grateful #ethnomusicology

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

It's so difficult to choose our favourite photos from the past 10 years. We have too many! Here's just four: the Nyunyusa Dancers, Camera, the Kochia Dancers and Musisi!

#singingwells #photography #decade #grateful #ethnomusicology #camera #photographers #traditionalmusic

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

We caught up with Fadhilee to see how his time with Singing Wells had influenced his music, and are so thrilled to have received the above video message! Here's to more collaborations and connections in the future!

#fadhiliituya #singingwells #collaboration #influences

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

To celebrate our 10 million views, we are going to spend the next 10 days celebrating! To kick off... we look back at the video with the most views, the performance of ‘Mtoto si Nguo’ by Johnston Mukabi, son of the great George Mukabi.

#georgemukabi #johnstonmukabi #mtotosinguo

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

This is the last call for #GlobalInfluencesProject submissions 🌍

If you have been waiting to submit, now is the time to get involved! Info can be found at https://t.co/qlWkJR3BvD if you'd like to submit your work! Good luck!

#musicianswanted #producerswanted #creativeswanted

[Singing Wells @singingwells]

We are incredibly excited here at Singing Wells HQ as our YouTube channel is on the cusp of hitting 10 MILLION VIEWS! ✨

Keep heading to our channel to watch your favourite videos today! We cannot wait to celebrate with you all!

#musicyoutube #musiccharity #eastafricanmusic