Balafon: Gambia musical instrument

The balafon is a resonating frame and wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the idiophone category of tuned percussion musical instrument that includes the xylophone, the marimba, the glockenspiel and the vibraphone. Sound is manufactured by striking the tuned keys with two protected sticks. Balafon is believed to have been developed independently of the southern African and South American musical instrument that is now known as the marimba, traditional histories of the balafon traced it back to at least the rise of the Mali Empire in the 12^th century CE. Balafon is a Manding name but variations exist across West Africa, with the Balangi in Sierra Leone and the Gvil of the Dagara, Lobi and Gurunsi that is found in Ghana, Burkina Faso as well as Ivory Coast. Some instruments that are similar to the balafon are used in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient kingdom of Kongo referring to the instrument as “palaku”.

source of picture: culturalinfusion.org.au

A balafon can either be fixed-key or free key. The musical instrument often has 17 to 21 keys that are tuned to a tetratonic, pentatonic or even heptatonic scale depending much on the culture of the musician that is playing the instrument. The balafon is generally fit to produce 18 to 21 notes, although some are carved to produce many fewer notes. The musical instrument keys are traditionally produced from the “bene wood” that is slowly dried over a low flame and then tuned by removing the bits of wood from the underside of the key. The wood is taken off the middle to make the key flat or to the end to sharpen the key. In a fixed-key balafon, the keys are hanged by leather straps just above a wooden frame under which graduated-size calabash gourd resonators are suspended. A small hole in each of the gourd is covered with a membrane traditionally of thin spider’s egg sac filaments to make the featured nasal-buzz tone quality of the musical instrument that is often played with two-rubber-wound mallet while the player is seating on a low stool.

As the culture of the instrument differs across the West Africa, so does the approach to the instrument, in many areas, the balafon is played singly in a ritual context and in others, it is used as part of a group. In Guinea and Mali, the musical instrument is often used as part of group of three, low pitched, medium and high pitched as well. In Cameroon, six balafon of differing size plays together in an orchestra that is known as “komenchang”. An Igbo variation exists with just one tuned key for each of the players. While in most cases a single player hits the multiple keys with two mallets, some other traditions keep two or more players at each keyboard.

The balafon has seen strengthening since the 1980s in the growth of African roots music and the world music as well. Most prominent of this exponent is the rail band that is led by Salif Keita. Even when the instrument is not played the popular sound and traditional pattern has been transferred to the western musical instruments. Maninka, which is found in the Guinea region play a kind of guitar music that took the playing style of balafon to the imported musical instrument.

During the 1950s, bars came up across Cameroon’s capital to oblige an arrival of new inhabitants and soon became a sign for the Cameroonian identity in the face of colonialism. Balafon orchestras, made up of 3 to 5 balafon and many percussion instruments became popular in these bars. Some of these orchestras like Richard Band de Zoetele became more famous in spite of disdain from the European elite.

The middle of the 20^th century made sure that the instrument was made popular of a native folk music known as the bikutsi. The bikutsi is based on a war rhythm that was played with many rattles, drums and the balafon. The balafon orchestras had remained famous all through the 1950s in Yaoundé’s bar scene, although the audience asked modernity and the popular style at the time was not able to cope with the demand.

The Susu and Malinke people of Guinea are tightly identified with the musical instrument, also the other Manding people of Mali, Senegal and the Gambia, also Chat, Cameroon and even the nations of the Congo Basin has a history with this musical instrument. In the Malinke language, Balafon is a combination of two words: “Balan” is a name of the instrument and “fo” is the verb that means to play. So balafon really means “the act of playing the bala”. Bala is still used as the name of a large bass balafon in the Kolokani and Bobo Dioulasso regions. These bala have exceptionally long keys and huge calabash for the amplification of the instrument. Balani is then used as the name of a small balafon that has small calabash and short keys and is pitched high. The balani is carried with the use of a strap and often has about 21 keys while the number of keys on a bala differs from region to region and sometime the musician. The balafon, kora and the ngoni are three musical instruments that are much more linked with griot tradition of West Africa. Each is more closely linked with the region where they are found, although all the instruments are played together in the groups throughout the region. In some culture, the musical instrument was and is still a sacred instrument that is playable by only trained religious caste members only at the ritual activities such as the festival, royal and funerals and also some marriage celebrations. Here the musical instrument is kept in a temple storehouse and can only be brought out and played after undergoing some series of purification activities. Specific instruments may be carved to be played for the particular rituals and repertoire. Young skilled persons are not trained on the instrument that has been made sacred but on the free key pit balafon.