Musical instruments

The lineup of the kalindula band in Chibale is a string bass instrument, a banjo, various iron rattles and one or more drums. It changed especially in the first years after the rise of kalindula, when the localisation of kalindula took place.

Musical instruments in Zambia: rattles. The term cisekele refers to shaken and struck rattles with an open or closed container. It can be used at practically all occasions where music is being played.

This article is about the sounds that a person can make without further instruments, clapping, humming, whistling and ululating. People in Chibale distinguish them from the most prominent human sound: singing.

All specialists use specific rattles. When they sing and dance, they wear masamba and nsangwa. When they diagnose, they use the musebe or arm nsangwa. And when singing in private they could use the namukalapanda. To mark the differences in purpose and status, these instruments are not referred to as cisekele except when that word is used in the abstract sense of ‘all rattle-like instruments’.

The mukonkonto is an instrument consisting of one or two sticks played on the side of the master drum to reinforce the sound of the set of three drums

Conical drums are played in sets of three in Chibale. The set is used at larger feasts and rituals. Only on special occasions, like mourning, one drum is played. In the kalindula ensemble, we find one to three drums: conical drums, a bass drum (bita) and sometimes a kaoma (small drum). In church music originally no drums were used, then one or two small drums and, more recently, in some cases two conical drums. Together with the rattles, the drums are the most frequently used musical instruments in Chibale. There are also some historical drums that are still known but are not played anymore.

In Chibale, Zambia, people play two types of kazoos, for hunting and for fun.

The ilimba, the one-note xylophone, is played in ensembles of three instruments of different sizes in Chibale, Zambia. Of old, its music was connected to mourning and hunting, nowadays it is important mainly for cultural heritage occasions.

The kalimba, lamellophone, is a personal and leisure musical instrument for men. It has two distinct types.

In former days, flutes played a more prominent role, connected to herding and hunting. Nowadays, the police whistle and a revived flute are still played.

In Chibale, Zambia, the ndibu are small bells with clappers, mostly played in pairs. They are worn by dancers, the bells hanging over and among the ropes with bamboo of the dancing skirt. They are not played separately. The bells are said to be of Chikunda origin.

An ocarina used by the honey-gatherer to call and interact with the honeyguide, a bird that leads humans to a hidden wild-bee hive.

Among the instruments that are remembered but not used anymore in Chibale, Zambia, are three instruments that made a soft or louder roaring sound: a bull-roarer, a humming top and a friction drum.

A large musical bow with a connected calabash resonator played with a small stick or reed; used for the men’s personal and leisure repertoire.

A large single iron bell only played at important occasions connected to chieftainship.

Small specially grown gourds, or bottles, are used in a set of three to accompany women’s music.

A set of three wooden boats played with two sticks used to scare the birds from eating out the nearly ripe sorghum grains. Unraveling the songs played on it was a sport.

In Chibale in the past there was a board zither with three strings and a gourd as a resonator that was used for the personal and leisure repertoire of the men.

In former days, iron was smelted and forged that was used in a wide area outside the Lala region. The ore was smelted in an oven fanned by hand bellows and was guided by the singing of songs with the various bellows forming a rhythmical ensemble with an intricate sound.

Guitars play a tiny role in the music of Chibale, Zambia. Still, in the district in which Chibale lies, Serenje district, fine guitar playing has been produced over time.

In a relatively small area, which most of the inhabitants consider to be a single culture, with many musical occasions, less than 50% of all musical instruments –still there or still remembered– are generally known.