Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow

Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow. The kantimbwa is a large musical bow, also called cintimbwa, with an attached calabash resonator, played with a small stick or reed.

Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow. The bow is made from a branch of a mwenge tree. The maker bends the fresh branch using two curved pieces of wood, securing them to maintain its curved shape. Dried cinkunkwa pods, containing seeds, are attached in two places on the bow, producing a soft rustling sound. The string is made from twisted hartebeest (nkonshi) leather or iron wire.

Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow. The rope attaching the gourd to the bow divides the string into two pieces of unequal length, mostly tuned a minor third, sometimes a major third. The player can produce a third tone by shortening the longest of the pieces by pushing the tip of the thumb against the string. In rare cases, a fourth tone is obtained by pushing with that thumb. The kantimbwa is tuned before every song by moving the rope and the gourd up or down the bow. The most frequently used tunings consist of a ‘filled-in’ minor third: e-f-g, e-f+-g or e-f#-g. When the string becomes too loose, it is stretched by means of hand and foot.
The open side of the gourd rests on the player’s chest. During singing, it is continuously moved from and onto the chest to regulate the resonance.

Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow. The kantimbwa is a men’s leisure instrument¹See Get-togethers of men., similar to the kalimba, though its songs are more often related to hunting and mourning.

Some kantimbwa songs consisted of only one line, like some mankubala songs.

Song 87

A song accompanied on the kantimbwa by Kasubika Saka, 1981.

Text of Song 87 ∵ Mourning and the kantimbwa

Musowa walila banaChinsebele
The weeping sound of Chinsebele’s mother mourning.

Musical instruments in Zambia: musical bow. Other kantimbwa songs are long. The player strings strophes within the same musango, one pair after another, and repeats them.

Song 88

A song accompanied on the kantimbwa by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986.

Text of Song 88 ∵ The kantimbwa and the men’s perspective

Yo we cinselwile nalila bamama mwe
Yo we cinselwile citabona bakulu sobone
Yo we cakusemuka nangu bakulile mupala
Yo bamama fyala tambulukeni mpite
Nangu mukakana ninsoni shenu mukafwe ee
Yo we waikula mu Nsumbye sobone
Sancha kali muntu icitutu balo ubune
Yo we mwana wabo kopoke fwaka nguno
Nelyo ukukana ninsoni shobe ukafwe
Yo koli nga lunshi komwikele mpalya
Yo komwikala apapelele cibelo mupala /ngulya

Yo I cried during the dancing at my grandmother’s [Ipupo], friend
Yo this dancing that doesn’t see old people, come and see
Yo it [the dancing] is for making love though they are (nearly) bald
Yo mother-in-law, pull in your legs so that I can pass
If you refuse, it will be to your own shame
Yo you who built yourself on Sumbye hill, come and see
If Sancha hill were a human being, the bald head would look very good
Yo you, child of theirs, come and get tobacco here
If you refuse, it will be to your own shame
Yo if I were a fly I would sit there
Yo I would go and sit where the thigh ends, sure /of that one

For the bald head of Sancha, see Photo 151.