Musical instruments in Zambia: ocarina

Musical instruments in Zambia: ocarina. The ngolwa, sometimes also called ndubulula¹First mentioned for the Lala region in Madan (1913: 94)., is an ocarina made of a round, dried and hollowed-out kamina fruit²Madan (1913: 111) mentions the lusangwa, of which the nsangwa is made, for this. with a blowing hole on top and a smaller hole at the front that can be closed by a finger.
The notes played are close to (relatively) a – c’ – d’ – f’. The player plays the a by blowing the hole while holding the instrument straight under the lip. And, the d’ by slightly canting the instrument, thus making its depth smaller which results in a higher tone. For the c’ and f’ the player uncovers the second hole while playing a and d’ respectively. When making the instrument, one starts with a small blowing hole only, slowly making it larger until one hears a fourth when canting the instrument. After that one makes the playing hole.

The ngolwa and the gathering of honey

Musical instruments in Zambia: ocarina. Men use the instrument to call and interact with the honeyguide³See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeyguide. (mwebe⁴Also nguni, especially when used as a clan name.) for honey-gathering. See for a description the article A theory about music. The short passage heard in Music example 62 is characteristic of ngolwa playing.

The quick alternation of d’ and f’ has the purpose to call the honeyguide, it is not an imitation of the sound of the honeyguide – which makes a twittering sound like tewe-tewe-tewe-tewe. The music of the ngolwa is based on the musowa wa mfwa, listen to Music example 63. The player can also alternate lamenting passages with ngolwa passages.

Music example 63

The lamentation of the ngolwa player, by Mika Mwape Chungwa, 1986. A, slightly different, vocal performance of the ngolwa playing in Music example 62.

Text of Music example 63 ∵ Honeyguide, help me …

Mwebe we lilo – lilo lilo lilo lilo
Wo wo wo wo wo wo lilo
Mwebe we lilo – nemulanda bama ee
Nemulanda bama wesu ee
Iyo wo wo
Mwebe we mbalulyo lubamfwa bamama wanji ee yo

You, honeyguide, lilo – lilo lilo lilo lilo
Wo wo wo wo wo wo lilo
You, honeyguide, lilo – I the poor one, my mother ee
I the poor one, our mother ee
Iyo wo wo
You, honeyguide, how [heavy] it is since my mother died ee, no

We hear the sung calling of the honeyguide followed by the player’s personal musowa wa mfwa for the deceased mother. “The musowa is to convince the honeyguide that we are in grave troubles.” Wo, iyo and lilo are mourning sounds.

Music example 62

This typical passage of ngolwa playing combines calling parts with musowa wa mfwa parts, comparable to those sung in Music example 63.

Musical instruments in Zambia: ocarina. To be successful in gathering honey, that is in attracting and following the honeyguide, the honey gatherer must know how to combine the possibilities of the four ngolwa notes and those of the musowa wa mfwa.
In former days, rules of preventing staining (mushila wa kukowesha) held for the ngolwa, obviously because playing it involves a closeness to death and the mpanga. For example, one could not make, play or keep it in the village. Especially people who partly make a living gathering honey, still follow some of the ngolwa rules.

Parallels between hunting and honey-gathering

The ngolwa is especially used to attract the honeyguide. While following, you can also make some sounds with your mouth like lilo or oo. You play the musowa wa mfwa because you are in trouble. The relation between the honeyguide and the human is the same (cimo cine) as that between Kaluwe and the hunter. Both [human and hunter] have to do kwilimuna. The honey gatherer⁵Cibinda ca buci: honey hunter. will put offerings of meal under trees, just like the hunters⁶Cibinda ca nama: game/meat hunter. do.
The seeing of the honeyguide in the mpanga is the same (cimo cine) as the dreams Kaluwe gives the hunters in the mpanga. Like the mourning songs on the ngolwa, there is a lot of singing in the temporary shelter of the hunters (mutanda). Nowadays a Kaluwe possessed can even have these dreams in the village; they are given by Kaluwe possession spirits.
Alube Mika ∵  personal communication, 2004.

Other uses of the ngolwa

Musical instruments in Zambia: ocarina. The ngolwa can be used for signalling during hunting. For this the ngolwa ya muminwe, the ngolwa on the fingers, can be used too. The player presses his hands together to leave a small resonance room and blows on the connecting part of the thumb and index finger of the right hand. This yields one tone. By slightly lifting the fingers of the left hand he obtains a second tone, a minor third higher. Like with the ngolwa, the player moistens the blowing edge before playing.

The ngolwa can be used in situations of difficult communication like that between the son-in-law and his father-in-law, as in Story 5. See also the article about oral notation.

Story 5

Kwali uwaupile umukashana.
Nomba ngabanaya inshima kubuko batuma umukashi ati: kalye nabalume nawe. Abalume ifya mikusu ngasuna fibili, ninshi umukashi tapali necakulya iyoo. Ili lume lyabula ne mbale lyapwa.
Elyo umwanakashi kuya fye kuli banyina ati bushe tapali akashima akasheleko. Elyo bamupela kalya akasheleko ifyo fine mpaka umukashi aonda nokonda.
Kasuba kamo uyu mulumendo elo aile mukupando buci naba wishi fyala. Bawishi fyala ukubula ngolwa batampa kulisha ati: Wang’onsesha mwana kumikusu yakusuna ncomone lilo. Umulumendo (umuko) naye ukupoka ingolwa atampa nokulisha ati: Mbule ncomone – Mbule ncomone umo kafumine pa buNgoni ee lilo.
Bawishi fyala baumfwa ati kanshi mulandu wakuti tapali ifyo alyapo akasuba umo bucelele mpaka ubushiku epakulya. Banafyala ukubeba kubalume, bacinja nokunaya. Batendeka ukunaya ulucelo nakasuba pa mutwe.

There was a man who married a young woman.
When nshima was prepared by the in-laws, they sent his wife saying: go and eat with your husband. When her husband took two big lumps (in his hand), his wife was left with nothing. Her husband took everything from the plate and ate.
So the woman used to go to her mother and asked: has no small piece of nshima remained? And she was given what was left. This went on many times until his wife became thinner and thinner.
So one day this young man went out to look for honey with his father-in-law. His father-in-law got the ngolwa and started playing like this: You have made my daughter thin through those big lumps you take, lilo. The young man (son-in-law) also got the ngolwa and started playing it like this: Why shouldn’t I take big lumps! – Why shouldn’t I take big lumps from sunrise in the Ngoni region, ee lilo.
His father-in-law realised that this was the reason because he did not eat any food starting from morning till late in the evening when he ate. The mother-in-law after being told by her husband, changed the meal times. She started cooking in the morning and at noon.