Musical instruments in Zambia: sticks
Musical instruments in Zambia: sticks. The player strikes one or two wooden sticks of 60 to 70 centimetres, mukonkonto, on the side of the master drum (iyikulu). The mukonkonto reinforces the sound of the set of three drums, especially at larger rituals and feasts.
It is also possible to play with two sticks on the side of a drum that lays on the ground and is not being played. This is done for signalling or for music during mourning. In that case, the sticks can also be called minkobele, compare mikoci and tusembe.
Photo 176: Mukonkonto playing
Two sticks, mukonkonto, played on the side of the master drum. This reinforces the drumming for the Ciwila possessed Bola at the Ipupo lya fikankomba in 1985.
Mukonkonto and clapping
The pattern of the mukonkonto is the same as that of hand-clapping. It follows the rhythm of the melody and becomes constant as soon as the singing stops.
Music example 51
Mukonkonto patterns. Alube Mika plays the mukonkonto to the accompaniment of a song he sings in 2007.
The mukonkonto follows the rhythm of the melody. Towards the end of the recording it has the simple, fixed pattern that would be played when there is no singing.
Possibly the mukonkonto serves to replace synchronous hand-clapping by many, to avoid the risk of an inaccurate performance. The instrument therefore is linked to the increase in scale of rituals in the 1970s and 1980s and the associated lower involvement of all present at that ritual. Clapping is a sign of respect for the organisers and of commitment to the purpose of the gathering.
This seems to indicate that in that period accuracy in performance was regarded more important than the showing of respect by the attendants through helping in the performance. The latter they could still do by singing the chorus lines of the songs, by cheering and the like.