IDNO

N.13262.GIJ

Description

An xylophone band depicting an xylophone, made of wood, with two players holding sticks on either side, three small drums, one hidden behind player, and a pair of basket rattles. Three of the band members are sitting on the earth ground, other band members are standing and children are watching. Behind the band, is a thatched house? and trees and vegetation.

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; South Eastern Nigeria; Ontisha province; near Awka

Cultural Affliation

Igbo [historically Ibo]; Isuochi

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

1932 - 1938

Collection Name

Jones Collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in a film storage album labelled “ISU-OCHI - etc. ...” by G. I. Jones, and numbered “C13/” by the cataloguer.

Publication: Same image published on John McCall’s G.I. Jones website with the following information: [Source: www.siu.edu/~anthro/mccall/jones/, AF ]
1. Index to Igbo music, shrines, architecture and other cultural artifacts
2. Igbo Musicians
3. Xylophone with two players, three small drums and two basket shakers, Amuda village, Isu Ochi (2nd image).

Context: Jones discusses the various types of musical instruments in eastern Nigeria and in reference to the xylophone he describes it as another musical instrument made of wood and usually played on its own by one or two players. This consisted of a number of billets of wood carefully varied in size to produce each its own particular note when struck with a stick. These were loosely pegged or tied to a supporting base, often two banana stems and arranged to form a pentatonic scale. In some Southern Ibo, Ogoni, and Anang (Ibibio) examples the base was carved in the form of a canoe and figures were attached to the ends, or to a rack which ran the length of the canoe above the keyboard. (Jones, 1984,p.1116)

Context: Echezona provides a detailed description of the various Ibo musical instruments and discusses their various uses. Interestingly, he notes that, “Almost any type of Ibo musical instrument is used in “talking”. Here are a few reasons why this is possible. Ibo language is tonal and the language calls to mind an agreeable succession of tones which combine themselves into interesting patterns and rhythms using syncopation, asymmetric divisions, nonaccented rhythms, changing meters, and shifted accents as some of the devices. In reference to drums he notes that the drum is extensively used for dancing, rejoicing, and wrestling. Gongs or ogene are also important because the, Ogene is principally used to supply rhythms for dancers. The two different pitches often employed in the use of the ogene can show whether a dancer is expected to use his right or his left leg or, when one foot is doing the motion, whether the foot should move up or done. The ogene is also used as a an accompaniment for other percussive instruments such as the ngededgwu (xylophone), abia (set of drums) and in combination with the udu (earthen pot instrument). The aja (clappers) are used to mark rhythms in a song or dance (Echezona, 1964)

Bibliographical Reference: Jones, G.I., 1984. The Art of Eastern Nigeria (Cambridge University Press)
Echezona, W. Wilberforce 1964. “Ibo Musical Instruments” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 50, No.5 pp.23-27+130-131.

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 12/2/2008]

Publication: The photograph has been digitised for the European Collected Library of Artistic Performance (ECLAP) and is accessible on the portal http://www.eclap.eu/drupal/. [SG 30/10/2012]