Ikembe

Ikembe, Chisanji, Kisanji and Eleke all refer to a type of lamellaphone common amongst the Bahutu of Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo. Eddie Osborne in his article [http://jomovibes.com/mbira/index.html "The 'Thumb Piano': A Survey of Nomenclature"] , based on my knowledge of the Kiswahili language and folklore associated with the mbira family of instruments is correct in examining the linguistic similarities amongst the variety of languages spoken by the musicians. However, I believe he incorrectly identified the root of a variety of terms used to describe mbira type instruments among many loosely related African nationalities.

In Kiswahili the word imba means song. Kuimba means to sing, as in the phrase [http://www.lingfil.uu.se/ling/semfiler/The_ku_marker_in_Swahili.pdf "nitakwenda kuimba"] (I go to sing). Mama means mother. Kiswahili, as is true of many languages, uses a type of binomial nomenclature to create new words to describe unfamiliar or new objects, occurrences and or people, based on existing words and or concepts. By combining part of the word for mother = ma with the word for song = imba using r as a connector we come up with the word marimba = mother of song. According to Credo Mutwa Vusamazulu this identifies the ancient queen of the Wakamba to the tee. We can then extrapolate from the research of A.M. Jones, quoted by Osborne that ka = small combined with the word imba = song should mean little mother of song. Another example of this is the use of the suffix -ita in Spanish as a diminutive. Thus, marimba becomes marimbita, or little marimba, which according to Credo Mutwa is exactly what a karimba is in the minds of a large number of peoples in Africa and the Americas.

Osborne cites examples of various names for these mbira from all over the continent, which have the Kiswahili word for song as their root. Admittedly, Kiswahili, like English, is not a virgin language, but rather a combination of a variety of languages making it useful for trading purposes. However, at the root it's still based on the Bantu languages of the peoples of Central and East Africa, which again is why it is so useful as a language of trade. A cursory examination of the root of these words gives us these common variations: imba, imbe and embe.

From the three variants listed above we get the following variations: marimba (Tanzania and Mozambique), malimbe (Nyamwezi of Tanzania), likimbe, likembe ( [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rwm Amba] of Uganda & the Tabura of the Congo), (lulimba Yao of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique), lukembe (Alur & Acholi of Uganda), irimba and kajimba (Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique), itshilimba (Bemba of Zambia), karimba (Zimbabwe), kalimba and ikembe (Bahutu of Rwanda and Burundi. There are many other names for these instruments, but the predominance of names with this root is undeniable. The spelling is not as important as the sound that is made in vocalizing the names. [http://www.arcmusic.org/begin.html]

In general the further we get from Central and East Africa the more varied the nomenclature, until the most common form of the name appears to have Francophone roots or influence. Hence, we get balafon and Gyil for xylophones and prempensua, kongoma [http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/105/Reuben+Koroma-Refugee+Alls+Stars-2006] , gongoma [http://www.alpharhythmroots.com/Gongoma.html] , agidigbo [http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=372069] and ubo-aka [http://books.google.com/books?id=rHk3zRpjD68C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=ubo-aka+instrument&source=web&ots=jZur44KQe6&sig=TpCIUig4F0n2lwsIVJWL8CiqUZk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA14,M1] for mbira type instruments all over West Africa.

Hopefully, this clarifies some of the confusion over the many varied names of mbira type instruments, which oftentimes share the same names as indigenous xylophones within a cultural group and or neighboring groups. This has wreaked havoc amongst the ethnomusicologists, who have attempted to simplify the matter to their own liking. Their approach to the problem has been to classify the instruments based on instrument construction and appearance, instead of function and sound. I think this has caused more confusion than anything else, because the inherent classification system of the Africans themselves is in direct opposition to this kind of physical classification. If an instrument is used for a particular dance or group of songs the instruments will take on the name of this dance or musical genre. Hence, we have ashiko, samba, kpanlogo, rada, petwo, gumbe and conga drums, each with their own particular dances, rhythms and songs. We also have mbira (used in the bira ceremony) bringing us back to our original topic.

See Mbira and Marimba

References

*Anderson, Lois. The Miko Modal System of Kiganda Xylophone Music. 2 vols. Phd Diss. UCLA, 1968.
*Galpin, Francis. A textbook of European musical instruments, their origin, history and character. (reprint) Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1976.
*Kaptain, Laurence. The wood that sings: the marimba in Chiapas, Mexico. Everett, PA: HoneyRock, 1992.
*Wiggins, Trevor and Joseph Kobom. Xylophone music from Ghana. Indiana, IN: White Cliffs Media, 1992.
*Warner Dietz, Betty and Olatunji, Michael Babatunde. (1965). Musical Instruments of Africa: Their Nature, Use, and Place in The Life of a Deeply Musical People. New York: John Day Company.
*Ottenberg, Simon. Seeing with Music: The Lives of 3 Blind African Musicians. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1996

Journal Articles

*Tracey, Hugh, 'A Case for the Name Mbira' in the African Music Society Journal, no. 3 (1964)

Links

* [http://www.arcmusic.org/begin.html World Musical Instrument Database] . New York: Archive of Contemporary Music
* [http://www.nscottrobinson.com/mbira.php World Music and Percussion, Frame Drums, Riq, Tamborines, by N. Scott Robinson]
* [http://www.kalimba.co.za/marimbahistory.html Origin of Southern African marimbas, by Andrew Tracey]
* [http://www.lingfil.uu.se/ling/semfiler/The_ku_marker_in_Swahili.pdf The ku-marker in Swahili, by Anna-Lena Lindfors]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rwm Ethnologue.com - languages]
* [http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=372069 Soundclick artist: Fatai Rolling Dollar]
* [http://music.africamuseum.be/instruments/english/burundi/ikembe.html The Royal Museum for Central Africa's] ethnomusicological archive of instruments and recordings from Central Africa.