Description
There are various insights into the discourse of musical culture from a global context. Some of these insights include the impact of globalization on music industry and African music making at large. African musical instruments continue to be cultural artefacts and productions of immaterial culture which is music. African instruments have not remained static but have responded to intercultural reciprocity. This study stems from an ambit that has discussed African traditional musical instruments such as the Mbira, Kora, Djembe, and Endara of West and South Africa but given little attention to those from East Africa and Kenya in particular. This is a case study of the Adeudeu (a chordophone), a principle instrument of the Teso community in Western Kenya and a symbol of their cultural identity. The purpose is to highlight the extent traditional musical performances have been appropriated and retained in the contemporary setting creating their popular music. The discourse is a report of findings of a field study that engaged several musicians drawn from each of Teso district’s divisions. The paper analyses music performed on the traditional Adeudeu vis a vis that performed on the contemporary Adeudeu to elucidate similarities and differences in the music making. The argument here is that a change in one element of the musical ensemble has ramifications on the music producing a different ‘musical colour’. The paper culminates in highlighting changes that have taken place on the instrument and the overall music rendition of the Teso.
Key words: Globalization, African musical instruments, Adeudeu, Teso music and dance, Contemporary African music
