Perceiving the power and energy in African Rhythm.

'African Rhythm'
by Onwe Kingsley Ndubuisi

Music is indeed the food of the soul. Nobody who has perceptual ability for sweet sounds, either natural or mechanical couldn't help grooving or nodding to the melody. That was why musicians invented instrumentals to produce musical vibrations and rhythms. Do you know what resulted? The result was that pop, reggae, jazz, hip-hop and every other music genres got invented. Well, have you ever attended an African music festival or listened to an African instrumental music? If you think that this article is about modern music like pop, Jazz and even disco, you better find your way back to the title of this page. I was asking if you have ever attended African music festival or maybe listened to an African instrumentals. If you have done so, you must have noticed that nothing electronical accompanies their music. No kidding here buddy., we're talking pure African instrumentals. Now back to our discussion... We were saying that nothing electronic accompanies their play (right?), not even an electronic instrumental is used (good). It is like listening to the 'Ogene', a metal gong used in Igbo part of Nigeria, or the 'Gwari kaburu' from Hausa, or maybe the 'Bachama' flute from Gongola . Now that is what i'm talking about_ pure instrumentals. Non-electronical instrumentals when combined, produces different rhythms that are melodious., just as every good music is sweet to the ears. This my painting you can see which is titled 'Tuturu-Gegem-Tumange' is expressing the power and energy in African rhythm. Come to think of it., the word 'Tuturu-Gegem-Tumange' sound like some language (right?), well, it is not a language. Am just kidding. The word is used to mirror the sounds of the musical instruments in the painting! The instrument on the left is called 'Igba' in Igbo language, while that on the right is 'Oja' , again in Igbo language. The 'Igba' is produced from animal hide or skin which is treated, and tightly stretched on a hollowed wood or metal, the 'Oja' is a flute made from wood. But some can be produced using metal. Now from the sounds made by these instruments, I picked the title of this painting. Let's look at the words and the instrument it came from:- >TUTURU- The 'Oja'. >GEGEM-   'Igba'. >TUMANGE- 'Igba'.           The 'Tumange' word is a combination of two sounds., 'Tu' is from the 'Oja', while 'Mange' is from the 'Igba' (drum).            Furthermore, an observation of the painting shows rhythmic flow and connection of the background design. This is to express the power and energy in African rhythm.            Finally, thank you for reading this article! I encourage you to SHARE it if it pleases you. Thank you once more. You can FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @ www.twitter.com/kingsndubuisi LIKE my FACEBOOK ART PAGE:        www.facebook.com/RealityXpression