Beating the drum for bafalon playing
Sue Krogsgaard has been to Africa many times before, but she never got the chance to play a balafon until she was home in Regina.
“(My husband, Richard, and I) love African music. We love the drumming, we love the beading, and the African community,” she said.
Krogsgaard took part in the balafon workshop Saturday as part of AfroFest in Victoria Park. The balafon is a type of tuned percussion instrument from Africa. It looks like an xylophone with gourds hanging underneath it, which amplify the sound. It is played by using two padded sticks to strike the tuned keys.
Adama Daou led the workshop. Daou is from Mali in West Africa and was taught to play the balafon by his father when he was seven.
“When I play I feel something like a great peace in my heart, purified heart,” Daou said.
The balafon has been played in Africa for centuries, dating back to before the common era. It was traditionally stored in a temple for safekeeping and was only meant to be played at certain traditional and ritual occasions such as funerals, weddings and festivals. For Dauo it brings him joy to be able to share the balafon and his culture with people outside of Africa.
“I want to promote this instrument a lot, make it famous ... and the culture from West Africa,” he said.
Dauo ran two balafon workshops as part of AfroFest. During the first one he had about a dozen balafons set up in a circle. Each of the keys on the balafons were numbered. Dauo would shout the number for the key he wanted people to play, starting slow and then slowly speeding up the beat.
“Tricky, tricky because he goes faster and faster,” said Krogsgaard about her playing experience.
Partway through the workshop bongo drum players joined in to help keep the beat of the music, with Dauo directing everyone.
At the start of the workshop a few people milled around outside the balafon circle, curious to see what these different looking instruments were.
As the group learned the beat and started making music more people gathered to listen, clapping their hands and swaying in time with the music.
“(I’ve heard the balafon played before) in the village but it sounds as good or better than in the village,” Krogsgaard said.