African balafon. French musician Jean-Philippe Rykiel told us about a unique type of African balafon, each key of which has a snare drum that vibrates when pressed, giving it an interesting buzzing sound.
Commonly found in parts of northern Ghana, Burkina Faso and southeastern Mali, the hardwood keys are suspended above calabash gourds. The small holes in the calabash are covered with silk or paper, which produces a humming sound when resonated.
Rykiel has a long history of collaborating with West African musicians, having worked with both Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour. However, when it came to the balafon, he was acquainted with a virtuoso musician from Burkina Faso named Mamadou Diabaté, who now lives in Austria. He asked Mamadou to play the instrument during a recording, which he conducted.
The recordings were then shared with us, resulting in the instrument you see here. We hope you find it interesting and inspiring!
- Added NKS controls for stereo swap, phase flip, and amp and filter scaling