Following an African Melody

Washington - The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has been saving beautiful music in Africa.

Although many of the projects supported by the U.S. State Department fund aim to save historic buildings and other cultural sites throughout Africa, some grants have gone to save music, including the traditional instruments, songs and dances in danger of being displaced and forgotten.

In Burundi, for example, a project supported by the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) sent archivists traveling throughout the country with recording equipment. They came back with 230 recordings of traditional songs, and they also gathered old songs from the national radio and television archives.

Since having music in an archive is not the same as having it available, the project also called for the release of recordings. Many of the field recordings were not of high enough quality for release, so some parts were re-recorded in the studio by Burundian musicians on traditional instruments. In the end, the studio produced 176 songs plus a CD of the celebrated Burundian drums.

In South Africa, an AFCP grant supported research into the making of traditional African instruments and the revival of their manufacture. With South Africa's youth embracing newer instruments, the country was losing the elders who knew how to make indigenous instruments, as well as their music.

The project has young South Africans researching traditional instruments and learning to make them under the instruction of elders. Young participants also have been learning entrepreneurial skills to sell the instruments. And traditional music was recorded and scored so teachers could use it in their curriculum.

And in Madagascar, the AFCP supported an effort to preserve the musical and dance heritage. Each of the country's six regions has distinct music and dance traditions that serve as ways to convey moral and cultural values.

The grant helped document the traditional Malagasy dances and the music, instruments, costumes and body decorations that go with them. And it provided material on the dances and music to include in the public school curriculum.

The project resulted in a DVD, Preservation and Promotion of Malagasy Traditional Music and Dance, created in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo and the Malagasy Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture. The video spotlights each of the regional dances and music, as well as information on Madagascar's rich culture.