Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...

is a Central African nation that is closely linked with

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equat ...

, geographically, historically and culturally. The drum such as the ''

karyenda The ''karyenda'' is a traditional African drum. It was the main symbol of Burundi and its '' Mwami'' (King) and had semi-divine status. The ''Mwami'' was said to interpret the beatings of the karyenda into rules for the kingdom. History ...

'' is one of central importance. Internationally, the country has produced the music group

Royal Drummers of Burundi The Royal Drummers of Burundi, commonly known in recordings as The Drummers of Burundi, is a percussion ensemble originally from Burundi. Their performances are a part of ceremonies such as births, funerals, and coronations of ''mwami'' (Kings). ...

. Burundian-Belgian musicians like Éric Baranyanka from the Burundese royal family, Ciza Muhirwa and, especially,

Khadja Nin Khadja Nin (born 27 June 1959) is a Burundian singer and musician. Nin was born in Burundi, the youngest of a family of eight. Her father was a diplomat. She studied music at an early age like most of her brothers and sisters. With her except ...

, have more recently gained prominence. Since the music is from the mind and soul, it mainly expresses what the people in Burundi feel and what they think when they beat the drums. One feature of Burundian men's folk songs is the presence of an '' inanga'', a type of stringed zither. Other instruments include: * Ingoma drums, made from tree trunks * The umwironge, a type of flute usually made from the stem of an intomvu plant * The igihuha, a horn made from antelope horn * The ikinyege, a rattle made from a gourd of the igicuma plant * The iyebe, a rattle with threaded, dried, hollowed-out inyege fruit pods * The inzogera, a closed bell classified as an idiophone, similar to the amayugi * The umudende, a narrow cylindrical bell formed by bending a thin iron sheet into a narrow cylinder, with a hook of metal attached at top * The ikembe, technically a

lamellaphone A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician ...

consisting of a series of iron

lamellae Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * ...

fixed to a rectangular wooden soundbox * The indingiti, a stringed instrument classified as a fiddle * The idono, a musical bow consisting of a string (umurya) supported by a flexible wooden string bearer or bow (umuheto)

Burundi beat

The so-called ''diverse Burundi beat'', filled with distinctive drumming created by Burundi's tribal musicians and recorded by French anthropologists, was used to create unique music by English pop bands

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

and

Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette P ...

References

{{Africa-music-stub

Burundi beat

Further reading

References