Music: Konono No. 1

The NY Times describes Konono No. 1:

He played traditional music on the likembé, a 'thumb piano' constructed of thin metal rods attached to a resonator box. When performing outdoors with his group of singers, percussionists and other likembé players, it was tough to compete with the street noise. So he fashioned instrument pickups using automobile alternator magnets and amplifiers using old car radios, and sent his music out over salvaged metal public-address speaker horns.

The sound, not surprisingly, was distorted. But it was an appealing distortion, giving his hypnotic music a raw, electric quality. And the conical loudspeakers, or 'lance voix' (voice-throwers), proved more effective than anyone expected.

Crammed.be has pictures of the men and their instruments along with a sample MP3 (labeled "extract" at the bottom of the page).

Category: Music