All people are people

My chosen sound was a sample of a geedal (bow harp) being played in the forest with accompanying male voices, recorded in Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve. by ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno in 1987. I was drawn to the sample on account of its musicality, not just in terms of the music and vocals, but the lilting patter of conversation and laughter that resonates in these conversational intervals, conveying a joyfulness and inferred novelty and humour at being recorded. At its base level it is so distinctly human and as such I wanted to use as much of the original recording as the instrumental basis for my reimagined soundscape. I began this process by splitting out the voices from the instrumental elements and selected a section of the instrumentation which I stretched and slowed to see what kinds of sounds and rhythms I could split out further and loop.

This first iteration resembled the roar and might of the sea, which is ironic as the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve is located in the land locked country of the Central Republic of Africa (CAR); a far cry from any kind of sea. CAR has been almost constantly unstable since its independence from France in 1960, and although the region is rich in diamonds, gold, iron and uranium, it remains one of the world’s poorest populations. It made me think about all of the countries and people who are enduring the horror of conflict, and also of the myths and misinformation about people who are displaced because of a lack of safety. Most people seeking refuge are more likely to migrate to neighbouring countries. It is only a small proportional few who have exhausted all options that are left with no other option than to risk their lives in small boats in one of the most dangerous shipping routes in the world.

The piece takes its title from the national motto in Sango, Zo Kwe Zo, meaning All People Are People. A motto which emphasises the call for equality and shared humanity that transcends ethnic or other differences. Billions of years ago the Earth had just one continent and by the time human life formed in the continent now known to us as Africa, the tectonic plates had shifted to something that resembles how the continents are arranged now. And if you believe in evolution, we are all descended from those early tribes of people who traversed and migrated via long lost land bridges to those early, dispersed, continental forms.

All People Are People in essence is an envisioned journey of these treacherous small boat crossings. The instrumentation has been looped with effects to create a bass undertone to give both that lilting feeling of the waves but also the depth and peril of the sea. This is juxtaposed with an overlaid, pitched-up, choral sample from the original recording to convey hope and also the mythology of singing sirens, symbolising the perilous journey of life. This is further accentuated through field recordings and an additional melody, emulating the sound of an accordion, representing the notion of a lamenting sea shanty and a tribute to those who have lost their lives at sea.

Geedal (bow harp) played in the forest reimagined by Claire Todd.

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Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds