October 5th

The differences and similarities between the BaAka and Kpelle people are many. One of the greatest differences is location: The BaAka people reside in the Central African Republic and the Kpelle people are in the Western part of Africa. This makes outside influences different because the Kpelle people will be more influenced by outside culture since it is more available and the BaAka people are not provided with a location that allows a lot of outside influence. It is much harder to reach the central parts of Africa for trade and tourists. Location also plays a large part in clothes, instruments, quality of instruments, and involvement. One thing that is interesting about Central Africa is how many current popular musicians originated there despite a remote location. The use of clothes for daily activities as well as dancing are very different. The BaAka people do not have clothes in general which makes it unavailable for using it in a dance. The Kpelle people have enough cloths and color in their clothes to represent the music. The idea is that the more intense the color of the clothes, the more the crowd will pay attention. Another difference I noticed is the use of instruments between the two tribes. The Kpelle people have more modern instuments but also focus a lot on the drumming, while the BaAka concentrate more on the dance, chanting and lighter drumming. The BaAka people focus more on dancing itself over the drumming. The BaAka people concetrate on hunting ideas in their dances. The Kpelle people concetrate on how the instruments is an extention of the person in their music. The BaAka people have dances and language specific to them while the Kpelle have a bit more wide spread language and dance style.  One other key difference between the two tribes is the BaAka’s tendency to use negotiation, discussion, and improvisation in their dances while the Kpelle have a more set dance style.

Some similarities include the multi layered music, the use of spirits and ancestors, and chanting. Both tribes use many layers including drums, sticks, clapping, chanting, and singing to make up all the layers of the music (they are both polyrhythmic and polyphonic). Both people use a certain representation of spirits and ancestors in their music, which include the use of masks. Although the the BaAka people only go back one generation for ancestors and the Kpelle go back much further. They both use the dance as a way to communicate, to portray hunting rituals and social inductions.  The BaAka particularly use yodeling but also use chanting which is also common with the Kpelle people. Both tribes do rounds of music in their dance and use call and response in their songs. Music, song and dance are crucial to the daily life and socialization of both people.

~ by ljs009 on October 5, 2009.