Projects
Kulinda Obuhangwa (Preserving Culture) - Part 1 -
In June 2006, announcements were put on local radio in Kagadi, Kibaale district in Western Uganda. Musicians, songwriters, singers, instrumentalists and even story tellers were invited to meet CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND at Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR), run by the Uganda Rural Development Trust (URDT), to record their work. CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND is a music production company, based in Uganda, that specialises in contemporary African music, especially Ugandan acoustic world music styles and African roots reggae. This film documents a project that CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND carried out at the start of August 2006. The trip was a precursor to a much more extensive recording project that CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND intends to carry out in 2008. Western Uganda has a great diversity of musical cultures over a relatively small area and little of the music, if any, has ever been documented. This first trip allowed us to explore our recording techniques, test logistics and produce some initial recordings which, in the form of an album and this DVD documentary, will help us to secure support and funding to carry out the major project later this year. The recordings will be selected for a commercial CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND compilation, with a fair deal being paid to the musicians, and all recordings will be offered for free to music libraries and academic institutions in East Africa and further afield.
The film documents the entire trip, from leaving Kampala on the drive up-country and the discussions about the degradation of traditional cultures in Uganda, which inspired this project. The viewer bears witness to the auditions and recording process, while learning about some of the innovative techniques used by musicians from Western Uganda. The documentary introduces many diverse and talented musicians, most significantly an unknown rural lady called Noreda who, accompanying herself on the enanga, demonstrates virtuoso playing, singing and song writing that could launch her into the international arena. The finale to the film shows CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND back in their studio in Kampala, translating and discussing the cultural meaning of the recordings, before the final mixing and mastering process.
This is the first film to be produced by CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND. The filming was undertaken by Dr Noel Sturry and the documentary was then edited and scripted by the directors of CHiLLUM WOODS SOUND, Akiiki Romeo and Gdava Woods.
Please continue to check www.chillumwoodssound.com for further updates as the main project develops.