The Makalapo –The Ground Harp of Seychelles- is a single-string bow-shaped musical instrument that is sadly almost extinct in Seychelles. It is made of a long stick planted into the ground which is connected by a string to a sound box buried in a pit in the ground from which its resonance is derived. The sound box resonates when the seated player plucks or strikes the string.
The makalapo is classified as a chordophone. A chordophone is any of a class of musical instruments the sound of which is generated by plucking, bowing, or striking stretched strings.
Listen to Ton Pat performing ‘Dalambwe’ on his makalapo· (Skip Add) on the link below. The photo shows him holding a Zez.
Personal experience
I was truly fortunate as a very young boy to have had the opportunity to watch how the Makalapo was made and to listen to how it was played. I spent my very young years on Aride, Cousin and Silhouette islands where my dad worked as island administrator. Labourers like ‘Bonm Olmen’ on Cousin Island played the bonm, makalapo and also performed lantern mazik to entertain us in the evenings. I have dug into my memory and topped it up with some research to prepare this post.
A possible origin of the name
In Madagascar, musicians who play of the stick zither or zez is called mpilalao. Is it possible that this word has been corrupted during its transition from Madagascar to the Seychelles and became makalapo, which is a totally different musical equipment? I would be grateful if any ethnomusicologist could shed some light on this one.
Is the Makalapo a ground harp or a ground bow?
The makalapo is often described as a ground-bow or an earth-bow. Although it has the combined characteristics of a harp and a musical bow, it is in fact a ground harp. A bow has a string attached to the two ends of the bow, whereas in the case of the makalapo the string is attached to only one end of the bow (a curved neck) and one end to the resonance box or chamber located in a hole in the ground, which makes it a harp. It is also known as ‘ground-bass’, ‘earth-zither’ and, in French, ‘arc-en-terre’.
Parts of the Makalapo -The Ground Harp of Seychelles
The main parts of the makalapo include the bow, the string and the sound box or resonator.
The bow
The bow, which is usually around 2-3 meters long, is made either from a stripped supple branch that is firmly anchored in the ground or a growing sapling that is stripped on location and not removed from the ground. The sapling is preferred because it is held down by the roots and is not easily uprooted by the tension created by the string.
Makalapo made from sapling is usually located a short distance from the home. Whereas one made with a stick, or a branch is usually located in the yard next to the house.
The bow must be able to curve without breaking and easily spring back and forth. The plant of choice was Bwazozo (Fr. bois d’oiseaux) (litsea glutinosa)which has interlocked grain.
The open end of the bow has a string attached to it, linking it to the resonator.
The string
Several materials are used to make the string. In the very early days of settlement twisted animal sinew was used as well as plant fiber like Raphia (raphia ruffia) or sisal (agave sisalana), locally known as ‘lalwa’. Then wire started to be used. The wire was wound along its entire length with hair obtained from the tail an ox. As time progressed, thin rope as well as nylon were adopted.
The Sound Box or resonator
There were basically three methods used to make the sound box:
The simple pit
A small pit is dug next to the sapling, its size often depends on how loud the instrument is intended to sound.
In its simplest form, the pit is covered by a thin metal sheet, (or even a thin wooden board), held down by heavy rocks. A heavy stone is chosen, and the string is attached to it. The stone is dropped in the pit and the string is then passed through a small hole in the centre of the metal sheet covering the pit and attached to the end of the bow. The heavy stone keeps the string taut and, when plucked or struck, will produce a sound.
Dried Gourd or calabash
A large calabash or gourd is chosen and allowed to dry out. The end that is attached to the vine is cut off forming a small hole. All seeds are removed through that hole and the inside is cleaned. It is critical that the calabash is properly emptied to avoid hampering the effective vibrations and producing an inferior sound. A small hole, through which the string is threaded, is then pierced at the bottom of the calabash. The loose end is tied to the middle of a small stick or a nail and jammed horizontally so that it will not become loose.
A small pit is dug in the ground so that the calabash would fit snuggly in it. The calabash is then placed upside down in the pit, and the soil packed firmly round it, leaving only the top uncovered. If the resonator is not properly secured in the ground it can be pulled out by the tension on the string. The roundish shape of the calabash also assists in securing the calabash
A large biscuit tin
The more ‘modern’ version is to use a large square tin as a resonator. I guess this is because the biscuit tin is more easily available than large calabash and also because, probably, the thin wall of the tin creates a better resonance. The procedure to make the makalapo-the ground harp of Seychelles- is the same as that of the calabash. The tin is turned upside down and placed in the pit.
The Tuning of the makalapo
The tuning of the makalapo is very unusual in that the pitch to which the string is tuned is the highest tone required and therefore requires high string tension. The tone is only altered by lowering bow. The lower the bow the lower the pitch.
How is the Makalapo Played?
As already mentioned, the string has high tension, and the movement of the bow makes a different sound.
The player sits on the ground, a small bench, or squats in front of the string. In his right hand he holds a small stick of approximately 40cm, with which he strikes the string. He holds the top of the bow with his left hand and whenever he strikes the strings, he simultaneously flexes the bow to change the tension of the string, and hence the tone. However, if the sapling is too long, he ties a separate length of rope to its end and changes the pitch by tugging the rope, as seen in the old photo below.
The makalapo can also be played in a glissando manner by flexing the bow after the string has been struck producing a peculiar sound. One interesting playing technique is the ascending glissandi whereby the sapling is bent so that the string pitch is an octave below the tone to which the string is tuned. As the latter is struck, the sapling is released, resulting in a glissando which may be said to resemble ‘a curious voice that seems to emanate from the earth’. The produced pitches are not always stable. In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ‘glisser’, to glide.
The player may also produce other notes by stopping the string with his finger and thumb and by lightly touching the string to produce faint-sounding overtones.
The string is often struck nearer the ground as it is less flexible there than in the middle, thus eliciting loud, resonant tones. The player may also strike the string at several places in an effort to obtain different dynamic and tone colour.
Makalapo may also be plucked with the index finger or sometimes the thumb.
When was it played?
The makalapo is essentially a solo instrument but was also used to accompany group singing. It was introduced by slaves from Africa and was once played all over the islands of Seychelles specially on outer islands where other forms of music were not easily available and where musical entertainment had not previously existed.
After a hard day’s work in harsh conditions in the coconut and spice plantations, or fishing under the hot sun, the slaves would get together and share zedmo or riddles. They also shared their pain, associated with their uprooting, by singing songs about their suffering. The songs and lyrics were accompanied by the bonm and malkalapo and were slow and soft in nature, usually describing island life in the early days of settlement.
Makalapo was also played by labourers when making charcoal. The charcoal mound must be watched continuously for about three days depending on the size of the mound. The mound tends to develop holes or even partly collapse. This allows oxygen into the burning timber. If not monitored and the holes immediately covered, the oxygen turns the charcoal into ash. To stay awake, the labourers would choose a sapling and make their makalapo and sing the night away!
As young kids we also used to make our own makalapo in the backyard garden and spent some of our afternoons during the weekends composing our own songs.
The sound characteristics of the Makalapo
It is not easy to provide an accurate description of the peculiar tone of the makalapo. It has been described as “a curious voice that seems to emanate from the earth… When the strings are struck and plucked, the sound apparently emerges from the bowels of the earth”. It has also been described ‘as if someone is beating a drum under water’.
The Makalapo in other Cultures
Makalapo is believed to have originated from the Zulu and Makhuwa tribes of Africa. It is known in cultures of Equatorial Africa as well as East and South Africa, and in other cultures with African roots, as well as in Southeast Asia.
It is called ‘kalinga’ or ‘galinga’ by Venda people . In their language “galinga” simply means a hole in the ground, while the origins of “kalinga” are uncertain. The Baka people call it ‘angbindi’. It is known as ‘gayumba’ in Haiti, Dominican Republic, and in Cuba it is known as ‘tumbandera’ as well as under the onomatopoeic name ‘tingotalango’.
The You Tube link below shows Dominican Musicians playing the Gayumba
It is also known as Makalapo in Chagos Islands (now BIOT) and in Mauritius. Below is a YouTube link to the Chagos Heritage Facebook entitled : ‘Chagossian music demonstration’. It covers, among other topics, how the makalapo was made and played in the Chagos Islands.
The Spiritual Connection of the Makalapo
Seychellois legend has it that when you play the makalapo you play for the dead and they dance underground. Hence the old Seychellois song for makalapo “Anba later i annan dimoun” meaning there are people underground.
Chagossians also report that it can also resonate of its own accord, and that it does so especially on All Soul’s Day (2 November), as a means of communication from dead ancestors who are buried underground. The instrument is associated with its own music and song lyrics: ‘makalapo, makalapo, enba later, ena dimunn makalapo, makalapo’, people are buried, under the ground’).
In Mauritius, the makalapo has also been associated with the dead. In this short film about makalapo by Marclaine Antoine, linked below, he describes how the buried sound box makes the dead dance underground, and comments that makalapo are known sometimes to resonate at night even in the absence of human performers.
Presentation of the makalapo par Marclaine Antoine
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoK4PYMg70M)
In Haiti, the ground-bow is sometimes associated with voodoo ceremonies and dances. The local legend has it that the zombies come to play your instrument at night if you do not undo the string. It is therefore necessary to untie the string at night.
The Venda people believe that evil spirit resides in the resonator of the ‘kalimba’ (Makalapo) which is referred to as the ‘stomach of Satan’, because it is shaped like a bulging stomach. It is the strange muffled, unearthly sound of the ‘kalimba’ that was associated with the evil spirit, and which is considered a manifestation of its voice.
Portable Makalapo
Makalapo is an instrument that is technically not portable. However, attempts have been made to take it on stage and as shown in the photo below. The portable version is sometimes referred to as a Makaloumpo
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The portable version of Makalapo also exist is other parts of the world.
Below is a link to the gutbucket or washtub bass derived from portable form of the ground harp ( makalapo) introduced by African captives into the U.S. and elsewhere in the Americas (e.g., the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago) during the trans-Atlantic population displacement of previous centuries:
Post author’s reflection
Let us revive the musical instruments of our ancestors. Wouldn’t it be great to, one day, have a Seychellois orchestra whereby the makalapo, zez and bonm and the moutya drum appearing together on stage or in the open air?
Sources
- Personal Experience
- Rediscovering the Venda Ground-bow, Jaco Kruger
- Wikipedia
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