Fume Fume, It’s Ga Best Around“An Exploration, Lesson, and Ethnomusicology of

Contemporary Cultural Rhythms”

Jonathan DratelSenior Project

Summer - Winter 2008Mentor: Kenneth Sacks

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 4

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY 4

THE GA PEOPLE 4

BACKGROUND 4HISTORY 4,5Social Organization 5Chiefs 5Family 6Systematic Breakdown 6

TRADITIONAL MUSIC 7,8

NEO TRADITIONAL MUSIC 8

POPULAR MUSIC 8,9TRADITIONAL MUSIC 9NEO-TRADITIONAL MUSIC 9,10

FUME FUME 11

CULTURAL, SOCIAL, AND TRADITIONAL CONTEXT

OKOE ARDYFIO 11MUSTAPAHA TETTEY ADDY 11,12INFLUENCES 13TRADITIONAL OR POPULAR? I THINK BOTH 13,14CULTURE 14

MUSICAL ASPECTS 15

THE MUSICAL STRUCTURE 15BOX NOTATION 15

THE GENRE AND ITS ENSEMBLE 16ENSEMBLE 16

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CONCLUSION 18

INTERVIEW 19-21

BIBLIOGRAPHY 22,23

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Ethnomusicology is a very complex idea. Not only is it the study of music, its notation, instrumentation, and its meaning, but ethnomusicology is also the anthropology of music. It is meant to see music in its most contextualized form, from all angles, in all of its glory. Not only is it the study of the music itself, but it is the observation of where it came from, who it came from, and how exactly it came to be.

The following paper is a background study for a high school unit and African drumming lesson in ethnomusicology on the relatively unknown Ghanaian rhythm, Fume Fume (‘Foo-May Foo-May’)

The Ga people:

In the Greater Accra region of Ghana live the Ga people. There are about 19 million people in the country of Ghana, of which about 3,000,000 are Ga. Located along the southeastern coast of Ghana, the Ga people have become one of the largest ethnic groups in Ghana. Driven by culture and unity, they speak the native language “Kwa”, a language that consists of ancient dialects combined with modern language. A neo-traditional dialect in itself, Kwa combines the traditional aspects of the ancient Gbe with the acquired Na-Togo and Ka-Togo, languages spoken in Northern Ghana by the Akwapim and Twi-fante people. (Greenberg 8,73)

History-

Ancient stories state that the Ga people arrived from the East, traveling on both foot, land, and sea. Legend says that they migrated to their current location before the fourteenth century, but archaeological studies suggests that the Ga people may actually have been in their present homeland for over a thousand years. Although reluctant to call themselves an ‘ofshoot’ of the original Ga-Adangme

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people, one can see a direct correlation between their cultures and dialect. Many cultural similarities can be seen with the Adangme people, Traditions of the Ga culture that have transformed and developed as the centuries have passed. These ancient and external influences helped to change the original culture into that we know today .The first was the arrival of the Europeans, and the competition held between the Ga people and the European powers pertaining to the golden trade routes. Secondly, there was the integration of the Ga tribe with the other indigenous African tribes. These two events have had a lasting impact on the development of modern Ga culture. By adopting the habits of the various surrounding cultures, the Ga people began to break away governmentally from the other tribes, but still maintain some cultural similarities. (Retink 11)

The third factor influencing Ga culture was migratory Africans. Arriving from overseas, the Kru people settled in the various Ga towns, and lived integrated with the Ga people for numerous decades. Combining their influence from both the land and the sea, the Ga people developed a very successful trade center in Ghana. Now known as Accra (the capital of Ghana), the area has become one of the cultural centers of Africa; one important not only to the Ga people but to those all over Ghana. Throughout Ga history, the cultural centers have shifted from inland towns, to the coast; and from small villages to the Ghanaian capital. Exemplifying their ability to adapt, the Ga people turned Accra into an internationally popular area, constantly growing in economy and authority. (Retink 11-12)

Social Organization:

Chiefs-

The Ga people currently use a chieftaincy, a different organization from what they probably originally used. As we saw before, other African peoples have powerfully influenced the Ga culture. The Ga claim that their current political society has been derived from their initial government, which is said to have been a secular power. But as the Ga people developed, they began to form a system based on the “Akan” models, the culture which took over the Ga trade route in the 17th century. The contemporary system labels the mantse as the head of the community, the chief of the Ga people.

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Although he is the major power, the mantse regularly visits the Ga towns and villages throughout Ghana. Below this master chief, there are various other chiefs, retaining power on a more personal level, who are responsible each for their own town. Below these chiefs are seven other chiefs, each responsible for the well being of a specific area in the town. However, when there is a major problem or popular festival, the chieftains meet together in the palace of the 13 paramount chiefs. Although their duties are otherwise separate, they meet together for these rare occasions. (Kilson 12,13)

Family-

The family structure of the Ga people has been debated for years. Some claim that the structure runs from father to child, a patrilineal system. However, others claim that the system is based on a blood relationship, at both the ideological and social level. But in both systems there is undoubtedly a strong connection from the father to the son. The younger Ga generation acquires their property from their father, as well as takes on the parent’s workplace, whether through joining their family or taking the job over. As Hampton Meyers says in Sonja Rentink’s Kpanlogo ethnography, “trace clan affiliation rights patrilineally, inheritance rights cognatically, and residence rights bilaterally.” (Retink 12-13)

Systematic Breakdown of Family Structure:

(Just as in many other cultures, the family system is broken into pieces)

We- The most important social unit in the Ga society. It consists of the family related by blood, the “cognatic” branch said to be one of the driving forces in Ga society. Although this group may include some adopted members of a family, it largely consists of those connected at birth, through blood and genetics.

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Shia- The second unit, this consists of a “family” of nonresidential members, mixed into various houses stretching throughout a number of villages. But although the families may be stretched throughout a large area, they each designate one building in the town as the founder’s house, the main point of connection. The majority of the family lives here in this house; and those who do not visit regularly, meeting for celebrations and festivals. (Retink 12-13)

Traditional MusicIn Ga society, traditional music and ceremonies are built on a combination of

music and dance, hard work and recreation. Played throughout the year, this music becomes especially important during the main ceremonies of the Ga people. These include the ceremony of life, worship, and harvest. Beyond these ceremonies, and recreational instrumentation, music plays another important role in the Accra region. The music of the Ga people acts as a language, allowing various homogenous groups to interact and understand each other through a common musical tradition. However, just as their history is changing constantly, and their governmental structure has endured various changes, so too does the musical tradition of the Ga people. It changes over time, shifting depending on new influences, new ideas, and new rhythms that arise from within Ghana. (Retink 13)

The traditional Ga rhythms contain both vocal and instrumental music. The best-known traditional Ga music is linked to the Kple religion, and the bass double bell. The basic beat regularly consists of female singers accompanied by the double bell; their words based on the history of the Ga people. Written in local proverbs, the songs are known to have catchy beats, but because of their local vocabulary, are extremely hard to understand for any outsiders. Just as the family and governmental system is broken down, so too is musical formation. (Nketia 10)

The two main groups consist of:

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1. Those based on the pentatonic foundation, consisting of the five pitch scale octaves. This group includes the music of the “cult” groups called the ofkple, the kpa, and the ceremonial music of the ofi. The ofi is usually performed during the festivals and celebrations, meant to honor the chief and the elders.

2. Musical types based on the heptatonic foundation, using the seven-note scale, such as the major and minor octaves. This includes the music of the court, recreational music, and popular traditional bands. The heptatonic music also includes that of the warriors, and associations with fighting and war. (Nketia 276)

Neo-Traditional Music:

The term neo-traditional music may be defined as a traditional form of music that is modernized and has been created not long ago. Combining the old with the new, the Ga people have created music such as Kpanlogo and Fume Fume rhythms. However, the word neo-traditional leaves itself open to interpretation, in the absence of a singular definition. Neo-tradition suggests a connection, between the present, past, and the future. But at the same time, it is not simply a combination of music from these various times. Rather, it uses the old to create something new. And if done correctly the neo-traditional rhythm becomes more than just a rhythm, it becomes an identity.

Popular Music

According to Theo Willemze popular music is “a collective name for several sub genres.”(Willemze) He says that pop genres consist of a share of music types, although they do not always include them all. Pop music is:

-Commercial, it is a consumer’s music-A main component of daily life-For a youth audience

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-Wants to approach, reach out and touch the other-Based on a simple melodic element, easily sung or played-Made up of simple chords and chord schemes-Includes simple instrumentation and usually electronically amplified- Has its own spreading technique: The idea of mass media.

Because of this combination of elements, the definition of popular music is a very broad one. Each culture has their own popular music, their own form of “pop culture”. Whether it is the popular music of America, catchy beats, with commercialized sounds, or the popular music of smaller countries concentrated more on modernizing a traditional form, they are all focused on spreading knowledge and feeling through music. However, another definition of “popular” is something that is liked by many people. This allows types of music that do not conform to the normal “pop music” standards to still be considered so. This is very important for cultures such as the Ga people, for their popular music maintains the traditional standards, archaic in comparison to the popular music in much of the commercial world.

Traditional Music

Traditional music represents the culture of a people, their ancestors, and their own pure musical style. It is the most pure of their musical forms, for it came first, and includes the “authentic”. But as historians look for the “real” music of a people, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish between the pure, the developed, and the modern.

Traditional music has always played a very important role in Ghanaian culture, but recently, has been threatened by new technologies. With all of the new media inventions, traditional music has been forced to come in direct competition with popular music. It does not have the luxury of constant television and radio coverage that so much popular music has, causing its popularity and importance to begin to decline. In the early periods of the Ga society, the African tribes and leaders looked to define themselves by reinventing their own music, and their own culture. They wanted to stand out, to become noticed, and to show that their way could be just as good as that of the European powers. But as time continued these ways slipped from the limelight and instead became the withstanding norm, the history, the tradition.

Neo-Traditional Music

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The term neo-traditional suggests a style, a new appearance of a traditional form, which is too young to be classified as “traditional”. By keeping the history and tradition of the music, but adding a popular and modern aspect, the music undergoes a change at the most personal of levels. Rather than being dictated by public appeal as with popular music, or strictly confined as in traditional music, neo-traditional encourages transformation, culture, and identity. In the Ga society and cultures of many African tribes, music acts as an identity, a cultural connection between the people. But to make this claim, to assert music as a cultural identity, one must first ask, “What is culture?”

Clifford Geertz’s book The Interpretation of Cultures examines such questions, and looks into the levels that define culture as we know it today. He writes about the diverse understandings of anthropological study, as well as the interpretation it finally brings us to, the theory. He wrestles with “what is needed to define culture?” exploring the ways that researches go about studying culture. Rather than studying a place, defining a group of people, we should study from within the world view of the people, and learn the characteristics from the people. In order to define a cultural theory one must obtain it impartially, through interaction, in what Geertz calls the “Natural Laboratory” (Geertz 20-22)

But perhaps the most relevant of Geertz’s passages to Neo-traditionalism can be seen in the seventh chapter, his interpretation of “cultural theory”. He begins the passage by introducing the problem with the interpretive approach to culture, and the idea that all mediums tend to resist being conceptually assessed. When one looks to study something they either grasp the idea or not, see the point or do not. It is very difficult to make a distinction within culture because you must compare and contrast, make the belief your own before it can seem relevant to you.

But at the same time cultural interpretation is possible; difficult, but very possible. Geertz states that if one can overcome drifting off, if one can focus in on the approach they are taking, their studies can overcome the difficulty that they face. Geertz believes that, “ The whole point of a semiotic approach (the study of symbols, words, and their interpretations within a culture) to culture is, as I have said, to aid us in gaining access to the conceptual world in which our subjects live, or in some sense of the term, converse with them.” By saying this he exemplifies the idea that there are forms which allow us to converse, which connect us cultural through the “different conceptual worlds” in which we live. (Geertz 24-25)

Of all the mediums that might be used in such an approach, music seems to fit flawlessly. It certainly exemplifies a personal taste; it consists of a collection, growing and transforming over time; and it has existed on all levels, represented a full and diverse range of people. Not only does music exemplify the concepts and values of a culture, but more importantly it allows one to do just what Geertz seeks; it allows people to converse.

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A question that is often asked is what does music, specifically neo-traditional music, have to do with culture? But the skeptics who ask this question do not take into account the true role of music in society. Music holds no barriers, instigates no problems. Rather, it is the medium that can solve the previous problem, answer the questions. Two completely different people, from opposite cultures can be brought together through music.

Through music, and a melodic connection, all seems equal. “You play something you want, and I’ll play something different, and we’ll combine the two,” and somehow it mixes, somehow it works, and makes the seemingly impossible connection remarkably possible. It transcends the strict theory of what “is”, and allows an interaction, an opportunity for distinct cultures to converse.

What is so powerful about neo-traditional music is that it is the best of both worlds. It combines music, an increasingly important aspect of culture, with the current world view of the people. Just as the governmental structure, the role of family, and the Ga people themselves had to undergo acceptance, so too do their neo-traditional rhythms. New music seeks an entryway into a culture, a chance to entertain, to please, and to represent not only the old, but the new as well.

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Fume Fume

Cultural, Social, and Traditional Context

Okoe Ardyfio

At the Ross School in East Hampton, New York I had the distinct honor and privilege of working with Ghana native Okoe Ardyfio. A member of Mustapha Tettey Addy’s band in Ghana, he has toured all over the world, performing the Fume Fume pattern among many other Ghanaian tunes. Through personal experience and knowledge gained from Mustapha, he has watched as Fume Fume has developed, spread, and attained popularity. But as he recalls, Fume Fume had humble beginnings:

It was first created in the early 70’s by Mustapha Tettey Addy, my boss. Yeah, and when the Fume Fume was created Mustapha had a group called” Ehe Momo” and they toured all over trying to show the new Fume Fume. In the late 1970’s one of the Memes (band members) split from the group though, and he formed a second group of the “Ehe Momo”, of which I was a part of. But even though “Ehe Momo” is mostly performed in Europe, and America, people doesn’t know much about Fume Fume. When this group was set up we played all over Akra and other places and we made it so popular there actually, because we performed mostly in Ghana. Not so much in America and Europe early with the Fume Fume rhythm.

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Fume Fume began to spread its influence, and to play an important neo-traditional role in the Ga culture as we know it today.

Mustapha Tettey Addy

Although information on the rhythm was obtained through interviews with Okoe, and exploration of the core notation, the original Fume Fume rhythm came from the mind of Mustapha Tettey Addy. A famous Ga drummer, farmer, and Ghanaian figure, he created the rhythm during the mid 1970’s.

Born in 1942, Mustapha grew up in the village of Avenor, Ghana. Born into a family of well-known drummers, Mustapha followed in the footsteps of his father, Kpani Kofi Addy, a well-respected priest and traditional musician. He taught Mustapha at a young age not only to learn the traditional rhythms and the meaning behind them, but also important aspects of Ghanaian farming and herbs. Through these lessons he showed Mustapha the healing powers that both herbs and music can have, and the connection between the two. But it wasn’t until after his father’s death in 1963 that the other members of his family appointed Mustapha the master drummer, the dadefoiakye. At this point he continued his studies and teachings at the University of Ghana, leaving in 1965 to pursue studies abroad.

During his studies abroad he began to become known, to record music, and to make a name for himself. Combining his continuous devotion to spreading musical knowledge with his hunger for learning those he did not already know he recorded several LP’s for British label companies, and began to tour all around the world with various musical groups. However, the pinnacle of his work came in 1988 when he founded the AAMA (Academy of African Music and Arts). Located near Kokrobite in the costal region of Ghana, it has become a stunning center both visually and conceptually. Created in principle to preserve traditional forms of art, crafts, music, and dance, it has attracted famous musicians and teachers from all over the world. Over the years it has become increasingly important to the preservation of tradition, and key in the development of new musical talent. (Calabash 1-2)

In the words of Mustapha

"The music I present stems from a lifetime of research carried out in villages

throughout Ghana and the surrounding countries. I collect the music and arrange it in my

own style. I am not a composer. My research has shown that the cultural heritage honed

and developed over the centuries by our ancestors provides more material than I could

use in a lifetime. I therefore have no need to compose, only to interpret in my own

fashion. Also I feel a pressing need to assure that this extraordinary body of work is

preserved for posterity.

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"As well as being a musician, I am a farmer, growing sweet potatoes and yellow yam. I

am also interested in natural healing, inherited from my father who was a famous

medicine man. As far as I am concerned, these three aspects of my daily activities are

closely interconnected." (Calabash 2-3)

Now regarded as one of the most respected musicians on the African continent, he considers himself not only a musician, but an anthropologists, a researcher; and of course, still a farmer as well.

Influences

Before the creation of Fume Fume Mustapha had played many Ghanaian rhythms, studied and got to know them for years before. But by creating this new rhythm he created opportunity and change, two important aspects of neo-traditional music. Kpanlogo, a modern rhythm popularized in the decades before Fume Fume, was built though connections to many different rhythms. Ranging from those similar to the Gome, which had a visible impact of the structure of the music, to the lesser-known patterns with surprising ties to the rhythm, the collection of these previously heralded rhythms with modern Ga influence led to the foundation of Kplanlogo. The same can be seen with the Fume Fume rhythm as well, for Mustapha looked to successfully combine ideas and influences from other forms of music with what was currently occurring in Ga society. As Okoe stated:

Fume Fume [arises] from many rhythms because Mustapha is kind of a research guy, you know. He likes to gather information, and have a mixture of things from all over when he is making music. He researched all over Africa and he put some rhythms together from Ghana. So you can find like a Senegalese rhythm, you know, all this from foreign countries, their rhythms, with the Ghanaian rhythm attached. So yeah, Fume Fume is really a mixture.

Traditional or Popular? I think both

When one approaches a rhythm, one of the first questions to ask is whether it is modern or traditional. Through origins and ties to the past, the rhythm and the instrumentation of the Fume Fume stays traditional, but includes a few modern aspect of Ga music. These include the 4/4 bell pattern then changing to a bass 6/8 measure throughout the piece, and addition and subtraction to the core rhythms of the past.

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The Fume Fume rhythm remains traditional for many of the reasons that archaic rhythms were labeled so. They conform to an underlying bass, an outline for the music that as been used for countless years. Containing lyrics pertaining to folk stories, driven by both song, dance, and vocal, the pieces demonstrate similarities to the rhythms before it, and to those before them.

When asked whether Fume Fume was a traditional rhythm, Okoe replied:

Yeah, yeah it’s traditional. Actually, actually what I will say is that in the early eighties Fume Fume became very popular and the ad council [started] to get involved. . They got interested about this dance, so they came to our rehearsal ground and sat with the manager Muhammed Gway. It was a traditional form so they said, “yeah we love this dance.” When we performed it they came up with the idea that [they would change it]. It’s like they were trying to say [Fume Fume] was their own.

But at the same time, Fume Fume was already a popular form of music; a rhythm accepted and popularized my modern Ga society. Although it is relatively unknown around the world, it has become a very popular rhythm in Ghana. A relatively small rhythm experimented and performed by Mustapha and his band, has become a local sensation, and a source of identity for the modern Ga society.

It has become very, very popular in Ghana, and now, they look to spread it around the world. And you can hear it, like other music, it comes from the grass roots, the country, the village…….. They can then transport it to everywhere, and then carry the rhythm and its importance to the whole world.

In this passage Okoe acknowledges the current status of Fume Fume in Ghana, and the popularity it has gained. But as he said, “it is the grass root, the country, the village.” It is the old, the new, the traditional and the popular. In a very simple way, Okoe explains the neo-traditional aspects of Fume Fume. It substantiates the notion that Fume Fume is relatively new, that it is popular today throughout Ghana. But yet at the same time it represents everything traditional in Ga society, the important foundation that the Ga people have developed from.

Culture

Mustapha created the Fume Fume rhythm with the intention of playing during harvest rituals, and other important cultural festivals. Using his personal connection to the countryside and it’s rituals, Mustapha created the rhythm with the hopes that it would connect the people during times of celebration. Hoping to integrate his own life as a farmer, he demonstrated the importance that culture and background have in the Ga society. As Okoe explained:

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It is played for, um, actually he created it for the harvest dance, for the harvest ceremony. You know, because he himself is a farmer, so he created it as a harvesting dance.

The primary Ga festival is known as the “Homowo”, literally translated into “hooting for hunger.” Several hundred years ago the festival originated after the great famine in Ga land. It gained it’s name because it marked the celebration of the end of the famine, the peoples ability to eat again, to cease “hooting for hunger.” Within this celebration the festivities are broken into various groups, sections that they call “quarters”. (Encyclopedia Britannica) But similar to other ethnic groups in Ghana, music, dancing, and singing drive their festivals. The main source of celebration, of happiness, and of connection comes through music. And recently Fume Fume has taken this position, become this music, and created this connection. (Kilson 27)

Musical Aspects

The Musical Structure

The Ga musical structure has developed through adaptation, each new rhythm correlating to the one before it. Fume Fume, the most modern of these Ga traditional rhythms, has such a connection with Kpanlogo. The Kpanlogo base is the 4/4-bell pattern, consisting of a beat or a rest on each of the four beats in a measure. From there the pattern transforms into a 6/8 measure, although the bell stays the same. Fume Fume shares these patterns, however the Fume Fume bell is only used in the Fume Fume. The 6/8 bell is the base of the “Ewe rhythm”, not the Fume Fume, but both conform to what Okoe called the “Ding ka ka ka ka, ding ka ka ka ka” format. The “ding” relates to the open bell tone, with the following “ka” sounds signifying the low closed tone. This short notation denotes the level of the bell that is played, and the count that it follows.

Full Song Introduction

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The Genre and its Ensemble

Ensemble

The ensemble consists of drummers, dancers, and singers. The supporting drums are usually compromised by two people, one female and one male, accompanied by the master drummer. The master drummer plays the solo drum part, the special rhythm, which dictates the moves that the dancers make. The other percussionists play the supporting patterns on the drum or the bell. The dancers follow the lead of the head dancer, usually singing along to the rhythm as they dance. Fume Fume cannot be played without all members of the ensemble playing together. The drummers can play by themselves, but it does not hold the same meaning or sound without the supporting percussion parts. As Okoe said:

The master drummer creates the rhythms, creates the steps, with the intention of the dancers. The drummers act as the ushers, the masters, leading the dancers from place to place. You know, he created everything together because the drummer is the instructor for the dancers. The drum and the drummer is actually telling the dancers what to do.

Telling them when to start, when to change patterns, and where to do what, the drum acts as a guide for the dancers. The third part

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consists of the vocal section, the words in correlation with the beats. Driven by the previous two, the song completes the three part ‘drum dance’. Driven by the drums, the vocals resemble the dance in that they change when the master drummer instructs them to do so.

Just as the Kpanlogo rhythm, and many other traditional Ga patterns, Fume Fume is not complete unless all aspects are connected, unless everything comes together into one united song.

Conclusion

Within contemporary culture, music plays a vital role in the development and cultural identity of the people. It combines the drumming, dancing, and singing of the community, but do so in a different way. Within the Fume Fume pattern the wide range of sounds comes from the drum; the different areas where it is played, and the technique used to strike it.

This form of music has a musical importance to it’s culture, but what is truly special about it stretches well beyond the musical realm. It is that it serves the Ga people not only as a source of culture, but also as a source of pride; an identity that can never be taken.

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Interview With Okoe (Fall 2008):

When was the Fume Fume Rhythm created?

Okoe:

Ehh…It was first created in the early 70’s by Mustapha Tettey Addy. (Mustapha is Okoe’s boss, well renowned musician)… Yeah, when Fume Fume was created Mustapha had a group called Ehe Momo and they toured all over the world trying to show the new Fume Fume. In the late 1970’s, one of the Memes split from the group, and he formed like what you’d call a second group of the Ehe Momo, of which I was a part of. Because Ehe Momo is mostly performed in Europe, and America, people [don’t] know much about Fume Fume. When this group was set up and we played all over Akra and other places we made it so popular actually, because we performed mostly in Ghana, [we] did not perform in Europe and America with the Fume Fume rhythm.

Are there any special occasions in which the rhythm is played or is it just played when you tour with a group?

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Okoe:

It is played, um, actually he created it for the harvest dance, for the harvest ceremony. You know, because he himself is a farmer, so he created it as a harvesting dance.

How well is Fume Fume known in Ghana? Because as you just said it is a relatively unknown rhythm that people globally don’t really know.

Okoe:

It has become very, very popular in Ghana, and now, um, they look to spread it around the world. And you can hear it, like other music, it comes from the grass root, the country, the village, the area has to become well known of it, transport it to everywhere, and then carry the rhythm and its importance to the whole world.

Dr Sacks informed me that the Kpanlogo rhythm actually had roots in a surprising other rhythm. Are there any surprising/other rhythms which Fume Fume arose from?

Okoe:

Actually, yeah. Fume Fume [arose] from many rhythms because Mustapha is a kind of a research guy, you know. He [researched] all over Africa and he put some other rhythms together from Ghana so you can find like a Senegalese rhythm, you know, all this from foreign countries, their rhythms, with the Ghanaian rhythm attached. So Fume Fume is really a mixture.

Are there any other rythtms that use the Kpanlogo bell as the Fume Fume does?

Okoe:

Actually the Kpanlogo base is 4/4 from there it is 6/8. Kpanlogo pattern is 6/8 not bell. Fume Fume bell is only used in Fume Fume. We use 6/8 bell in Ewe rhythm. But we say like “ Ding ka ka ka ka, ding ka ka ka ka” the same, you the “ Ding Ka ka”.

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You said it was related to the harvest festival, but was it created for a whole festival like the dancers too. Did the dancers/dancing come after the rhythm had been around or was it created for the dancers as well?

Okoe:

Actually yeah. You create everything together because the drummer is the instructor for the dancers. You know, the drum and drummer is telling the dancers what to do.

Is it a traditional rhythm?

Okoe: Yeah, yeah it is traditional

Sacks: Are there other rhythms is Ghana that has….

Okoe:

Actually, actually what I will say is in the early 80’s Fume Fume [became] very popular and ad council get involved. They get interested about this dance. So they came to our rehearsal ground and sat with the manager Muhammed Gway, and they came and said yeah because everyday loved this dance when we perform it so they came up with the idea that when we perform it they will change [it]. Its like they were trying to say it was their own, make Fume Fume theirs.

Sacks: They did that with Kpanlogo too right

Okoe:

Yeah, yeah. So they try and make it theirs. So the manager told them no, this is the way the dance is. There is nothing I can change to make you happy. You cannot tell me what to do, I know what I am doing. This is how we will do it.

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