Tuesday, October 6, 2009

African music in Second Life--Tamsin Barzane

The recently concluded African Festival on Second Life had many musical moments, thought that was never intended to be its focus. But it proved a maxim, one that Oliha Yiwama mentioned in his talks on both drumming and spiritual traditions--music and dance bring people together, celebration is prayer, the spirit can unite people and make their spirits soar! (well, all right, he said it more eloquently).

We wanted live music and nearly had it in two doses. The very kind Bourque Rau promotes Second Life live music, and did her best to hunt down performers who worked either in African style or something close. She connected me with the very talented Peregrine Singh, who mulled over the possibilities of bringing in musician friends from Gambia and Guinea, and I began to salivate. Real life prevented it, but who knows in future? And if not for sound problems, we would have had master rl drummer Oliha Yiwama bringing us West African rhythms in several traditions, which we trust will still happen in times ahead.

We had three fabulous DJs play African music: HarleyMC Homewood, Blade Unsustainable and Isabelle Mavendorf (Soulman Sands is another tested and true, but unavailable during the festival). Their tastes were all different, and all fabulous--we had Afrobeatphilacs, African house music miners, and plaintive balladeers. Miles Barbasz was feverishly writing down artists' names, and he'd better hand over his list!

We filled the sim (it's a homestead, but I'm convinced it would have been filled even in a full prim)! People tried and tried and finally tped in, that's how good the sound reports were. And they chatted as the fireworks went off and the hips shook--not senseless spamastic gestures, but conversations and spontaneous eruptions of joy. Friendships were forged, and our last night's Best Dressed in African Attire saw a bevy of beauties of both sexes (winners--Blac Quartz and Pietro Eberhardt), dancing under the stars.
One of the best musical events was totally unplanned. I sat in a vendor's stall with Feretian String, just chatting. Oronoque Westland wandered by, and asked if her playing a flute would be annoying. Certainly not! Soon her haunting South American tunes were joined by my Yoruba talking drum and Fere on a standing one--then Oron switched to electric sitar, then guitar and steel pan. We had a jam session that lasted for close to two hours, joined by Solylence Houston, Szvanna Anatra, the others who danced and played. For a while we were the all female Princesses of Percussion (POP)--Fere to thank for that sporty moniker--then were joined by others of the male persuasion.

At times we actually seemed in sync, and a thrill swept over us! I hope scripters make more musical instruments and work in some timing controls, because, as Oliha Yiwama pointed out, this is a great opportunity for those who never had exposure or practice--or skill--to make beautiful music. But we're more than happy to make a joyful noise here!

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UNDER THE MANGO TREE--Tamsin Barzane

SL's first African Festival has come and gone, and now it's time to reflect. The three-and-a-half day affair brought a lot of visitors to Saminaka, some of whom have chosen to be residents, regular loiterers (in a good way!), or merchants. The crowds and interest were gratifying, but the work was substantial. So--some reflections on the festival itself, but also on the idea of organizing a big event, which might help those doing something similar.
Suggestion #1. Imagine how long it will take you to create all the components, then multiply by three. There are bound to be rl interruptions, technical glitches, problems and unanticipated situations of all sorts. If you are creating things (builds, prizes for a treasure hunt, slide shows) begin months in advance! It won't molder on your computer, and you don't even have to schedule the event until there's only a smidge left to finish. Do you really want to (ahem) make your stiltwalking masquerade costume the day you're going to wear it?
Suggestion #2. Don't hire a publicist. I didn't, because I heard too many horror stories of people who paid lottalindens for pr, with few results. Did I get any better results? Probably not, but I had passion for the project, and some really helpful friend. Oliha Yiwama had lots of great ideas, and send out notices to tons of groups, as did I; Firery Broome hit the SLED lists and places academic, Charity Richez dug into her endless friends list and brought people regularly to events, and Kabaka Kwaszes tweeted and notified throughout the weekend--and those are only the ones I knew about. No reporters interviewed me, but I contacted some. However, an enquiry about radio ads to Khitten Kurka (aka DJ Flashback on Ground Level Radio) brought me into a discussion with Ground Level's Bryson Capalini who ran constant public service announcements for us on his excellent R&B station throughout the weekend. Fabulous people WILL help out in wonderful ways.
Suggestion #3. Regard your first big event as an experiment. So nobody entered the writing contest? Two of the photo contests were a bust? Perhaps the wrong contacts, too little publicity, or too much of a good thing. Only one person in the canoe regatta, and the durbar petered out? The first turned out to be terrific fun, while the latter has potential. Shake it off, and consider how each could be a dedicated event you can give full consideration to. Durbar will happen later, after Nigerian style horse trappings are made at leisure.

And as for the regatta? Ah, Saminaka WILL have an Olokun festival and pull out the stops! We'll supply usable decorated canoes, have a slide show about water deities in Africa, and invite SL's mermaids to make free with an enhanced underwater paradise. Plus the rideable hammerhead shark and manta ray will return! Saminaka looks so great circling round the perimeter, and the outer islands provide some marvelous opportunities for perilous steering!

As the only entrant with a decorated canoe, Feretian String won the regatta contest, but we had fun with resident Fox Foxdale and the fabulous water spider, Oronoque Westland! In short, don't let any aspect get you down.

Suggestion #4 Where your plans involve other people, inure yourself to disappointment and have a back-up plan. No need to be disappointed when people can't do what they said they would--First Life had BETTER have priorities. Be flexible. We almost had a great live performer, but it didn't work out. A DJ who agreed, then never showed up or even said sorry (no requests to you again, sir!). Some vendors said they were ready, but ultimately weren't (have your stalls up and rent boxes ready when you ask!). It was all good. Fallbacks fell in place. As luck would have it, a fave DJ, HarleyMC Homewood came on just as I was in despair we would have an opening party at all--and from his superkind heart, stepped into the breach immediately. No live performer, but live DJs everyday. A couldn't-be-helped late show? African music videos in the meantime. It'll all be fine if you keep despair at bay and can please the gathered with something.

Suggestion #5. Don't let the technical problems stop you. Saminaka's Sultan, Oliha Yiwama gave two fabulous talks. The first, on African music, would have included the greatest of demo drumming, but the mic was too "hot" and the feedback interfered with the drums (and had been nonexistent in an earlier soundcheck). Everyone enjoyed the talk nonetheless, but there was a hunger to hear the drumming, so Oliha was going to work some drumming, voice and percussion into his talk on African Spirituality. But sound did not cooperate. For some unknown reason, static metastasized, and he philosophically abandoned his original plan, went to typing, and soldiered on. (We will make sure he gets a chance to shine in future, because he is a terrific speaker and performer). Both talks were very well attended and made the sim new friends (I also gave a talk on African art).

Suggestion #6 Bring new groups together and collaberate. As Bryan Mnemonic suggested at the launch of SL's group Ananse's Web, our sims can be like a blogroll, with links to sims that complement our interests. Ananse's Web (Ananse is the Ashanti people's wise trickster, the spider) is a group of those interested in promoting African and Diaspora studies in Virtual Worlds--an academically-oriented group whose launch included fascinating data on Africa's digital leaps by Khoisan Fisher, and a keynote address by Bryan (Prof. Bryan Carter in rl). These stimulating conversations energized the members, who followed the University of Delaware opening with a tour of Virtual Africa, the Middle Passage Experience, Indea Vaher's Remembrance, and Virtual Harlem (the latter Bryan's project). Discussion afterwards was at Saminaka, but drew several treasure hunters, who quietly absorbed the group's broad range of topics.




Suggestion #7. Relax and enjoy yourself. Have spontaneous events, chat with visitors, make new friends, and listen to people--that will help you propel things forward and realize that those many rl hours were well worth it.
The festival closed with a splendid party, and some of us continued to linger there, reluctant to leave the happy companionship that had developed throughout the weekend. Nigerians who didn't know Saminaka existed found it, as did folks from all corners of the world. Satisfying, indeed!

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African Festival Photo Contest

Saminaka's African Festival included a photo contest, and winner RiddleRay Rembrandt offset Saminaka's lush foliage with the
spread of its peacock's
plumage.
He rightly reminded me that contest boards should probably be rectangular, as that is the format of most SL photos--his certainly shows to greater glory released from its square format!
Kishi Sorbet stuck to the square, and took a fascinating shot of herself from an aerial view. She blends into the cracked earth and the forlorn tusks of past elephants.
Artemisia Mathy, on the other hand, took a photo on AfricaLive (we were promoting African flora and other African sims, too) with her beloved mangroves. Artemisia has a mangrove project there, with lots of information on their endangerment (and that of the manatees, who live amongst them).
SL's ability to choose your time of day and any possible angle allows for some fascinating possibilities; we had more entries, but no more with full perms by press time. There will be more contests, because I love to see the creativity of Saminaka's visitors!

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Our readership keeps growing! This week it's 1473. Take advantage of our low rates and readers who love quality merchandise, and advertise with us.

All ad payments are in-world and in lindens. Ads for the coming week should be submitted by noon SLT Saturday (in a pinch, we'll take them later).

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If you want longer text, more than one photo, or a longer ad run, prices will be adjusted. Contact Tamsin Barzane through inworld notecard or at tbarzane@gmail.com

FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

Oliha is on vacation this week.

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AFRICAN MYSTICAL SCIENCES ON SAMINAKA!

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EXPERIENCE THE ANCIENT SECRETS OF AFRICA!!!

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Orisha store coming soon!

IM Oliha Yiwama for a consultation. Reasonable rates.










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HAWKING IN THE MARKET--SAMINAKA COMMERCIAL NEWS

Market in Benin City, Ibadan, Nigeria
***Market Stalls: The temporary Festival Market stalls were a big hit with visitors, and several of the vendors mentioned how pleased they were with their sales. Saminaka will be developing its Anioma sector with Igbo buildings soon, and we're going to relocate a small open market there.
Solylence Houston and Nygela Paris are both taking African clothing stalls, and we welcome other vendors with a zest for things African! 25 prims for 150 a week--contact Tamsin Barzane
***cacao Main Store: The main store for cacao will now be developing quickly, since the building is up and the Festival is behind us. This means that Cinnamon Brigade will be phased out, its inventory updated and folded into the new cacao--which means an expansion for Seven Cowries! It's a shuffle all round--some of the stock of African Art at Pangolin Dreams (on Robben Island) will move to Saminaka, as Pangolin Dreams narrows its specialties. Likewise, Tropicality clothing and shoes will in part move to cacao (with updates!) as Tropicality shifts its focus exclusively to beach and resort wear with African flair.

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WETIN BE DAT? Pidgin English phrase of the week

Abeg--una say, "Make we gist," but now, sha, you wan say my tori get k-leg!

Please--you said we should discuss and trade gossip, but now you want to tell me you don't believe my story!

MY PEOPLE SAY--NIGERIAN PROVERB OF THE WEEK

"The man seated before delicious food cannot fathom the bitterness of hunger." Yoruba proverb



Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6 pm slt Egbe Akowe meets. Join Saminaka's writing club for stimulating prompts and weekly critiques of the resulting poetry and prose. Held at Saminaka's library. Slate, Scroll & Stick: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/167/183/29

Ongoing, until Oct. 15. Saminaka's great Cantaloupe Treasure Hunt allows you to wear a new calabash on your head, this time loading it with half cantaloupes as you search through the sim for 20 of the fruits. They're all hidden near Nigerian plants, and pile up in your calabash as you find them. All located? Go back to base and touch the giant cantaloupe for a grand prize. All prizes transfer. Any that are gender-specific include both a male and female version. All prizes unique to the hunt, comprising clothing, furniture, art and other goods with an African plant theme. The starting point can be reached from teleporter via Saminaka's infohub tent, or at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/93/66/30


Ongoing indefinitely. Saminaka has a new exhibit about Nigerian plants. This slideshow features information and images of over fifty trees, plants and flowers, native and naturalized. Some of the information is surprising (Nigeria is the third largest supplier of peanuts in the world--outranks U.S.!), some is interesting (Nigerian henna use does not involve elaborate patterning). Enjoy finding out a rubber tree doesn't look at all exotic, soak up some beauty, and get some hints for the treasure hunt above! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/96/65/30