balafon
Sign in to saveAlso known as balophong, balaphone, bala, balo, balas, balafo, balafeu, balafou
The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with xylophone etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name bála () with the word fóo (nyáa) () 'to say / method of saying' or the Greek root phono.
Key facts
- Instrument.name
- Balafon
- Instrument.names
- balafo, bala, balaphone, balaphon, balaphong, balani, gyil, balangi
- Instrument.image
- African Balafon in Museu Oscar Niemeyer.jpg
- Instrument.image_capt
- A fixed-key balafon, showing resonators with membrane holes
- Instrument.classification
- West African wooden Percussion idiophone with up to 21 keys
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs
- 111.212
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs_desc
- Sets of percussion sticks
- Instrument.developed
- 12th century or earlier
- Instrument.related
- gyil, marimba, xylophone, gambang kayu
- Intangible heritage.ICH
- Cultural practices and expressions linked to Balafon and Kolintang in Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Indonesia
- Intangible heritage.Countries
- Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Indonesia
- Intangible heritage.ID
- 02131
- Intangible heritage.Region
- Asia and the Pacific, Africa
- Intangible heritage.Year
- 2024
- Intangible heritage.Session
- 19th
- Intangible heritage.List
- Representative
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- African Balafon in Museu Oscar Niemeyer.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Balafon
- Hornbostel-Sachs classification
- 111.212
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Article
16 sectionsContents
- History
- Etymology
- Construction
- Regional traditions
- Gyil
- Cameroon
- Guinea
- The Sosso Bala
- Senegal
- Mali
- Famous players and ensembles
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with xylophone etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name bála () with the word fóo (nyáa) () 'to say / method of saying' or the Greek root phono.
==History== Believed to have been developed independently of the Southern African and South American instrument now called the marimba, oral histories of the balafon date it to at least the rise of the Mali Empire in the 12th century CE. Balafon is a Manding name, but variations exist across West Africa, including the balangi in Sierra Leone and the gyil of the Dagara, Lobi and Gurunsi from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Similar instruments are played in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo denoting the instrument as palaku.