EKWEMMA INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE IN EHA-ALUMONA CULTURE OF ENUGU STATE: AN EXPOSITORY STUDY

Abstract

African xylophones have been studied and constructed using the 12-tone western scale. There seems to be a dearth of information on specific types of xylophone in Igbo land. Eha-alumona is a town in Nsukka in the North East part of Igbo Land and her traditional religion is strictly predicated around a special type of xylophone called ‘Ekwe mma’ (literally translated as ‘the wooden gong of the deities’). In the light of the present wave of cultural renaissance in Nsukka cultural metropolis and the danger of extraneous influences and ‘contamination’, this research attempts an appreciation of this instrument and its accompanying music through an expository study. It attempts to evaluate the implications of this sacred instrument and its sacred meaning for the devotees. Using observation, interviews and descriptive designs, this research elects to expose this music ensemble and by so doing, hopes to furnish more knowledge on the repertoire of knowledge already provided by researches on African xylophones and their symbolisms, and indigenous music of Igbo extraction. It also hopes to highlight how this particular instrument and its link with the religious and social life of a people can inform a contemporary world on the communicative uses of music.