BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Dr. Josephine Ngozi Mokwunyei is a senior Lecturer of Music and Theatre at the University of Benin, Edo State.

Mokwunyei is also a musician and a Dramatist. She is accredited with several publications, among them are:

Linguistic Foundations  of African Music, Prospects and Importance of Igbo Cultural Festival, Theatre Concepts in Cultural Contexts, Nigerian Women Development through Welfare Productions, Beyond the sound of Music, Culture and Development in Nigeria Society and Vocalization as Paradigm for Anioma Musicianship. Her areas of Research include Ethnomusicology, Creative Dramatics, Theatre for Development and African Culture. Dr. Josephine Ngozi Mokwunyei is a native of Issele-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government of Delta State.

Vocalization as paradigm of Anioma musicianship - the voice of the akpele
JOSEPHINE NGOZI MOKWUNYEI, Ph.D
University of Benin, Nigeria

Abstract
Although it is generally accepted that music is universal, we can imagine that every culture has a way of describing or talking about its music. The purpose of this article is to examine some aspects peculiar to the musical traditions of the Anioma people of Southern Nigeria from indigenous perceptions of their cultural modalities. The focus is on the perspective of Anioma music that represents the voice as the most important asset of its musical tradition. This is explored through the examination of the functions of a traditional musical instrument that relates most closely with the human voice. The results of this study help to bridge a gap in the knowledge of African musical instruments by bringing to scholarly focus a little-known form of communication.

Key words
akpele musicianship, Anioma, gourd trumpet, speech, surrogate, virtuoso

Background
The Anioma people are the western minority fragment of the Igbo-speaking ethnic society
of Southern Nigeria, who occupy an area south-west of the Niger river and extending westward to Edo state boundaries. They live in sub-groups and speak Anioma variations
of the Igbo language. The specific dialects are distinguishable from those of the larger Igbo linguistic groups of Eastern Nigeria.

Phonology and the Anioma concept of music
The Anioma worldview of communal human existence accommodates the spiritual realm. Within this realm, humans, ancestral, spiritual and supernatural beings are in constant dialogue in rituals and observances through the means of vocal chanting or phonetic instrumentation.

Apart from the existence of performances in which speaking and singing are integrated, such as in the telling of folk tales, Anioma music can be described mainly as ‘logo-genic’ (word-borne). Songs in this tradition tend to be synonymous with speech; a musical phrase may be equated with a sentence, a clause, a phrase or even a word that functions as a complete utterance. The relationship is so close that the internal divisions

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MUSIC EDUCATION Copyright © 2008 International Society for Music Education
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that delineate the musical phrases within a song tend to correspond closely to grammatical
units of the structure (Mokwunyei, 2001). Therefore, each syllable of the melody represents
a note, so that a word containing three syllables is delivered in three notes. The particular note assigned to each syllable is also determined by the speech contour to ensure that the meaning is not altered. For instance, the choice of notes as determined by the speech contour of the threesyllable word a-kp-ele becomes low-high-low (_-_). A wrong application of tones to the word akpele such as high-low-high changes the contour and renders it meaningless. Such a mistake becomes a more serious issue to the owners of the language when a word wrongly delivered becomes an insult or profanity.

Imagine a word such as ike, which means strength, might or power in the sentence ‘Chukwu nwe ike nine’, literally meaning ‘God has all the power’. With the correct tones of high-high (-/-) appropriately applied to the two syllables, i-ke retains its correct meaning. On the other hand, ‘Chukwu nwe ike nine’ (-/_) with the low e inflection will literally mean ‘God has all buttocks’. In other words, the meaning of an Igbo word depends on the way it is pronounced or how the tones are manipulated.

 Anioma musical instruments
Three categories of musical instruments are featured in Anioma ensembles. These are: percussion instruments; instruments associated with cults; and special melodic instruments. All of these must be mastered to be performed appropriately. The instruments in the first category, percussion instruments, are the most common and do not require special training other than that acquired directly or indirectly from mothers and peers in the course of growing up within the culture, and are relatively easy to play. These include the isia (beaded net gourd-rattle), agogo (bell-shaped metal gong in regular, small, medium
and large sizes), okpokolo (portable rectangular wooden-gong), onuite (spherical earthenware frame membrane-drum), and ududu (rounded ceramic musical-pot).

These are used to play familiar rhythms from the sound culture as extensions of the human body to create images and moods similar to those of hand clapping, moaning, shouting, ululation, sighing and foot stamping. The second category, instruments associated with cults, is limited to instruments associated primarily with secret societies and chieftaincy institutions. These are otulaka (small animal horn-flute), odu (elephant-tusk-trumpet and chieftaincy icon played solo or in ‘hocket’ technique by chieftains on ceremonial occasions), both belonging to the ‘aerophone series’. Egede dibie (cylindrical wooden drums) and egwu ndi eze (cylindrical woodendrum ensemble) are an assortment of sacred and royal drums respectively belonging to the ‘membranophones’ group. The dibie and egwu ndi eze instruments and their repertoire are not accessible to the public. They are known, learned and played only by members upon initiation into the cults or by attendants of chieftaincy institutions respectively.

The third category, the special melodic instruments, constitutes the few that require learning before anyone can play them. These include ufie (cylindrical wooden-slit-drum of the idiophone classification) and most importantly akpele (gourd-trumpet of the aerophone class), the focus of this study.

Anioma instrumental sound-scope
The sound of each instrument of the culture is identifiable separately as a voice, knowing that it might communicate information that calls for specific action or attitude. For example the ‘voice’ of the ekwe (wooden gong) from a distance calls for silence and immediate attention because a verbal announcement will usually follow.

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354 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MUSIC EDUCATION 26(4)
Other instruments used for such mass media functions are the akpele (gourd trumpet), ufie (giant wooden gong), otulaka (animal horn) and egede dibie (sacred drums). These may not necessarily communicate direct messages, but may indirectly generate significant intrinsic information about those who play them, situations and contexts in which they are played and more importantly the reason for which they are played. Thus, the scope of the language of the culture is extended to these melodic instruments as an extension of speech.

The akpele
Of all the instruments of the Aniocha culture, the akpele exhibits the most functions and is closest to the human voice. In contrast to other instruments in the other categories, the akpele (Figure 1) is a speech surrogate instrument with two or more tones similar to that of the Igbo language and as such used to imitate the human voice quality as speech surrogates.

Akpele is a 6–11 inch hollow gourd1 trumpet with an opening (2–3 inches wide) at one end, tapering to a much smaller opening at the other end. An oval embouchure is carved on the side through which air is blown. The sound produced depends on how its three holes are manipulated: the embouchure in contact with the lips and side holes stopped with cupped or open palms (see Figure 2).

Akpele in Anioma culture functions in three modes: as signal, speech and music. The use of the instrument is so well entrenched in the tradition of the Anioma people that it has become an integral part of their existence. For this reason it is naturally expected to be heard on all occasions during which it is associated with prescribed contextual functions.

Figure 1 Akpele gourd trumpet.
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Mokwunyei Vocalization as paradigm of Anioma musicianship 355

According to the Anioma worldview, ‘you do not teach a blacksmith’s son his father’s trade’. This hypothesis is based on the belief that the knowledge, repertoire and playing techniques of akpele are naturally acquired by male members of the society believed to be specially chosen by the ‘gods’.

On the contrary, the finding of this study is that although the knowledge and playing of the akpele is without age or social restriction, it has remained an uncommon instrumental practice in the past three decades because of a dearth of players among an ever-growing population of Anioma Igbos at home and in the diaspora. In reply to a related question, one of the few specialists reveals that ‘… it is not possible to stumble on the technique of akpele playing’. As he further explains: ‘It takes a lot of training and practice to acquire the skill of akpele playing and, thereafter, years of dedicated apprenticeship to attain the enviable virtuoso status known as Okwa Akpele’ (interview with Benson Okougbomo,2 akpele master instrumentalist, 1995).

Akpele education: making a sound
The study to become an akpele specialist in training occurs in two stages. In the introductory stage, the individual is exposed to the activities of the master who could be from the same village or one of the neighbouring villages within reasonable reach.3 The inquisitive akpele enthusiast in the traditional system starts his apprenticeship informally at a tender age of about seven by observing a master musician out of personal interest.4

Through observation he also learns to construct his own instrument that he in turn learns to play in a process of imitation and practice. This stage involves attending functions that involve music-making, mimicking and imitating with a self-made toy replica, following the master from one performance to the other and visiting the master at home whenever he is heard rehearsing.

The enthusiast gains eligibility by privately figuring out how to make a sound. The attainment of this difficult step, which marks the transition to the second stage, attracts the attention of the master-player who after a while prescribes the next step as well as

Figure 2 Master instrumentalist Emeke Anionicha playing akpele.
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providing further guidance. Under the tutelage of the master, the playing technique is learned (see playing methodology in the Appendix) followed by the language of the instrument, which consists of stock phrases, praise names, genealogies, historical data and songs as in spoken Anioma dialect. Equipped with this and other rudiments of Anioma music and culture, the talented individual is encouraged to take the next step in his training with the master instrumentalist. At this stage he begins to play sounds that are decipherable as speech. Although this takes quite some time, the young student at this point is motivated by the sounds he is already able to make. The training period lasts several years, sometimes as long as from childhood to adulthood. This enables the player ample time to fully master the techniques as well as the oral literature from which the texts are derived.

Based on this information, the finding of this study is that proficiency in akpele is only realizable through painstaking practice by interested, talented, male carriers of intrinsic values of Anioma language and culture and not by endowment.

Akpele signal functions
As the akpele apprentice attains a certain level of mastery of his instrument, he is recognized by the community and recruited to take charge of announcements for community cleaning, a regular occurrence during which the following phrases are played
to mobilize the age grades concerned. Akpele also performs the following functions in its decodable signal mode. It:

• convenes meetings of elders or other social/traditional political groups;

• announces fines for those that default on obligations;

• announces important traditional events or agendas.

Akpele speech-surrogate functions
Because the Igbo language is a tone language, the akpele imitates the high and low tones of the syllables of words as well as rhythms, which the practised Igbo ears reinterpret as speech. This enables it to function as a speech-surrogate instrument in traditional contexts.

For instance, when the Obi (The King of Issele-Uku) makes his outing during the annual Ine festival, he is usually accompanied by the Okwa-Akpele (akpele-virtuoso). He chants his praises by reciting his numerous appellations, such as those in the following examples

(Table 1, 2 and 3) recorded by my late father J.K. Osakwe during such a festive period(Osakwe, 1975, p. 49).Table 1 Stock phrases for akpele clean up announcements

Phrase Translation
Onye puha onye puha - Out you come, out you come
Chiefoe o Chiefoe o - It is dawn, it is dawn
Okonkwo o o Okonkwo o o - Igbo name of male born on Nkwo traditional weekday
Puha kanyi je olu o – o - Let us go to work
Onye jikwai onye jikwai - Be prepared, be prepared
Onye apuha na okuku a efuhu - Non-compliance means losing a chicken
Puha o o puha o o - Come out, come out

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Akpele musical functions
As a musical instrument with melodic capability, akpele performs solo pieces in the form of chants and praise songs. It performs solo parts of songs, thus enabling it to function as a custodian of repertoires for ensembles. It combines rhythmic and melodic statements and sometimes it also harmonizes vocal parts.

The master akpele instrumentalist is usually the nucleus of any musical occasion at which he performs. He automatically assumes leadership of any performance group to which he belongs. As observed at Idumu-Ogo and Obomkpa, the home of the Okwa-Akpele invariably doubles as location for a resident dance ensemble irrespective of his private schedule. This also means that he maintains a performance standard through regular practice with the resident group of music and dance enthusiasts from the community, who convene as frequently as once in a four-day week.

When other dance groups to which he belongs rehearse, they do so at night when members have finished with their daily chores. These nocturnal rehearsals are duly summoned by the akpele virtuoso, at the instance of the group leader who signals by striking a metal gong from his or her residence. Upon hearing the kon ko lo kon kon ko lo (metal gong language phrase pattern) the akpele trumpeter takes over and communicates the cued intention to members. On hearing the already familiar dance-command stock-phrases, they immediately convene for rehearsal.

Within the music-dance context, the akpele calls participants by name and plays stock expressions to elicit response or reaction as shown in Table 4.

The akpele also showers praise on dancers to encourage and bring out the best in them (Figure 3). The dancers, motivated in this manner, explore their talent in full to an appreciative audience. It must be noted here that Aniocha aesthetic values deplore mediocrity; therefore, only a high standard of performance induces a high-level appreciation.

Table 2 Akpele praise chants

Phrase Translation
Oluku nyaka (3ce) - Praise appellation for Obi of Issele-Uku
Akelekete - Praise appellation
Eze dike di ebube - Prestigious king
Anya ge nene’ke ge nene ogulugu - Come and see the python and see the rainbow
Ekene ekene - Greetings, greetings
Wa ge’tigbu si ewu mak’okuku - Would you rather kill a goat for the sake of a chicken?
Nwa Eze bu Ada  - The king’s daughter is a princess
Ite washi ite di eke - If a pot breaks a pot is available in the market

Table 3 Stock phrases of akpele signal for rehearsal

Phrase Translation
Okafo o o o o, Okafo o o - Okafo here means all
Ku u u ku u u - Come, come, come
Okolie o o o o, Okolie o Okolie - here also means all
Ku u u ku u u - Come, come, come

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During the performances, it is usual for a song to be repeated over and over again before bringing a round of performance to a full close. Thereafter, special characteristic phrases recognizable as indicators are played by the akpele to round off. When this signal is given, the ensemble notes the cue and works progressively in harmony to a final cadence. On hearing the akpele’s characteristic approach to the cadence phraseology, the solo dancer also ends his or her dance with the instruments if he/she is not exhausted or has no reason to vacate the floor. Alternatively, it becomes a rest period when the tempo and elaborate gesticulations of the dance are reduced to basic movements. At this point, the dancer only shuffles gracefully to the rhythm of the background percussion accompaniment while catching a breath from the vigorous dancing. To some other dancers in the circle, the closing phrase indicates an obligation to vacate the circle for the next set of dancers. In that case, they withdraw to their seats while the akpele makes a fresh selection of dancers.

As Anioma music performance demands a high level of concentration and energy, particularly on the part of instrumentalists and dancers, it is customary to break the performance up into a series of rounds that last long enough for energy levels to be sustained.

Table 4 Stock phrases and reactions

Stock expression Translation Expected reaction
Ukel’ukel’ok’egwu ji ete - Great dancing is smart Increase in dance tempo.
On’uwa (Onu Uwa) - Female Aniocha name She answers

(literally meaning public opinion)

I g’etekw’egwu? - Are you willing to dance? Yes I will
Ony’amana t’okpuzuka - One who cannot dance Improvement of dance should leave the floor style or else vacate dance floor

Figure 3 Akpele as dance motivator.
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Mokwunyei Vocalization as paradigm of Anioma musicianship 359

These breaks/rest periods are opportunities for changing to the next piece from the repertoire. At such intervals when the akpele has no specific message or directive to issue, it takes on the rhythm of the metronome instrument or alternatively the player rests his cheek muscles and lungs. He also seizes this opportunity to tune the instrument.

Some educational findings
One of the major contributions of this study is the discovery of what is expected to develop into the first formal attempt at institutionalizing the study of the akpele. In the course of investigation for this study, a group of young boys between ages 9 and 18 were discovered taking instructions in the technique of akpele playing. Although the trainer informed us that there were 30 students, only 12 were said to be regular and actually seen understudying their master, Emeke Anionicha at Obompka in Aniocha North Local Government area of Delta State, Nigeria. The implication of this discovery is that the hitherto feared extinction of the most valuable instrument and speech surrogate of the Anioma Igbo culture has been forestalled.

This discovery is also significant because it lends credence to the researcher’s hypothesis(Mokwunyei, 2004) that the knowledge of the instrument is usually shrouded in mystery because of the professional insecurity of the instrumentalist and consequent fear of being overthrown and thereby denied a means of livelihood. In the case of Emeke, who has been exposed to tertiary-level education, it was an obligation to share his knowledge.

With this significant step Emeke’s name goes down in history for instituting a new epoch in the musical traditions of the Anioma Igbo of Southern Nigeria.

Conclusion and recommendations
In the Anioma culture, the voice is regarded as the oldest form of communication and also the oldest of all musical instruments created by God Almighty. Thus, God created the voice as a means of communication among men and men created musical instruments as an accompaniment or extension to the voice. It is for this reason that a great deal of importance is attached to instruments that are capable of representing or simulating the human voice such as the akpele.

With a master instrumentalist identified and willing to share his knowledge, the only impediment experienced by this initiative is financial support. It is recommended here that this project initiative by Emeke should be supported to fruition by non-governmental institutions and agencies interested in studies and propagation of rare exotic musical instruments of the world through appropriate funding, in order to:

• provide a more convenient environment and logistics for learning;

• develop ways of preserving the fragile instrument;

• encourage the systematization and documentation of playing technique; and

• facilitate training workshops within and outside the locality.

One hopes that the trainer/master musician would find support some day through the awareness created by publishing this study. With such support, Emeke would be in a better position to focus and concentrate on a desirable educational project that would conveyvthe deepest cultural values of the Anioma civilization as a contribution to safeguarding an intangible culture.

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Notes
1. The gourd material is from a variety of a large tropical fruit, not normally edible but with hard skin and soft inside. The fruits are usually cut, hollowed out and dried for use as bowls, bottles, and palm wine containers as well as musical instruments, depending on the shape. The variety used for gourd rattles are rounded while those for trumpets are tubular.

2. Benson Okougbomo, the akpele virtuoso, died a couple of years after this interview, and he does not have a successor.

3. Reasonable reach here means a distance ranging from 2 to 5 kilometers, or the distance that a child is able to walk.

4. The interest here is probably what the culture sees as an act of God and as such justifiable.

References
Mokwunyei, J. N. (2001). Nigerian popular music as dynamic as culture. In Asagba (Ed.), Cross Currents (pp. 72–82). Benin City: Kraft Publishers.

Mokwunyei, J. N. (2004). The endurance of a cherished instrumental tradition in southern Nigeria: The extinction of the Aniocha akpele. EJOTMA, Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 1(1), 50–58. Osakwe, J. N. (1975). Ine Festival in IsseleUku. Unpublished thesis, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Josephine Ngozi Mokwunyei, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts & Mass Communication, University of Benin, Nigeria. Address: Department of Theatre Arts & Mass Communication, University of Benin, POBox 911 Airport Road, Benin-City, Nigeria. [email: j_mokwunyei@yahoo.com

Appendix:
Basic Tutorial – How to Play akpele

The playing of the akpele consists of the following basic steps.

• There are two major tones, one open and the other closed.

• There are two other manipulated tones.

• There are four contrasting basic tones and playing positions identified.

These do not include the glides (as in speech), which occur as mid-way tones derived from all the contrasting tones in the third item above.

Stage 1: Playing positions
Note: The embouchure of the akpele is put to the mouth and blown (as in the trumpet technique) to produce sound.

1. Position 1: All holes are open before blowing to produce sound.
Position 2: All holes are closed/stopped before blowing to produce sound.

2. Position 3: Bigger orifice is open while smaller orifice is closed/stopped before blowing
to produce sound.

Position 4: Smaller orifice is open while bigger orifice is closed/stopped before blowing
to produce sound.

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Mokwunyei Vocalization as paradigm of Anioma musicianship 361

Stage 2: Blowing technique
To make a sound the embouchure is put to the mouth and tongued, as in the trumpet
technique.

Stage 3: Practice 1
(a) Tu: In open position air is blown in to produce a tone.
(b) Tu: Hold sound for 1 count. Repeat until steady.
(c) Tu–tu: Hold sound for three counts, breathe and hold sound for another three counts.
(d) Repeat until clean sound is produced and sustained.

Stage 4: Practice 2
(a) Tu Tu Tu: In open position blow 3 times to produce the same tone 3 times.
(b) Tu Tu Tu: hold note for one count each.
(c) Tu–Tu–Tu–: Hold note for three counts each.

Stage 5
Attempt playing different notes guided by instructions for stages 3 and 4.

Stage 6
Glides are achieved either by opening half way or closing half way.

Stage 7    
The player may confine himself to the two primary pitches of the instrument as in Positions 1 and 2 (all holes are open before blowing to produce sound; all holes are closed/stopped before blowing to produce sound). Or the player may extend the range between any two or four contrasting tones of the instrument as in Positions 3 and 4 (bigger orifice is open while smaller orifice is closed/stopped before blowing to produce sound; smaller orifice is open while bigger orifice is closed/stopped before blowing to produce sound) when he wishes to simulate speech intonation or ornament a melodic line.