In a recently post, Martin Doyle, Tanzania And The Music Tree, we highlighted Martin Doyle’s upcoming trip to Tanzania in August with British composer and sound designer Nina Perry. Two excerpts from that post:
Martin Doyle is to feature in a radio programme to be called The Music TreeNewstalk. The project is being headed by Nina Perry (who also produced Sounding Post which looked at the use of wood for instruments and featured several instrument makers including Martin Doyle) for Falling Tree Productions. […] The Music Tree is to accompany Irish flute-maker Martin Doyle from County Clare to Tanzania where he plans to demonstrate Irish flute making so that accomplished local craftsmen might learn his skills to boost the economy surrounding this rare wood and, for the first time, hear the sound of instruments made from the local blackwood trees.
Nina Perry has very kindly offered this update on the trip:
“We will be travelling to Dar es Salaam where Martin will attempt to make a flute in the workshops of the Mwenge Carving Centre. We will then travel to Kilwa Masoko where we will meet people involved with the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative. We will then go to Ruhatwe village where we will meet people involved in the project and attempt a musical collaboration with the local singing group. They have never heard or seen an instrument made from Mpingo (aka: African Blackwood).”
Map of Tanzania.
Martin Doyle is looking forward to the trip and is in the process of making specialised flute-making tools in anticipation that they might not be available in Tanzania. He is also practicing some Tanzanian tunes on his flute with the view of accompanying Nina Perry, herself an accomplished musician, in performing for their Tanzanian hosts during the trip.
The Music Tree expedition represents the coming together of the craft of instrument making, the conscious use of timber and a growing awareness and consideration for the people who grow and live among the trees harvested for instrument making, and of music – the universal language.
Bon voyage Martin and Nina!