While herding cattle, we used to play an instrument called kambuya-mbuya. We would take a small tin, like a jam tin, dig a hole in the ground, and place the tin inside the hole. Once we had positioned it inside, we would take a small, upright tree and fix it in the ground on one side. We would take a piece of string, or even twist our own twine from tree bark. Yes, we used to twist our own twine. Then we would punch a hole in that small tin, thread the twine through it, and tie a knot on the underside, so that it wouldn’t come loose. So, the small tree was fixed in the ground on one side, with the small tin in the hole next to it. And then we would bend the small tree, and tie the string fixed to the jam tin to it.
So, once we had done that, we would start to play. I played it by pressing down on the end of the branch to make different sounds. When I pressed hard, it would make a low, bass sound. When I pressed just a bit, it made a tenor sound, or a high soprano sound. And that’s how it went. As I played, I would adjust the sound it was making, trying to make sure that it followed the sound of my voice:
That is how it works, yes. So, we used to do this herding cattle, so much so that if you heard it somewhere, you would know that people were herding cattle there. It wasn’t something that was played just anywhere; no.
The way we played, when we played too intently, the cattle would stray. Because as you are entertaining yourself, the cattle are wandering off. So, we used to play and play, then round up the cattle, bring them close, and then play again! If you saw that your cattle no longer had sufficient pasture in one place, you could just remove it, and take it with you. When you arrived in a place where there was enough pasture, you would dig another hole, right there, and start to play.
We called it “kambuya-mbuya” – it’s embarrassing! This is what we used to sing:
Panyo pambuya-mbuya From grandmother’s anus
Panobva mukonde mukuru Comes a big heap of dung
Panyo pambuya-mbuya From grandmother’s anus
Panobva mukonde mukuru Comes a big heap of dung
When grandmother goes to the forest to do her business, when she needs to defecate, her waste is very big, bigger than that of young children. Yes, that’s why we played it in the forest, because that’s what we were talking about! Imagine. That’s why we called it “kambuya-mbuya.” And that’s why we played it in the forest, rather than playing it at home. Because our grandmother would beat us! Although now, some people are taking the instrument and playing ngoma songs on it. Like my grandson Brian, who plays it very well. Oh yes, when he plays it sounds just like dinhe drumming.
So, we weren’t allowed to play it at home. They used to say, “Go and play there, in the forest!” Yes, so, it was so embarrassing when we started to sing. You could also sing other songs, but they told us not to bring it home because they know that we would end up singing that one anyway. Maybe we start off singing something else, but we’ll end up singing that, because that’s kambuya-mbuya. So that is what we used to play, as young children.