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Koko - Yiri ((Typical features of West African music are: (Call-and…

Koko - Yiri

Instumentation

The djembe, a drum that is played with the hands.
The balafon, an instrument similar to the xylophone but made up of wooden bars which are all tuned to different pitches.
The talking drum, a drum played with a hooked stick. Talking drums can be used to imitate speech by creating different slides and pitches.
The musicians also sing and are split into a soloist singer and a chorus.

Melody and Tone

Yiri is in the key of G♭major.
Most of the music is hexatonic (based on a 6 note scale).
The balafons play short patterns that fall from high to low and tend to emphasise the notes G♭ and D♭.
During the choruses, the group sings together and, much like the balafon, they sing short, falling phrases that emphasise the G♭ and D♭ notes.

Rhythm and Metre

The main metre is 4/4, although there are a couple of exceptions.
After the introduction, the rest of the piece stays at a steady pulse.
Syncopation is used frequently throughout, especially in the vocals and balafon parts.
Triplets are used by the vocal soloist.
During one of the vocal solos, the balafons create cross-rhythms by playing semi-quavers in groups of 3.
Rhythmic ostinatos are created by the drums and continue throughout the whole piece. The ostinato consists of a quaver and then 2 semi-quavers that are repeated.

Koko is a group made up of 6 professional musicians.
They come from the country Burkina Faso.
The word 'Yiri' means wood.
The song might be called Yiri because all the instruments heard in it (other than the bell) are made of wood.
Koko performed Yiri from memory and the score was made later by notating the music heard on the recording. This is otherwise known as 'transcription.'