The balafon is a West African xylophone that an artisan carefully crafts from particular species of dried wood, 18-21 bars of which are attached to a frame above specific resonating gourds, and strike with special gum-rubber mallets. There are two kinds of balafons — fixed key, in which the bars are attached to a frame above buzzing, resonating gourds, and free-key, in which the bars rest directly on a padded surface.
“Do Do Ki Do” is a Cameroonian children’s song and West African mask song that often accompanies a Cameroonian masquerade dance. According to Nyango Melissa, Founder of the Minnesota African Women Association, who shared the song with Mama Lisa of the wonderful international children’s music website, Mama Lisa’s World, “do do ki do” is a local term for yummy fried plantains.
Nyango Melissa also wrote this about the song to give an even more vibrant picture of how kids enjoy it: “The kids sing it around one child who wears a mask. That kid is called the ‘juju’, and he is the one who dances. It’s sung mostly when kids are playing and often around the holidays like Christmas. The kids escort the juju who does the dancing and adults give them cash and treats. But you can sometimes hear kids just singing the song and clapping in rhythm on some moonlit nights.”
Country: Cameroon
LYRICS OF THE ALL AROUND THIS WORLD VERSION
Do do ki do ti na baba
Do do ki do ti na baba
Do do do ti la so la so
Learn about the song on “Mama Lisa’s World.”.
Washington D.C.’s MUMA Dance Gorup shares images of Camaroonian Masquerade
Engineering: Jim Hamilton, Rittenhouse Soundworks, Philadelphia
Musicians:
Traditional. Arrangement by Jay Sand.
