Recording in Tanzania.

While traveling through East Africa on a two month backpacking trip I met a young Tanzanian man by the name of Iddy Ally. I was traveling through Tanzania making my way to Kenya at the time. Here’s some background on the recording of the vocal that’s featured in the tracks, The Times, Iddy’s Song and Passage of Time, from the debut album Global Inspiration.

While in Tanzania I had an over night stop in a small village, Mto Wa Mbu, not far from Arusha. In search for new sounds, I explained my recording project to some locals who were happy to put the word out to see if anyone would sing for me. The locals were generous and keen to be involved. They said they know someone who might oblige. I didn’t hear any more from them until the next day……

I awoke in the early morning to pack the vehicle, we were heading for Ngorongoro Crater, and a few days later to Mt Kilimanjaro and the boarder of Kenya, we were leaving soon. Just as we were about to depart Iddy tapped me on the shoulder, “I can sing for you”. I was lucky that another person in our group was still not back from her trip to the market….. why not use the time !

Iddy and I found a quiet room to record his voice. He sang into a hand held Sony condenser mic recording directly into a walkman style DAT (digital) recorder. There was no guide track for him to listen to, just his voice…..and the occasional chicken squawking in the background. A fortunate 15 minutes ! This young man of 18 years had a maturity and depth to his voice beyond his years. I found myself immersed in a beautiful world, Iddy’s. His rich and captivating voice resonated in my mind all the way to Mt Kilimanjaro.

Unfortunately, being distracted by the recording process and being hurried by the rest of the group I was with, I didn’t get around to taking a photo of the occasion… sorry ! The photo’s here are from the following days.

You can listen to or download the album on iTunes or via my friends at Tijuana Cartel Music.