Popular Traditional Musicians of Sierra Leone and Their Signature Instruments: The Case of Denkena and Ordulay from Northern Sierra Leone

The study examines the instruments used by indigenous musicians in Sierra Leone: particularly those employed in Denkena and Ordulay performances in the North as distinct Sierra Leonean cultural instruments in terms of their production and use. Despite the impact of globalisation and Western technology on Sierra Leonean traditions, indigenous musicians continue to craft and play instruments within a distinctive cultural context. The objectives of the study were to a) identify the different numbers of players in their ensembles and the various numbers of instruments in Denkena and Ordulay’s performances; b) compare and contrast the musical instruments used by the two musicians in their performances; and c) assess whether the two musicians incorporate Western-style instruments to enhance their vocalisation. The study tested three null hypotheses using the Kruskal-Wallis Test: H01: The ensemble sizes and the number of instruments were the same in Denkena’s and Ordulay’s performances. H02: The musical instruments used in Denkena’s and Ordulay’s performances were the same. H03: The Western-style instruments incorporated by Denkena and Ordulay to enhance their vocalisation during their performances were identical. The researchers analysed a list of musical instruments used by the two indigenous musicians in their performances, categorising them by type and nature. They compared and contrasted these using straightforward computational, linguistic, and anthropological methods to uncover cultural and philosophical meanings. The data show that the musicians use similar musical instruments but with some differences. Both also incorporate some distinct Western-style instruments to enhance their vocal performances, though only to a limited degree.