A MUSICAL LEGACY WRITTEN BY MISONU AMU Research Fellow in Music, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana and daughter of Dr. Ephraim Amu ATENTEBEN Atenteben is a bamboo flute that originates in the hilly town of Kwahu in the Eastern region of Ghana. The flute, “aben”, is used in playing “atente” dance music, thus the name, Atenteben. Played horizontally, its tone is limited to the pentatonic scale. Dr. Ephraim Amu, in his search for traditional musical materials, realized the potentials of Atenteben and Odurugya, and he developed these. He increased their ranges to the heptatonic scale tuning them in the key of B flat so that they can easily be incorporated in an orchestra. The holes on these instruments are bored with a heated metal rod. He figured out positions of the fingers in such a way to facilitate their movement and to get them tuned in key. He introduced the vertical way of playing the Atenteben and now it can play all types of music. People have learned how to construct this instrument and it is available on the market. One of the young men Amu trained to make these instruments, Sika Dzorbua, lives in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, and still earns a living from producing Atenteben. This Atenteben presented to the Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket is his handiwork. It is noteworthy that while teaching at Kumasi College of Technology in the 1950’s, Amu taught the students how to make the Atenteben. Wherever he taught he formed an ensemble of Atenteben. ODURUGYA Odurugya is an instrument that is restricted to the court of Asantehene, the King of Asante in the Asante region of Ghana. Its use outside this court is by the instruction or permission of the King. It is made from the husk of “eyee”, a thorny cane plant, (therefore very delicate to handle). It has a notched mouthpiece and played vertically, decorated at the bottom end with rafia. By the King’s permission Amu was privileged to be tutored by the player. The stem of the cane plant is heated in fire, pulled off and filled with sand to retain the volume of the hollow. In developing the Odurugya, Amu invented a wooden mouthpiece adjoined to the body of the flute by a wooden neck. Due to the cumbersome process of production, the Odurugya is no longer in use, except of course that which is in the court of the King. ODURUGYABA Out of the Odurugya, Amu invented the Odurugyaba, which he tuned in key F. It is produced by the same process as the Odurugya. However, it is has a wooden mouthpiece that is joined directly to the body and played vertically. Photo: Misonu Amu holding an Atenteben visits the African Meeting House at the Museum of African American History, Boston Campus (February 2014).