A natural way of living that all people once knew in an innocent age will have vanished from the face of the earth as the Mbuti pass into history. We should remember them well, for the Mbuti mirror our past. The original inhabitants of the Ituri Forest of Zaire are the Bambuti Pygmies. Traditional music among the Pygmies is vocal and rich in polyphonic harmony. Pygmies are hunters and gatherers, and Pygmy songs describe life, hunting, and survival.
Pygmies also compose songs for male and female secret social societies.
Their elephant-hunting song features split sticks, used to mark time, and a group of men and boys singing in a chorus. The choral music is built up from continuously varied repetitions of a short basic pattern that takes shape as different voices enter and fill out the texture. It is now possible to purchase recordings of this moving music online. Bibliography Kevin Duffy, 1984. Children of the Forest .