The wooden keys are tied to a frame, and beneath each one hangs a gourd that amplifies the sound. When a player strikes them with rubber-tipped mallets, the balafon produces a warm, buzzing tone. Across West Africa, from Guinea and Mali to Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, the balafon is central to music, storytelling and ceremony.
How it is made and the griots
A balafon has wooden keys, often made of rosewood, arranged on a frame. Gourds of different sizes hang beneath the keys as resonators. Small holes in the gourds, covered with thin membranes, create a buzzing sound. The balafon is closely associated with griots, or jeliw, the hereditary musicians and historians of Mande society, who use it to accompany songs of history and praise.
The Sosso Bala and Sundiata
The Sosso Bala is a balafon kept in Niagassola, Guinea, by the Kouyaté family of griots. According to tradition, it once belonged to Soumaoro Kanté, king of Sosso, and passed to Sundiata Keita’s griot after Sundiata’s victory in the thirteenth century.
UNESCO recognised the Cultural Space of Sosso-Bala as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001. The balafon features in the epic of Sundiata, founder of the Mali Empire, which griots still recite.
Styles, festivals and learning
Different regions have different balafon styles and tunings. In Burkina Faso and northern Ghana, the gyil, a related xylophone, is important in funerals and celebrations. Balafon players appear in modern bands, adding traditional sounds to Afro-pop and jazz. Traditionally, children in griot families learn by listening and playing from an early age. Balafon festivals, such as the Triangle du Balafon in Mali, celebrate the instrument.
The balafon is taught in music schools and workshops around the world.
The gyil and the craft
In northern Ghana, the gyil, a xylophone of the Dagara and Lobi peoples, plays a key role at funerals, where its music is believed to guide the spirit of the dead. Balafon makers select wood carefully and tune each key by shaving it until it produces the right note. The gourds are matched to the keys to give the instrument its full sound.
The Sosso Bala has been kept by the same family for centuries. Every time a balafon is played at a West African wedding, it carries a little of that long memory.
