This is an interview with Mamane Barka, the last master of the Biram, a traditional African instrument in Niger.

In a world where entire animal species and ethnic tribes can be lost, it should come as no surprise that musical instruments too, can become extinct.
Standing firm against the disappearance of the ancient African instrument the Biram, is the musician Mamane Barka- the last master of the Biram.
There is an urgency in Barka’s voice as he strives to fulfill his ambition to keep the Biram going, amidst ever changing musical tastes and the nonchalance of the political elite in his native Niger.
He said: “Culture is disappearing. I can’t believe that in a country like mine, where you can get a lot of important traditional instruments, these instruments are allowed to disappear. The old periods are dying and there is no one who can continue – that is not good.”
He added: “I may be only one person, but I can do something that another man can continue after me.”
Barka spoke to Suite 101 about how he learnt to play the Biram and his efforts to secure the instrument’s continued legacy.
Learning a Sacred Traditional Instrument
Barka’s journey to becoming the last surviving player of the Biram is as fascinating as the music that he conjures from the instrument.
The Biram is a sacred, traditional instrument used by the small Boudouma tribe in Eastern Niger. Traditional fishing nomads, they live on the border of lake Chad.
A 5 stringed instrument somewhat similar to a harp, the Biram is played only by initiatied masters within the Boudouma tribe. In the Boudouma language, Biram means ‘family’ and the 5 strings represent the father, mother, and three children. The instrument is sacred to the Boudouma people and evokes images of their nomadic, peaceful life.
But Barka is not from the Boudouma tribe. He hails from the similarly nomadic Toubou tribe and only discovered the Biram in 1998 as part of ethnomusicological research he was conducting with academics.
He explained: “In 1998 I went with a professor of music to do research on music from different tribes in my country. When we met the man who became my master (Boukar Tar), he was crying. He said he was not happy because there was no one who played the Biram now. He played a song called Bulanga, which is a song he did for his friends and other masters of the Biram who died. ‘Now’, he said, ‘I am alone’. ‘What will be the future of the Biram?’ He cried in front of us. The professor told me: ‘Barka, the Biram is a very important instrument for your country and you shouldn’t let it die. You must go back and ask him to teach it to you’, and I agreed.”
Becoming the Last Master
However it wasn’t until 2002 that Barka was able to return to the coast to find the old master. Difficulties in identifying financial support delayed his dreams, but it was a UNESCO scholarship that finally gave him the opportunity to return to the tribe.
The 51 year old Barka explained: “When I went back to the village in 2002, the old master looked at me in surprise. When I told him that I had come to be his student, he was very pleased.”
After many rituals of purification the old master agreed to educate Barka in the holy instrument and the lyrics of the mystical songs.
Barka’s timing was just right as his master died the following year.
Armed with his master’s 47 year old Biram given to him as a gift, Barka is now truly the last master of the Biram in the world and considers it his duty to teach others about the instrument.
Most of the songs he performs are traditional Boudouma songs that talk about the life of the ancestors, the spirits and animals; the beauty of the water in the lake, the beauty of the desert, and the braveness of the warriors. He sings in the Boudouma language as well as in Haussa, Toubou and Kanuri, all different languages of Niger.
Teaching Traditional Music
Barka bemoaned the loss of interest in the instrument amongst young people in his home country.
“The population doesn’t want the Biram now,” he said.
“The young people don’t want it. They don’t want traditional music- not just the Biram but all traditional music. My country is full of important and very good music but the young people want rap music, or to learn the guitar or the piano or the saxophone. I am only doing this now, going around the world with the Biram, to get the youths to love the culture.”
Thankfully, the future for the Biram looks bright. Barka has three keen students– all anxious to get their own instrument soon.
“They want their own instruments,” he explained.
“I tell them one day I will get some money so that everyone can get his own Biram. I don’t want to be like my master- if I die there is no one anywhere with a Biram. My master gave me his own Biram; the one that his father gave to him- he had it for 47 years. It is very old and I am scared to leave it in my house with my two wives and nine children!”
Prior to learning the Biram, Barka was a well known musician in Niger, famous for popular music.
His devotion to the Biram now has taken him around the world and he hopes that his recent UK tour in November 2009, will continue to raise the profile of this beautiful instrument.
“The Biram is not a sacred instrument to me as it was to my master,” he said.
“Its music and melodies and the words are sacred, but it is a universal instrument. It is an instrument that everyone can learn to play without doing the purification rituals. You come to see me and I will teach you how to play the Biram.”