The balafon (pronounced /ˈbæləfɒn/ or /ˈbæləfəʊn/) is a type of xylophone that uses gourds to help create sound. It is a struck idiophone, meaning it makes music when struck with mallets. The balafon is commonly linked to the Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo, and Gur peoples of West Africa, especially the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group. Today, it is found in many areas of West Africa, including Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The name "balafon" is likely a term created by Europeans, combining the Mandinka word "bála" (meaning "to play") with "fóo" (meaning "method of saying") or the Greek word "phono" (meaning "sound").

History

The balafon is believed to have been created separately from the marimba, an instrument found in Southern Africa and South America. Oral histories, or stories passed down through generations, suggest the balafon existed at least since the rise of the Mali Empire in the 12th century CE. The name "balafon" comes from the Manding language, but similar instruments have different names in other parts of West Africa, such as "balangi" in Sierra Leone and "gyil" among the Dagara, Lobi, and Gurunsi people in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. Similar instruments are also played in Central Africa, where the ancient Kingdom of Kongo called it "palaku."

Written records of the balafon date back to the 12th century CE. In 1352 CE, a Moroccan traveler named Ibn Battuta wrote about the ngoni and balafon being played at the court of Mansa Suleyman, a ruler of Mali.

European visitors to West Africa in the 17th century described balafons that looked much like the modern version of the instrument. During the Atlantic Slave Trade, some balafon players traveled to the Americas. In 1776, the Virginia Gazette recorded African-Americans playing an instrument called "barrafoo," which is likely a balafon. References to these instruments in North America became rare by the mid-19th century.

The balafon has become popular again since the 1980s with the rise of African Roots Music and World Music. One well-known group is the Rail Band, led by Salif Keita. Even when not played, the balafon’s unique sound and style have influenced Western musical instruments. For example, Maninka people from eastern Guinea use a type of guitar that mimics the balafon’s playing style.

In the Malinké language, "balafon" combines two words: "balan" means the instrument, and "fô" means "to play." So, "balafon" literally means "the act of playing the bala."

The word "bala" is still used in some regions, like Kolokani and Bobo Dioulasso, to describe a large, low-pitched balafon with long keys and large calabashes for amplification. A smaller, high-pitched version called "balani" has short keys (3 to 4 cm long) and small calabashes. The balani is carried with a strap and usually has 21 keys, while the number of keys on a bala varies by region.

Construction

A balafon can have fixed keys, where the keys are attached to a wooden frame with calabash resonators underneath, or free keys, where the keys are placed separately on a padded surface. The instrument typically has between 17 and 21 keys, which are tuned to specific musical scales, such as tetratonic, pentatonic, or heptatonic, depending on the musician’s cultural background.

A balafon usually has 18 to 21 notes, though some versions have fewer, such as 16, 12, 8, 6, or 7 notes. The keys are traditionally made from kosso rosewood, which is dried slowly over a low flame. To tune the keys, small pieces of wood are removed from the underside—wood is taken from the middle to lower the pitch or from the end to raise it.

In a fixed-key balafon, the keys hang from leather straps above a wooden frame. Below the frame are calabash gourds of different sizes. Each gourd has a small hole covered with a thin membrane, often made from spider’s-egg sac filaments, cigarette paper, or plastic film. This creates the instrument’s unique buzzing sound. The balafon is played using two mallets wrapped in rubber while sitting on a low stool or standing with the instrument supported by a shoulder or waist sling attached to its frame.

Regional traditions

The balafon is played in many different ways across West Africa. In some areas, it is used alone during ceremonies, while in others, it is played with other instruments. In Guinea and Mali, three balafons are often used together, each tuned to a different pitch: low, medium, and high. In Cameroon, six balafons of different sizes are played together in a group called a komenchang. In some Igbo traditions, each player uses only one large, tuned key. Usually, one person hits multiple keys with two mallets, but in some traditions, two or more players share a single keyboard.

The Susu and Malinké people of Guinea, as well as other Manding groups in Mali, Senegal, and the Gambia, are closely linked to the balafon. People in Cameroon, Chad, and the Congo Basin also have long traditions of playing the instrument.

Balafon players often wear bracelets with bells on their wrists to make the sound of the keys louder.

In some cultures, the balafon was (and still is) considered sacred. Only trained religious people could play it during special events like festivals, royal ceremonies, weddings, or funerals. Sacred balafons were kept in temple storage and could only be used after special purification rituals. Some instruments were made only for specific ceremonies. Young learners practiced on simpler, untuned pit balafons before using the sacred ones.

The Sambla people of Burkina Faso use a complex system to translate spoken words into music, similar to how some drumming traditions work.

The gyil is a buzzing pentatonic balafon used by Gur-speaking groups in northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ivory Coast. Among Mande-speaking groups in Ghana, like the Ligbi, Bissa, and Dyula, it is called bala. The gyil is especially important to the Dagara and Lobi peoples. It is often played in pairs with a calabash gourd drum called a kuor. A single person can also play the gyil with the drum and stick as accompaniment, or a soloist can perform alone. Gyil duets are traditional music played at Dagara funerals. Men typically learn to play the gyil as children, though there are no restrictions on gender. The Gurunsi people in Ghana and Burkina Faso also play the gyil, and a related dance is called the Bewaa.

The gyil is similar to the balafon used by the Mande-speaking Bambara, Dyula, and Sosso peoples in Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as the Senoufo people in Sikasso, a region with musical traditions shared by northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. The gyil has 14 wooden keys made from a type of African hardwood called liga, attached to a wooden frame. Calabash gourds hang below the frame, covered with spider web silk to create a buzzing sound. Antelope sinew and leather are used for fastenings. The instrument is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.

In the 1950s, new bars opened in Cameroon’s capital to house an increasing population. These bars became symbols of Cameroonian identity during colonial times. Balafon orchestras, made up of 3–5 balafons and other percussion instruments, became common in these places. Some groups, like Richard Band de Zoetele, gained popularity despite disapproval from European elites.

During the mid-20th century, a type of folk music called bikutsi became popular. Bikutsi uses rhythms from war songs, drums, and balafons. Women often sang bikutsi songs with lyrics about daily life and relationships. In the 1950s, bikutsi became mainstream. Anne-Marie Nzie was an early innovator, and Messi Me Nkonda Martin and his band, Los Camaroes, later added electric guitars and other modern elements to the style.

Balafon orchestras were popular in Yaoundé’s bars during the 1950s, but audiences wanted more modern music. Messi Martin, a Cameroonian guitarist, was inspired by Spanish, Cuban, and Zairean music. He modified the electric guitar by attaching paper to the strings, creating a "thudding" sound similar to the balafon.

The balafon, kora (a lute-harp), and ngoni (an ancestor of the banjo) are the main instruments linked to griot traditions in West Africa. Each is tied to specific regions, but they are often played together in ensembles. Guinea is known for solo balafon performances. The Kouyaté family, a hereditary griot group, has preserved the balafon’s legacy and helped spread it globally.

The Sosso Bala, a balafon in Guinea, is believed to be the original instrument, made over 800 years ago. According to the Epic of Sundiata, a griot named Bala Fas

Famous players and ensembles

Famous balafon players have included:

• Madou Kone, a Balafon Master from Burkina Faso, now lives in Vienna, Austria.
• Richard Bona, a Cameroonian jazz musician.
• Abdou Karim Diabate "Tunkaraba," known as the King of Balafon, from the village of Tabatto, Guinea-Bissau.
• Djiby Diabaté.
• Kélétigui Diabaté, who plays with Habib Koité's Bamada group.
• Mamadou Diabate, who was awarded the Knight of the National Order of Burkina Faso in 2016. He won the "Grand Prix" and "Prix de la Virtuosite de Festival Triangle du Balafon" in Mali in 2012. He also received the Austrian World Music Award in 2011.
• Lassana Diabaté, a Malian musician who has worked with Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra and Afrocubism.
• Modibo Diabaté, from Mali.
• Zerika Djabate, a Bissau-Guinean musician.
• Djiguiya, a percussion band from Burkina Faso.
• Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo.
• Les Freres Coulibaly, a balafon ensemble from Burkina Faso.
• Stefon Harris, an American jazz musician.
• Mickey Hart, an American percussionist.
• Dominic Howard of Muse, who used a balafon on the band's second album, Origin of Symmetry.
• Mory Kanté, early in his career.
• Aly Keita, of Aly Keita and the Magic Balaphone, a Malian balafon player.
• Gert Kilian, who created the DVD The Balafon with Aly Keita & Gert Kilian and the album Balafon Beat / Verlag Zimmermann.
• Lawrence Killian, an American jazz musician.
• Mahama Konaté of John Cena, a Burkina-based balafon ensemble.
• Balla Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea, whose father, Sekou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala.
• Mamadi Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea (Germany since 2015), whose grandfather, Sékou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala.
• El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté.
• N'Faly Kouyate, of the Afro Celt Sound System.
• Adam Malik, a Burkina-based balafon ensemble.
• Dave Mann, a jazz percussionist who played with the Dave Brubeck Group.
• Neba Solo, of the Senufo balafon group led by Souleymane Traoré, from Sikasso.
• Mama Ohandja, a Cameroonian composer and performer.
• Qasim, a Burkina-based balafon ensemble.
• Pharoah Sanders, an American jazz musician.
• Saramaya, a Burkina-based balafon ensemble.
• Raheel Sharif, a British band leader originally from Senegal.
• Bill Summers, an American jazz musician who has performed with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Los Hombres Calientes.
• Lonnie Liston Smith, an American jazz musician.
• Rokia Traoré, a Malian singer, guitarist, and band leader.
• Le Troupe Saaba, a Burkina-based balafon ensemble.
• Momo Werner Wevers, a German balafon player who performs solo and with the "Ensemble M.Pahiya" (balafon and classical guitar).
• N'Camara Abou Sylla (Guinea; Les Ballets Africains).
• Benno Sterzer, a German balafon player living in Austria, who is a duet partner of Madou Kone and released Balafon – Songs from Africa.