The gyil is the national instrument of the Dagara, Lobi, Birifor, and Sissala people from Ghana and Burkina Faso. The gyil is played in festivals, ceremonies, including weddings and funerals, dances and recreational gatherings. For centuries, gyil players have developed an intricate polyphonic style of music that plays a cultural function. Gyil music and its cultural context are fairly undocumented. The long term goal for the Gyil Fusion project is to fill the empty gap of information about the background and cultural context of traditional gyil music.

The gyil is made from fourteen wooden slats that are suspended on a frame of gourds (calabash) resonators. Each gourd can have anywhere from one to three holes. A spider egg sack casing is stretched over these holes. This process is what gives the gyil its distinctive buzzing sound.

Originally the keyboards were played over a hole that was dug in the ground. The “earth” underground (rather than the gourds) would produce the resonance for the keyboard. This process called “Kpa Pol” is still practiced today by gyil players (especially beginners) in many villages in the north of Ghana. “Kpa Pol” is shown here:

The gyil music in its beauty and virtuosity demands as much respect as might be held for any classical music. Mastering the vast and extensive gyil repertoire will be a lifetime commitment of ongoing cultural exchange. Ferrera is an American delving into the music of far removed cultures. She is a woman and a percussionist, an ethnomusicologist, and educator making creative, historic and cross-rhythmic demonstrations by recording and blending various cultural music with the gyil.