History Of Music Production In Uganda

Bob Marley once said, "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

History fades right before our eyes when all that captures our hearts and minds are the pains of the present but never looked at in view of the past. Those who often attempt to look at the past usually filter it through their own interests. Even those that tell history often tell it in light of what they perceive to be the ideal.

In order to read or walk through history in a better way. We ought to first identify the author's ideal worldview. This is very hard to identify, and therefore, history is often mixed up. The facts could be the same but often interpreted differently in different circles.

This is not an history class about music production in Uganda. But an attempt to share a few things that have impacted Ugandan music. Part of what is shared here will be an interview with Audio1 Studios legendary producer Paddyman.

Where It All Begins

Most of the news paper stories such as the New Vision independence article that fronted Elly Wamala as the father of modern music in Uganda, they usually focus on the kind of music that can still find relevance today. But there is more to Ugandan music beyond Elly Wamala (RIP).

Uganda's music has been mainly shaped by politics. Though most of the music that hits most of the airwaves today is about love, back in the 1960s to the 1970s, most of the songs had a political aspect. No wonder Elly Wamala stands out because he is among the few who weren't very political and were also already on the scene before music became too political. There are songs like Bamuta (1940s) which was about a raped prostitute that predate Elly Wamala's Nabutono. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was censored due to its rated lyrics.

To understand the music journey in Uganda, one has to ponder about how music was disseminated. It was mainly through the national radio and Jukeboxes that were dispersed in the different major towns around the country. This means that there was a lot of censorship. Besides the airwaves platform, of course, bands were playing live in different parts of the country, but that does not fit our production journey that we are trying to explore.

It should be noted that most of the Songs were either praising the Kabaka, Obote or speaking about nation building, addressing tribalism, paying taxes, among other politically inspired ideologies.

Between the 1940s and 1970s; there was no music recording studio in Uganda. Most of the songs of that time were recorded at CMS records in Kenya. These were the times when songs were put on Vinyl records. According to historian Michiel Van Oosterhout; some songs even sold as many as 2000 records.

According to Dan Mugula, one of the musicians that had the previledge of recording music during the Vinyl records era, he said that Uganda's music was revolutionized by President Idd Amin sending away the Indians from Uganda. Before this incident, the Indians were the main guys who took people to Nairobi to record music. They had to choose the best talents from the country and take them to Nairobi for music recording.

But when they were sent out of the country, a vacuum was created and many masqueraders arose. It was during that time that the era of cassette tapes was birthed in Uganda thus seeing the first music recording and production studios.

It is hard to put a finger on the first music production studio in Uganda. But names such as Edmund Batte who once worked with UTV and also known for producing some Elly Wamala music, will always feature in the debate. It is during this era that modern music recording in Uganda started. But it was not of the best quality. It is why Bobi Wine, Chameloene, and Bebe Cool still had to go to Nairobi to produce some of their best first songs in the late 1990s.

First Forward To The Early 2000s

Based on our interview with Producer Paddyman, this is where he can recollect the transition from the olden days to the present. His production days started in the days of the Apple G3 and G4 computers. During this time, they used to do what is often referred to as outboard mixing. For easy understanding purposes, outboard mixing is the opposite of inboard mixing. Inboard mixing is the type of mixing where all the mixing work is done on one computer system. In short, it does everything within a computer program.

Now, outboard is more of the analogue kind of mixing. It is no longer a stand-alone in this generation, but it still compliments the inboard mixing. In state-of-the-art studios, they combine both inboard mixing and outboard mixing for the best sound quality.

In our interview, Paddyman recalled the days when they were using the Tascam 4 tracker recorder, which later transitioned to the Tascam 8 tracker recorder before transitioning to the modern-day studio mixers. One of the things that were used back then that is still essential today is the Digital Audio Tape (DAT) recorder. In the state-of-the-art studios, they have retained the analogue devices but given them last memory so that not everything is lost in case of a power surge during the production session.

Analogue Production Vs Digital Production

Analogue production required the studio recording session to be similar to a stage performance that was being recorded live. All musical instruments had to be recorded live. Something similar to a semi-live concert recording. But even this now is complemented by digital recording.

Digital production, on the other hand, simply got samples of all the possible instruments as well as other sounds such as whistling, clapping, among several others, but in digital form. With all these sounds in one computer program, it is now possible to produce a full song without any instrumentalist. You just need the voice of the artist.

With the new era of AI, even the voice of the artists is no longer required since AI can generate the voice for you as long as you have enough sampling data to generate the actual voice. One of the songs that have made it big was the collaboration between Azawi and the late Mowzey radio, Courtesy of AI.

Quality of Sound

Analogue production is very expensive but produces the best sound quality. There is no amount of technology at the moment that produces the same quality of sound as the original sound. There is always a slight difference the digital sound and analogue sound.

Regardless of the quality of sound, it is illogical to return to analogue production because that would call for the disbanding of the computer. So, to create the best sound, state-of-the-art studios combine both analogue and digital. Most of the studios in Uganda are fully digital, and that is the reason for the price differences.

At Audio1 Studios, we combine both Analogue and Digital if the client's budget permits but in case you wish to go by the general market rates, then you will have to stick to digital song production However, the quality of the sound, more so the kick, will sound different.

State Of The Art Studios in Uganda

There is no state-of-the-art mastering studio in Uganda. Given the cost of the required gadgets and the current music market in Uganda. It is still hard for people to invest in mastering. But if you consider only the recording side of the production, then Audio1 studios is one of the state-of-the-art studios in Uganda.

It is also among the few studios with international production partnerships ranging from South Africa, Sweden, and Germany, among several others. With Audio1 Studios, you can choose to record your song in Uganda and have it mastered abroad. This means that you can get state-of-the-art work as long as you work with Audio1 studies.

The journey of music production can be summarized into three. Analogue, Digital, and the combination of Analogue and digtial. The best studios are those that combine analogue and digital more so in the area of mastering.