ABSTRACT
The portable xylophone with multiple gourds resonators is in general use in Central Africa. This kind of xylophone always serves to accompany songs and is found in orchestral ensembles which include percussion instruments. While certain ethnic groups use the xylophone as the leading melodic soloist instrument, one can observe in other groups orchestral ensembles with two, three or four xylophones. The corpus collected since 1983 covers all types of possible formations, which are:
ethnic groups using one xylophone:
– the Manza who use one xylophone of five bars; – the Gbaya who use one xylophone of twelve bars.
