ABSTRACT
The domain of the artist and composer is one which challenges the predominant sensory patterns and evokes (among other things) the conscious transformation of perception by directing or beckoning one's attentional focus to different levels of form and structure in the work. What may at one moment be an "object" of focus for a listener may at another moment be an element collected into a composite image, wherein the object loses its identity but contributes to the quality of the more embracing image. (McAdams 1987:280)
In the front salon of the big house in Bujumbura, Torobeka sits wearily on a wicker stool. At least a dozen times, we have met together, the three of us-Torobeka, Rose (my assistant), and I-sometimes to make the journey east to Rusaka, to visit Torobeka's old teacher, Biranguza; sometimes, as tonight, simply to play and discuss music. Often, Rose and I will have just arrived, dusty and tired, burdened with equipment, from our little house in Muramvya, an hour into the interior. Muramvya is our base; many of our musicians live in the hills surrounding it. We always descend from the interior with a list of questions for Torobeka, provoked by our interviews with the inanga musicians of Muramvya and the surrounding areas.
