Antoine Shaban a music trainer and director of La Musical- a music academy, is willing to train further ex- soldiers and police constables who have previously worked for bands of the security institutions.
His target is to broaden their talents. “The majority of former soldiers or police staff who were members of the band, often come to my music school to widen their talents and since some of the lessons are a bit expensive I’m willing to sponsor about 20 of them” he remarks.
And according to him, offering the sponsorship will be a milestone to promote live music in the country as digital made songs were becoming monotonous and unpleasant to fans of live concerts.
“The reason I prefer the ex-soldiers and police is because in their bands have used live instruments in the past especially in ceremonial occasions and most of their music are still played to date.”
Indeed in Rwanda digitally produced songs have a tendency of fading away and Shaban who’s in his late 60’s seems to have solution.
He blames the lack of longevity of songs to the fact that they are not original. That, he says, is because Rwandan musicians rely too much on computer programs such as Fruity-Loops, Kinetic and Music Match which have pre-programmed tunes and beats for almost all musical instruments.
“It seems people like it quick and easy,” Shaban says. But he warns that such software puts a musician in a straightjacket, it is hard to produce something unique,” he says.
At the same time, Shaban believes that computers have a big role to play in music production, but only if used wisely. For him, computers are useful to master songs, meaning balancing vocals and instruments.
“When you listen to rock or jazz music, for instance, you will hear a rich and creative melody from real instruments, unlike Hip-hop, which has amateurish drum beats generated by software.”
And the music teacher warns that even those who want to use computer-aided music won’t get anywhere if they do not know how to play the real-life instruments they want to use.
“I wonder why the majority of young producers hesitate to take music lessons. At our academy we have piano and keyboard lessons for Frw 20,000 a month, and quick learners can achieve a lot in that period. Guitar is more complicated, here the curriculum takes nine months.” Shaban explains.
One of Shaban’s students, Andre Mukundire, says he took the lessons after being disappointed by producers when he started singing two years ago.
“I didn’t have the basic music skills and enough money for private sponsorship. Those seriously affected my performance in concerts and believe me, that’s the worst you would wish for as a musician.” He laments.
The reason for singers and producers not taking music lessons is due to the fact that there are simply no any academies in the country, and the few existing ones often lack adequate equipment. Here, Shaban thinks the government has a role to play to facilitate music academies since it molds the country’s music industry which may become a viable economic sector.
“And, who knows, it might give us another song worth remembering” Shaban concludes.
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