about Transcriptions

This website presents sabar music in the spirit of the aural tradition, learning by listening.

Transcriptions is a project focused on the rhythmic tradition of sabar drumming culture and in particular the immaterial musical legacy of the recently deceased Doudou N’diaye Rose (1930 – 2015).

The project situates the notion of transcription across a spectrum of spatio-temporal understandings and mediums regarding the transmission of knowledge, specifically highlighting a living tradition of aural culture, and also musical exchange between electronic music happening in Europe with the advanced sabar tradition.

Transcriptions was initiated by studio LABOUR (Colin Hacklander & Farahnaz Hatam) with Senegalese producer Moe Sow (studio MOREHUMAN), Outer (the team behind Berlin Atonal) and the family of Doudou Ndiaye Rose led by Tapha, Thioune and Birame Ndiaye Rose.

The project was primarily funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes in Germany, with support from the Dakar Biennial and the Grand National Theater Doudou Ndiaye Coumba Rose. The events in August 2024 are funded by Musikfonds in Germany with support from Berlin Atonal and Callie’s.