EN Africa Report – Senegal: in Bignona, training in computer

Empowering musicians, singers, and composers with all that technology can offer is the principle of computer-assisted music. In Bignona, a city 450 km south of Dakar in the lower Casamance region, singers, DJs, and musicians were able to train for three days in computer-assisted music techniques, MAO, and enhance their creativity through technology.

“Our special envoy returned from Bignona,” the article stated. The room was focused as sounds appear on a computer screen, several tracks visible. Alain Touchat, a sound engineer and producer, guided his six students into the world of computer-assisted music. “It’s the basics of audio, the basics of sound engineering,” he explained. “Even if we don’t delve into all the mathematical calculations that are part of the profession, the idea is to really transmit to them all the basic settings that are technically involved – resolution, sampling frequency, what sound is, how it works in terms of sampling, knowing how to retrieve samples, how to manage them afterwards.”

For Moussa, an artist and composer in Sedhiou, computer-assisted music has been his passion for over 10 years, financing his music career through an IT accessories shop. “I started making sounds in 2020, and this is the first time I’m training like this,” he said. “I never received formal training in my life. I used to visit studios but remained in the background, observing. I trained myself, watching tutorials online. That’s how I usually learned. But when I came here, I realized I knew nothing. I could do things, but I didn’t know.”

Aroda Sagna, known as Atika Di Maléguène in the music industry, a reggae singer from Ziguinchor, confirmed the uniqueness of this training in a region far from the capital. “It’s been two days of theory, that’s what interests me,” he said. “In Casamance, that’s the problem, there are so many artists, but this kind of training opportunity is rare.” He dreams of more government involvement, suggesting that if the Ministry of Culture would deploy a team in each region, artists could benefit from a two-month training that would be very beneficial.

Alain Touchat, with his association Les Rues du Sud, has been training musicians in Morocco, Senegal, and Guinea Conakry for 8 years. The challenge remains connecting the South and the North, to help their music cross borders and connect with international producers seeking beatmakers. As a solution, Touchat has created a Discord platform where artists can exchange ideas without borders.

In the meantime, read more about Senegal: In Bignona, the urban music festival, a platform for young rappers and slam poets.