The Aka or Bayaka people are a nomadic Mbenda pygmy tribe hailing from the Central African Republic and the Brazzaville region of the Republic of the Congo.
They occupy 11 unique ecological zones within the Western Congo Basin
.
The Aka are nomadic hunter-gatherers. Their diet includes 20 species of insects, 28 species of game, 63 plants, as well as mushrooms, roots, nuts, honey and fruit. They barter honey and bushmeat with the neighboring Ngandu tribe for manioc, plantain, yams, taro, maize, cucumbers, squash, okra, papaya, mango, pineapple, palm oil and rice.
Music and dance is a vital part of the Aka community. Unlike many forms of western polyphonic music, Aka’s music production allows for spontaneous expression and improvisation, which creates an impression that music is constantly evolving. They are known for their contrapuntal polyphony based on four voices, which all members of the community have mastered.
They also use instruments such as drum, harp and a single-string bow. Different songs come with different dances: men only, women only, men and women as couples or men and women dancing solo. The complexity of the Aka music captured many researchers, who have recorded it for in-depth study by ethnomusicologists, including Simha Arom, Michelle Kisliuk and Mauro Campagnoli.
Aka music has appeared in the following albums: African Rhythms by György Ligeti, Steve Reich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard in 2003, Echoes of the Forest: Music of the Central African Pygmies by Ellipsis Arts in 1995, BOYOBI: Ritual Music of the Rainforest Pygmies by Louis Sarno in 2000 and Bayaka: The Extraordinary Music of the BaBenzele Pygmies by Louis Sarno
in 1996.
The unique singing style of the Aka has been relisted on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The Aka’s musical prowess has been documented in a number of books and films.
There are concerns however that many of these Aka rituals are slowly disappearing because of the drastic change of lifestyle and reduction of game in the forest.
