Obuténdeka (2026)

Obuténdeka, in the Kubandwa religion, a widespread cult in Central-East Africa, means initiation rite. As one might naturally imagine when thinking of an initiation rite, music plays a decisive role in the ceremony: the steady rhythms of an enymba, a rattle made from a hollowed-out gourd filled with seeds from sacred plants, alternate with the more sporadic sounds of an iron bell, the ekyoma. The extremely precise description of all these musical elements in the Obuténdeka rite, provided by ethnomusicologist Serena Facci, inspired the creation of an electronic interpretation bearing the same name. Obuténdeka is therefore a piece that aims to narrate the various stages of the rite, marked by the recurring presence of a powerful percussive event, symbolizing change and transition.


The eight-channel spatialization in Obuténdeka plays a fundamental narrative role, allowing the listener to become an integral part of the initiation rite. The distribution of sound materials in space follows a deeply symbolic logic: the percussive gestures inspired by traditional African instruments, irregular, fragmented, at times almost unpredictable, traverse the sound field along mobile, non-linear trajectories, like ritual presences moving around the participant. This uncontrolled and often sudden movement helps recreate the immersive and collective dimension of the rite, in which energy spreads and transforms continuously. In contrast, a low, pulsating sound remains fixed in a stable position, almost immobile, acting as a gravitational center that both supports and unsettles the listener. Its regular yet tension-laden behavior functions as an underground force that compresses the acoustic space, generating a climate of agitation and expectancy. The dialectic between these two spatial behaviors, the chaotic mobility of the percussions and the oppressive stillness of this sound, thus becomes a sonic metaphor for the passage, transformation, and tension that characterize the initiatory process.