horn, trumpet, mmen, mmensuon, sɛsɛ

Horn system of the Fante (Akan) people of Ghana, described in Arhine (2009). Arhine focuses on traditional Mmensuon (“7 horns”) ensembles that play in the royal courts and villages of Cape Coast, Ghana, and its surrounding region. The instrument itself (mmen in Fante) is a “lip-vibrated, side-bown ivory horn” in small (35-40 cm in length), medium (approx. 45 cm in length) and large (50-55 cm long) sizes (108). Only the smallest horn (the leading instrument of the Mmensuon, called sɛsɛ) has an open fingering hole at the narrow tip; the larger horns are sealed at the tip with cork (108). Arhine does not discuss the encoding system; however, the sɛsɛ has two notes roughly two semitones apart that likely encode the H and L tones of the Fante language, as in the closely related Twi horn system. Mmensuon players are typically men from musician families associated with the Fante royal court and patronage system, though some are independently trained and perform commercially during funerals and festivals (2009). Content includes names and titles, proverbs/poetics, and announcements at royal processions, funerals, and other court functions.

Arhine, A. (2009). Speech surrogates of Africa: A study of the Fante mmensuon. Legon Journal of the Humanities, 20, 105–122.