So. I mentioned in the previous post that I’ve become attached to a lot of films, which is very exciting. One of these films I’m particularly excited about. It’s called Herbert and Hilda and is being directed by Jude Yong. Here’s the synopsis: “Herbert and Hilda are a Cameroonian couple in Maryland, USA in 1980. They have a son Plato and Hilda is pregnant. They also have two children at home in Cameroon whom they are contemplating bringing over to the states when Herbert is approached by some agents of the State and is made the proposition of going home as a dark horse candidate to help overthrow the sitting president.” Pretty exciting stuff!
Jude and I had some great initial conversations. He didn’t want anything too “African” in the score, and is looking for something more minimal and ethereal. He’s one of the most astute and interesting directors I’ve had the good fortune to work alongside so far. I knew that even if we weren’t going for an African sound, I wanted to use an instrument from Cameroon to form the backbone of the score. So, I began googling. A few instruments struck me as having potential, but eventually the instrument I decided upon was the mvet, a traditional Cameroonian instrument. I knew I could sample it to make pads but also use it for the melodies, and the resonance and the sound of it are unlike anything I’ve heard before.
This is where things got a bit difficult. I couldn’t find any Western African music shops in the UK. No one seemed to know where I could possibly get one. I went to shops. I sent emails. Nothing. So, I did a social media shout out. Only a few responses came in. Luckily a composer I know was able to put me in touch with a percussionist, who knew another percussionist, who happened to have trained in the UK before returning to his native Cameroon- Steve. Steve suggested trying Paris. I did some searching and emailed some Parisian Luthiers- they had never heard of a mvet. I was starting to despair.
Steve very kindly offered to have a look in Cameroon… and couldn’t find one. The mvet search was beginning to feel like a dead end. I figured if you couldn’t get one in the country it comes from, I’ll never find one in Europe. But then Steve got a lead. He heard their might be one in the Yaounde province in Cameroon, and had a friend there who could look. His friend eventually found a mvet maker. I was ecstatic. They made a case, shipped it to Douala where Steve lives, and Steve bought it on a work trip to Frankfurt last week. He sent it to the UK from there, and it should be arriving here any day now.
Honestly, the whole experience has been a headache. Intercontinental instrument location and delivery has caused a lot of stress, and a lot of tears. I’ve simplified the story a lot here- there were a lot of dramas in between, and the whole thing has taken about 2.5 months (which is ridiculous, I’ve never done so much pre-production on something without writing a single note ever before!) But, I think overall it has been a good experience. I’ve never had so many people come alongside to help pull something like this off before, and I’m so grateful for all the help that strangers have been willing to offer me. I’m so excited and honoured to be able to say I’ll be one of the few people in the West who owns a mvet. Now it just needs to arrive so I can crack on with this score!
