# Mvet > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mvet > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mvet.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mvet > Source revision: 1331784114 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Stringed musical instrument of the Fang people of Central Africa}} {{no footnotes|date=August 2013}} thumb|A short ''mvet'' with four strings and a single central resonator The '''mvet''' or '''mvett''' is a [stringed musical instrument](/source/Stringed_instrument), a type of [stick zither](/source/stick_zither), [Hornbostel-Sachs (311)](/source/Hornbostel-Sachs) of the [Fang people](/source/Fang_people) of [Gabon](/source/Gabon), [Cameroon](/source/Cameroon), [Democratic Republic of the Congo](/source/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo), [São Tomé](/source/S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9) and [Equatorial Guinea](/source/Equatorial_Guinea). Somewhat resembling the [Mande kora](/source/Kora_(instrument)), but larger and simpler, it consists of a tubular stick of palm-raffia or [bamboo](/source/bamboo), between one and two metres long, with usually three [calabash](/source/calabash) [resonator](/source/resonator)s. A central vertical bridge divides four or five gut or metal [strings](/source/String_(music)), played both sides of the bridge. == Origin == The instrument is held horizontally on the chest to close or open the central [resonator](/source/Acoustic_resonance) with a movement of the arms. It may be played solo or may accompany song or poetry that includes epics, battle-songs, ritual, philosophy and knowledge of the world. Mvet also refers to the tradition of epic song singers, which is extremely rich in its thematic and stylistic diversity, in which the mythological stories and historical events of the Fang and related ethnic groups are described. For the Fang, the mvet tradition is of outstanding importance and includes multiple forms of cultural expression. In the late twentieth century the mvet became a key instrument of [bikutsi](/source/bikutsi) music. File:Mvet (MDMB 679).jpg|Mvet with multiple gourd resonators File:Musée africain de Gunsbach-Mvett.jpg file:GuitareTraditionelle.jpg == Legend == According to legend, the creation of Mvett is due to a powerful warrior named Oyono Ada Ngone, whose mythology is linked to the migration of the Fang-Béti-Bulu. They were often the target of murderous attacks from the tribes they encountered on their way. Some of these attackers were identified as belonging to the [Mvéle](/source/Beti-Pahuin_peoples) people and the [Bassa](/source/Bassa_people_(Cameroon)) people, by historians such as [Joseph Ki-Zerbo](/source/Joseph_Ki-Zerbo), [Pierre Alexandre](/source/Pierre_Alexandre_(anthropologist)) or Tsira Ndong Ndoutoume. Tsira Ndong Ndoutoume, in his book ''Le Mvett : épopée fang'',{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Pierre |date=1977 |title=Tsira Ndong Ndoutoume, Le Mvett |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/hom_0439-4216_1977_num_17_1_367731 |journal=Homme |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=136–137}} wrote:  
"During their escape, one of them, Oyono Ada Ngone, a great musician and warrior, suddenly fainted. His lifeless body was carried for a week. After his coma, Oyono came back to life and announced to the fugitives that he had just discovered a sure way to give himself courage."
Oyono gathered his people and told them that they would take revenge by leading military expeditions against the populations they encountered on their way. He specifies that during his coma he was in contact with a higher entity, named Eyo, who incarnates in the Mvett. Eyo is seen as a “Spirit” who gave him a musical instrument: a chordophone called Mvett. Eyo also transmitted to him the song and the stories of the great deeds of the Ekang which would revive hope among the population. Upon waking, Oyono Ada Ngone recounted what he had seen and heard. Then he set about making the musical instrument. ==See also== *[Bwiti](/source/Bwiti) *[List of musical instruments of Cameroon](/source/List_of_musical_instruments_of_Cameroon) *[Kinnari vina](/source/Kinnari_vina), an Indian tube zither that shares features with the Mvet, including its vertical bridge ==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite book |last=Biyogo |first=Grégoire |title=Encyclopédie du Mvett |publisher=Editions du CIREF Editions de l'ICAD (Institut Cheikh Anta Diop |location=Paris Libreville |year=2002 |isbn=2913983553 }} * {{cite book |last=Ndoutoume |first=Tsira |title=Le Mvett : l'homme, la mort et l'immortalite |publisher=L'Harmattan |location=Paris |year=1993 |isbn=2-7384-1558-X }} * {{cite book |last=Boyer |first=Pascal |title=Barricades mystérieuses & pièges à pensée : introduction à l'analyse des épopées fang |publisher=Société d'ethnologie |location=Paris |year=1988 |isbn=978-2-901161-31-8 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Alexandre |first1=Pierre |title=Introduction to a Fang oral art genre: Gabon and Cameroon mvet |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |year=1974 |pages=1–7 |issn=0041-977X |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00094799|s2cid=162578212 }} ==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQNtXF8Fv0 Video. Mvet played. Musician talks about his instrument.] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090905001151/http://africamusica4.skynetblogs.be/post/4295952/cordophone--harpecithare-ou-mvet Instrument + photo] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20141127181321/http://www.afrikara.com/index.php?page=contenu&art=177 Encyclopaedia of Mvet] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100216023024/http://www.monefang.com/Instruments.pdf Archived paper submitted to MoneFang.com giving details of the instrument as played by the Fang people.] {{Music of Africa}} {{Music in Spanish}} Category:Music of Gabon Category:Music of Cameroon Category:West African musical instruments Category:Equatoguinean musical instruments Category:Harps Category:Lute family instruments --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mvet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mvet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mvet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.