Service
Authentic Ethiopian Music and Original Score
Commissioned original score, traditional Ethiopian instruments and azmari performers, recorded in Addis Ababa with rights cleared and assigned.
Short answer
Film Ethiopia commissions and records original Ethiopian music for film and television, from a single traditional instrument cue to a full scored documentary. We work with Ethiopian composers and with traditional players of the masenqo, krar, washint, begena and kebero, including azmari performers in the living oral tradition, and we record in Addis Ababa studios. All music is delivered as an original commission with rights fully cleared and assigned, which avoids the licensing problems that come with using existing Ethiopian recordings.
Why commission rather than licence
Productions reach for an existing Ethiopian track, then discover the rights position is unclear, the publisher cannot be identified, or the recording cannot be cleared for the territory they need. Commissioning solves that. You get music written for your picture, in the tradition you want, with a clean chain of title and a signed assignment.
It is also usually cheaper than clearing a known recording, and it sounds like your film rather than like someone else's.
The instruments and the players
Ethiopian music is not one sound. The masenqo, a single-stringed bowed lute, carries the azmari tradition of sung improvised commentary. The krar is a six-stringed lyre, the begena a large ceremonial harp associated with contemplation, the washint a wooden flute of the highlands, and the kebero a double-headed drum that anchors both liturgical and celebratory music. Church music, Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali, Afar and southern traditions each carry their own scales, rhythms and social meanings.
Henok Mebratu's own documentary Azmari, made for Al Jazeera with Big World Cinema, was built around exactly this world, so the connections to the musicians are direct rather than brokered.
- Original composition and scoring to picture
- Traditional instrument sessions: masenqo, krar, begena, washint, kebero
- Azmari singers and improvised sung performance
- Vocalists, choirs and liturgical performance where appropriate
- Contemporary Ethio-jazz and hybrid arrangements
- Studio recording, editing, mixing and stem delivery in Addis Ababa
- Full rights clearance, performer releases and assignment of copyright
- Field recording of ambience, ceremony and location sound
Cultural care
Some music in Ethiopia is liturgical or ceremonial and is not simply a texture to be dropped under a montage. We will tell you when a piece carries a meaning that will read badly to Ethiopian audiences, and we will suggest an alternative that gets you the same emotional effect without the problem. Performers are paid properly and credited.
Authentic Ethiopian Music and Original Score
Questions producers ask
Can you record traditional Ethiopian musicians for our film?
How long does an original score take?
Can we licence existing Ethiopian music instead?
Related services
Often booked together
Filming Permits in Ethiopia
We identify, apply for and hold every permission your shoot needs: federal media authorisation, regional approvals, heritage and national park access, church and community consent, and press accreditation.
Drone Permits and Aerial Filming in Ethiopia
Aerial permissions, security clearances, no-fly assessment, licensed local pilots and in-country drone equipment, planned as a dedicated workstream with a ground-camera fallback.
Customs Clearance for Film Equipment in Ethiopia
Manifest preparation, temporary import and carnet guidance, clearing agent appointment, Bole airport attendance on arrival and departure, and re-export reconciliation.
Start a production
Tell us what you are trying to shoot
Send dates, regions, crew size and a paragraph about the film. You will get an itemised, honest answer within one working day — and we will tell you if something is not going to work.