Ahanta Chant I

Beginning at sunset and lasting far into the night, a gathering of 18 women and girls performs this ceremony of the Makaba sect (a syncretistic religious group of the Western Region). Each member of the group sings and plays a large rattle, the axatse. In the process of adjusting to the timing of the axatse while finding a comfortable range and harmony for the reprated choral phrase, the participants achieve a level of total concentration.The purpose of this ceremony, in fact, is for each member of the group to achieve this inner state.