Diyei and yeli. Yodeling in two musical cultures of Central Africa

On the African continent, the yodeling technique is known as one of the characteristics of Pygmy and Bushmen music. This article is a cross-cultural comparative approach to yodel within two musical heritages of Central Africa, namely those of the Aka (BaAka) of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Baka of Cameroon, that is, two distinct "Pygmy" groups.

The first part is dedicated to Aka music and gathers research scattered in articles published mostly in French. It treats with the relation between singing techniques and social context, with basic rules of Aka counterpoint and with a phonetical study of the yodel technique. The second and main part contains mainly unpublished materials concerning Baka yodeling. It focusses on the symbolic value of yodeling, on polyphony and the incidence of yodeling on the formation of melodic variations. Furthermore, it reveals some strategies of suggesting the yodel without realizing the typical mechanism change.