242 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 PRESERVING AND PROMOTING NIGERIAN FOLKSONGS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY Adesipe, Adekunle Enitolorunyan 0806-603-8345 adesipe247@gmail.com Abstract Nigerian folksongs are tunes that help to moderate communal lifestyle and character. Good behaviours are encouraged while public denunciations of evil deeds are done through extemporized chants. It is however a case of deep concern that these innumerable folksongs, though laced with proverbs and wise sayings yet have little or no place in the digital archives. Majority of the Nigerian traditional folksongs are not transcribed and this obstructs the foundational basis for the new African Art Music thereby making form and analysis in African music a herculean task. This research canvasses for the digitization of our rich and enviable traditional folksongs in various dialects in a digital economy. It proposes the utilization of multimedia as an aid to retaining and promoting the rich cultural values of our society via the digitization of our folksongs as well as re-awakening the dying culture of singing lessons in our schools which has been a medium through which we teach our kids moral lessons that shape and modify behaviours. The research relied on ethnographic materials, available literatures on folksongs and the syllabi of high-stake examination industries in Nigeria. Findings revealed that the dearth of instructional materials for the teaching of folksongs can be resolved via the utilization of digitization mechanisms. It is observed that the use of multimedia makes singing lessons real and fun to children and makes it easily accessible and affordable to teachers and learners. Kids are fascinated when they see a dancing castle and images via animations and cartoons especially with musical notes. Conclusively, it is recommended that Music technologists adopt the utilization of multimedia mechanisms to preserve and promote our culture and at the same time raise its standard as a tool for revenue generation. Introduction Nigerian folksongs are melodies that play a crucial role in shaping communal lifestyle. They encourage good behaviour while publicly denouncing evil deeds through spontaneous chants. It is worrisome that despite their richness in proverbs, they have little or no presence in digital archives. Most folksongs are not transcribed thereby hindering the development of new African Art Music and making analysis and form in African music a challenging task. The study reviewed existing literature on folksongs and the syllabi of major examination bodies in Nigeria. Findings indicate that the lack of instructional materials for teaching folksongs can be addressed through digitization. This research advocates for the digitization of folksongs in various dialects within the digital economy. It suggests utilizing multimedia to preserve and promote the cultural values embedded in these folksongs and to revive the declining practice of singing lessons in schools. Multimedia tools make singing lessons engaging and enjoyable for children, while also being accessible and affordable for teachers and learners. Nigeria is a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual nation. The nation is ethnically and culturally diverse although tribes and tongues differ yet bound together in brotherhood. This giant of Africa has thirty-six States with the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as the nation’s capital. The nation is divided into six geopolitical zones. These are North-West, North- East, North-Central, and South-West, South-East, South-South geopolitical zones. With over three 243 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 hundred traditional festivals and dance styles, this South-West country of the Sub-Sahara has more than five hundred ethnic groups each of which has its lifestyle and character moderated by countless legendary tunes and thought-provoking folksongs. Folksongs are traditional song-style of a community. The Nigerian traditional folksong is peculiarly an extemporised music composition that reflects the cultural heritage and practice of people who by virtue of geographical location or language have things in common. Folksongs are not written down but are transmitted orally (as game songs among children or as work-songs among adults) from generation to generation by our progenitors. The use of folksongs is peculiar to the community it originates from. The original composers of folksongs are often anonymous and embellished in melody or texts. Consequent upon this, there is an urgent need for digital archiving. In Nigerian settings one observes that almost every aspect of our lives is covered by folksongs and there is a folksong attached to almost every sphere of life. Folksongs are deeply enmeshed in philosophical and proverbial speeches. But as thought-provoking as the folksongs are, despite its valuable effect, most of them are not documented. To this end, it is then essential to digitalize by means of animations and scoring these all-important streams of songs for the purpose of building the young ones and for the sake of influencing the outer world while projecting the viable, noble cultural heritage lest the culture dies (Adesipe 2023). By extension, it is hoped that this would create an avenue for revenue generation. Adenle, (2011) postulated that folksongs evolved through the process of oral transmission, being shaped by (a) continuity which links the present with the past; (b) variation which springs from the creative impulse of the individual or the group; and (c) selection by the community which determines the form in which the music survives. This assertion precludes survival i.e. preservation or promotion via the instrumentality of digitization. According to Adeoje (2011), “Folksong is an aspect of the oral traditions of any nations which is used to address topics or issues that concern the natives of a community.” What this suggests is that folksongs on truancy and uncleanness among youths in the schools are used to rebuke irresponsible acts and teach neatness among kids at the grassroots. An example is the Yoruba folksong “We Ki o Mo! i.e. Bath and be Neat! The question is what happens when these proponents die? The tradition dies a natural death except there is a deliberate effort to spread it through the process of digitization. Adesipe, (2024) alerts that “if our cultural heritage (of which traditional folksongs…are an indispensable…force and factors to reckon with) is relegated to the background, we would frustrate…our relevance…bastardize our cultural symbols…heritage, significance and identity…” Adesipe’s opinion reveals a heart-cry and call to strengthen our cultural heritage. This has not reflected technological impacts in any way. Folksongs were composed extempore i.e. at the spur of the moment. Some folksongs came about as bodies of legendary tunes that were handed down to us by our progenitors or forefathers. Folksongs are traditional customs preserved among people. 244 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 They extol the rich cultural life of any people. If the customary beliefs of our land are to continue there is need to archive and document and practice them. To ensure the survival of Nigerian folksongs and preserve our rich cultural heritage, archival digitization is essential. Utilizing multimedia tools for documenting and archiving these folksongs will help retain and promote the cultural values embedded within them. This approach will also revive the declining practice of singing lessons in schools, which have traditionally imparted moral lessons and shaped children's behavior. Currently, singing lessons and music education in schools can seem monotonous and lack innovation. Folksongs vary significantly across different regions in language, style, texture, and customs. Unlike the Western tradition, where folksongs often feature refrains or stanzas, Nigerian folksongs are unified by their traditional nature and the moral lessons they impart. Multimedia can make singing lessons more engaging and enjoyable for children, while also being accessible and affordable for teachers and learners. Animated visual aids and musical elements captivate children's imaginations, making lessons more concrete and fun. To preserve and promote our cultural values, Nigerian music technologists should adopt multimedia tools and methods. This strategy not only enhances cultural preservation but also elevates the standard of folksongs as a potential revenue source. To support the preservation and promotion of Nigerian folksongs, educational bodies and major examination organizations in Nigeria should dedicate significant portions of their syllabi to various aspects of traditional music. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in its current JAMB syllabus made it elaborate (JAMB 2023:166) likewise the National Examinations Council (NECO 2014 : 282) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC 2016 : 728 and revised edition in 2017 : 728). Digitization of folksongs is a potential change agent and a formidable tool of retention for our cultural heritage. Folksongs are generally simple and short tunes and are oftentimes easy to learn. They serve as a check for social and moral conducts. Such songs bring the culprit to the limelight for proper discipline. This can be seen in the Ekpe and Ikoro festivals of the Akwete Ndoki community in Abia State (Bentina A.M 2014). He observed that young girls who toyed with their virginity and were guilty of promiscuity were dealt with by being ostracized. This often serves as deterrent to further perpetrators of social vices in the society. According to Adesipe’s Northern Nigerian festivals of the maidens and the girl-child education as tools for societal wellness (2021), folksongs via traditional festivals help to control and regulate social mores and ethical standards. They help to keep public morality by fearlessly announcing and admonishing evil deeds and doers in the society. This is further corroborated by Adesipe in his book, History of Nigerian Folksongs (2024), exhorting that the heart of a matter is a matter of the heart, so the heart of education is the education of the heart. Education is the mirror of any society. A child educated only at school is an uneducated child because educating a man’s mind without morals tantamount to educating a menace to society…That is what our tradition teaches – morals. This underscores the import of education through the instrumentality of folksongs. 245 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Folksongs and The Dynamics of Multimedia Tools For the fact that the world has become a global village, it is essential that Musicologists utilize the World Wide Web (www) interface to judiciously and further enhance the beauty of the Nigerian folksongs. As Babatunde (2011) rightly observed that popular music exponents and professionals in Nigeria have exploited multimedia resources in varied ways. There is evidence that popular music and musicians have been influenced by developments in the use of multimedia resources such as audiovisual products, computers, and sound generators. But this is not to be so in the case of folksongs digitization. Multimedia signifies a combination of multiple media using electronic and digital manipulations to bring about knowledge enhancement. A cursory consideration of the Items - Moderation discourse and materials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) revealed that some of the young resource persons found it a herculean task providing examples of traditional folksongs whenever they got to folksongs section. Technological Enhancements of Folksongs Via Animations Technological enhancements like animated cartoons, images and graphics may be employed to teach simple and exciting folk-tunes like Oluronbi. These cartoons may need to be translated to cover a wider view. This will indubitably make Music career reverberates with new enthusiasm among children. Kids are captivated when they see the effect of animations, cartoons and or motion pictures being displayed when songs are going on over a recorded devise such as Digital Video Recorder (DVR) etc. If this happens in the comfort of our homes how much more the impact it creates in the four walls of the classrooms. With the new sophisticated and psychedelic digital remote technology and the digitization of our folksongs in place, folksongs will enjoy a prominent position and play a major role in the following ways: 1. It makes classroom learning lasts longer in the memories of the learners (as in Yoruba’s “Bata Re a dun Ko-Ko-Ka” i.e. You’ll Go Places); 2. It awakens the creative instincts and musicality in the youths; 3. It will make Nigerian folksongs library conspicuous on the internet; 4. It boosts youth’s morals (as in Yoruba’s Ko ’le, Ko ’le, Ko ’le Sori Apata i.e. Build, Build, Build on the Solid Rock); 5. It makes the rich cultural values of the land stick fast in their memories; 6. It inculcates good manners in the young minds (as in Yoruba’s “Bomode O Ku” i.e. Young Shall Grow); 7. It helps to moderate the behaviours of adults in the society especially in trying times (as in Igbo’s Dibe! Dibe! Dibe!” i.e. “Take Heart! Take Heart!”); 8. It curbs societal miscreants (as in Yoruba’s “Omo To Mo ‘ya Re Loju” i.e. The child That Belittles his Mother); 9. It cautions against the evils of polygamy, polyandry etc. (as in Yoruba’s “Gbanjo Iku De!” i.e. Death, For Auction) 10. It supports tough penalties against corporate miscreants (as in Yoruba’s “Oyi mee”); 11. Our social mores are upheld firmly and promoted and projected to the outer world; 246 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 12. The ever shifting mores of the day and almost dying culture of good morals are rejuvenated and made steady through obedience (as in Yoruba’s “Ma Lo We” i.e. Don’t Go Bath); 13. Our proprieties, customs and manners of a polite society are further strengthened (as in Yoruba’s “Isa-nsa Ma tun de O” i.e. Here comes the Truant); 14. Conformity to what is socially acceptable in conduct or speech is effectively taught through this mode among youths in their teenage years (as in Yoruba’s “Bata Re a Dun Ko-Ko-Ka” i.e. You’ll Go Places); 15. It shows how much value that Nigerians place on their dead or burial ceremonies (as in Hausa’s “Sai Wata Ra Na!” and Ya Tafi Kenan i.e. “Till We Meet” and Igbo’s “Oyi Mee” and “Onye amuna ladoo”) 16. It makes youths learn how to conduct themselves with propriety in the private and public right from youths (when they travel out of the country, they spread our rich cultural heritage among the whites that they mingle with on campus); 17. The culture of dying interests in Music by the young ones is further re-awakened with this technological development; 18. It showcases our rich cultural heritage to the outer world via folktales and folklores (as in Yoruba’s “Ode Ma Pa Mi!” (Hunter Kill Me Not!), “Aja Duro Ran Mi Leru!” (Doggy, Wait, Lighten my Burden!); 19. It helps to transmit the rich culture to the up and coming generations; 20. It makes room for easy retrieval of such songs; 21. It makes room for sundry lessons, caution, warning, praise and commendation (as in Yoruba’s Yokolu! Yokolu! Ko wa Tan Bi! (See What You Caused Yourself!); 22. It instills the fear of God in people’s minds and simple obedience to instruction of the gods or the Supreme Being (as in Yoruba’s “Babalawo Mo Wa Bebe” i.e. “Oh Thou Seer, I Come Pleading”); 23. It instills in the people the mind to value their relations (as in Igbo’s “Mmekota” One’s companion); 24. It creates an avenue for our youths to appreciate the dignity in labour (as in Yoruba’s Ise Loogun Ise” (Labour Averts Poverty) and “Ise Agbe Ni’se Ile Wa” (Farming Is Our Vocation); 25. It is a mark of societal identity and nationalism such as identifying tribal, language and geographical entity (as in Yoruba’s “Ola Ilu wa Lawa Ma n Wa o” i.e. We Cherish Our Land). Using Multimedia Tools to Project Folksongs Multimedia aids may be variously viewed, defined and described as materials enhancing technological production packages and delivering the work in audiovisual forms to the audience. Multimedia is a technological process of combining audio and visual materials in a unified form for the sake of entertainment, education, information and commercial purposes. Multimedia interplays with visual and audio gadgets in diverse ways. Multimedia uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation. The text of the folksongs are written out and later recorded in voice via a digital machine. Images and animations are later added to make it lively and dramatic. Invariably, multimedia is an integration of multiple types of media into a single presentation and or package. 247 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Here are few traditional folksongs that were scored with Sibelius music software which can be digitally manipulated to enhance learning and infuse good morals using motion pictures. The graphical illustrations by the sides of the scores can be animated using motion pictures with the aim of captivating the learners and make learning fun. As the musical notes are moving along the melodic line, the animated graphics by the sides move alongside. Fig.1 Fig.2 Fig.3 Fig.4 Fig.5 248 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Fig.6 Fig.7 FIG.8 Fig.9 249 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 250 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Fig.10 Fig.11 Fig.12 251 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Fig.13 Fig.14 252 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Fig.15 Fig.16 Fig.17 253 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Fig.18 Fig.19 STAGE 1: At this stage, critical thinking is established. Afterwards, technical skills and imaginative thinking are manipulated and organized towards producing a multimedia animations or cartoons. Multimedia is a project development that requires creative, technical, organizational and business skills. STAGE 2: The ingenuity and resourceful thoughts in stage 1 above are harmonized using technological enhancements. Here, multimedia is presented by a combination of texts, art, sounds, animations and videos. STAGE 3: The provision and architecture in Stage 2 above is further delivered to the end-user via electronic or digital manipulations. Animations as in figures 20 – 24 can be colourfully displayed to make learners active in class. Fig.20 Fig.21 Figures 20 and 21 above are a piece of animations displaying game song. This can be a way of making children learn with fun. Fig.22 Fig.23 Figures 22 and 23 above can be painted in beautiful colours and be made to jump up and down using the multimedia animations and by so doing; it becomes a bit easier for kids to clap the rhythms. 254 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 An American psychologist, Jean Bamberger (2000) outlined two phases on the basis of studies on the development of early musical literacy with the help of colourful notes (image notation): the figurative phase of graphic representation (symbols next to one another, ranging symbols one next to the other) and the phase of metric representation (where the sounds and duration are expressed in symbols). Teaching with the application of digital media therefore appears as an innovative teaching tool which contributes to the efficiency of teaching Music Education in lower primary school grades (Garcia, Mirra, Morrell, Martinez & Scorza, 2015; Ranker, 2015). It is noteworthy to state that students who attend classes in which digital media are used have significantly better learning achievements compared to students who attend traditional class. By Way of Reflection Oluronbi folktale is easily remembered when the song is rendered because it is reinforced with folksongs that drive home the point being made. In the tale of Oluronbi, there was a village besieged with calamities. They resolved to visit the magic tree in the forbidden forest near the town to seek help from the deity. The deity's agent interceded on their behalf and asked what they would offer in exchange. The villagers promised goats. Oluronbi, the heroine of the folktale and the young wife of a wood-carver, vowed to dedicate her own child to the deity if she were granted one. When the miracle of fertility came, Oluronbi gave birth to the most beautiful child in the land, destined to be dedicated to the deity. The couple loved the child deeply, and her beauty made them reluctant to fulfill their vow. While others honoured their promises, Oluronbi and her spouse refused. One fateful day, as Oluronbi walked through the village farm with her baby straddled at her back, the spirit snatched the child and transformed her into a small brown bird using magical powers. The bird perched on a branch of the tree and sang the song in Oluronbi’s score (see fig. 14). Another case is the song, Oyi Mee among the Igbo people of Nigeria. This is a song that talks about the ordeal of the womenfolk in their matrimonial homes. It is satirical! It is a message to the lazy men who prefers to enslave their women. When a woman dies in her matrimonial home without proper care, the song is rendered with the aim of passing across a message to the relations. This song helps to condemn in strong terms such acts like nonchalance, maltreatment or other domestic violence among community members. This is seen in the local dialect song below although it is not the lingua franca Igbo language. Here is the song. Oyi Mee Cheru Moo g’mbomanu gi uka Friend, let me gist you Oyi Mee Cheru Moo g’mbomanu gi uka Friend, let me gist you Aga m’ekworo n’mu luko di uwa ja anwu n’onyene Will I die because of the man I married? Ja anwu n’onyene ne mu luko di ja anwu n’onyene Die, because I’m married to a man? Akpoko bu n’ugwo Pepper, you buy on credit! Ja anwu n’onyene Die, because I’m married to a man? Ikerike bu n’ugwo Salt, you buy on credit! 255 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 Ja anwu n’onyene Die, because I’m married to a man? Ja anwu n’onyene Die, because I’m married to a man? Ja anwu n’onyene Die, because I’m married to a man? Conclusion and Recommendation Nigerian traditional folksongs enjoy more prominence as it becomes more captivating in the teaching-learning or classroom setting. It is helpful in the aspect of helping to reshape our cultural heritage and project it to a larger world. If these folksongs and folktales are digitized and people now have to buy and listen to it, both young and old will better trace their roots. It will be a reminiscence of our noble historical genealogies. As we make purchase of these digitalized folk pieces it is also an avenue of generating revenues. This opens us up for greater possibilities. Researchers will soon pick up the scores for further exploits. Music technocrats, Music researchers, ethnomusicologists as well as Music technologists will have much to do in this regard if our folksongs and folktales can be collected and diligently harnessed into a digital cocoon for the purpose of reviving and retaining our culture as well as projecting it to the outer world. References Adenle, A. (2011), The Changing Social Functions of Yoruba Folk Music, Nigeria Adeoje, O.A. 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