Like most small children in Africa, I grew up wrapped in a cloth and being carried on my mother's back in the traditional African way. This was the accustomed place while our mother's and our father's did their daily chores and attended to their business. Even when we could walk we were sometimes carried there.

Most of the time, and no matter what was going on, one could pretty much guarantee that some a capella singing would be involved. I remember that there was always something somehow comforting about being strapped to your mother or father's back, being gently bounced around while they did what they did, and being surrounded by people singing along to make life and tasks easier.

This patch is a very simple 4-voice pentatonic patch reminiscent of those voices and of that quiet morning singing. Sometimes sad; sometimes happy; sometimes resigned; sometimes hopeful.

Like most things in African music, it takes a while to evolve. Let it run for a while and eventually your ears will hopefully begin to enjoy the quiet movements and interplay of the four voices -- and hopefully you will eventually join in. As ever, it is a community thing.

The knobs will do on/off, mute individual voices, and adjust the relative SATB levels.

The idea for the patch came from reading the first paragraph of Roland Kuit's 'sample and hold' workshop. Thank you very much Roland.