Army Museum in London. The role of women in traditional music In many ethnic groups, distinguished women play an important role in the social celebration of a tribe's virtues and history. In her report about women as singers in Darfur, the ethnomusicologist Roxane Connick Carlisle recounts her fieldwork during the 1960s in three ethnic groups. She describes the common traits of these bards from the Zaghawa ethnic group like this: Another traditional form of women's role in oral poetry are the songs of praise or ridicule of singers in western Sudan, called Hakamat. These are women of high social standing, respected for their eloquence, intuition and decisiveness, who may both incite or vilify the men of their tribe, when engaged in feuds with other tribes. The social impact of these Hakamat can be so strong, that they have been invited by peacebuilding initiatives in Darfur to exert their influence for conflict resolution or contemporary social issues, like environmental protection. Sudanese women are also known both at home and in the wider region for their role as singers and musicians playing the dalooka drum in aghani al-banat (transl.: Girls's songs) as well as for their spiritual musical performances called zār, believed to be able to exorcise evil spirits from possessed individuals. Zikr rituals as religious forms of recitation and performance The numerous brotherhoods of Sufi dervishes in Sudan are religious, mystical groups that use prayers, music and ritual dance to achieve an altered state of consciousness in an Islamic tradition called zikr (remembrance). These ritualized zikr ceremonies are, however, not considered by the faithful as musical performances, but as a form of prayer. Each order or lineage within an order has one or more forms for zikr, the liturgy of which may include recitation, instrumental accompaniment by drums, dance, costumes, incense, and is sometimes leading to ecstasy and trance. Zikr rituals are most often celebrated on late Friday afternoons, like the one at the tomb of Sheikh Hamed el-Nil in Omdurman. Brass bands and the origins of modern Sudanese music From the early 1920s onwards, radio, records, film and later television have contributed to the development of Sudanese popular music by introducing new instruments and styles. Already during the Turkish-Egyptian rule and later during the Anglo-Egyptian condominium until independence, first Egyptian, and then British military bands left their mark, especially through the musical training of Sudanese soldiers and by introducing Western