The talking drum is a drum shaped like an hourglass from West Africa. It can be used to replace speech by changing its pitch and rhythm to copy the sounds and flow of human speech. The drum has two drumheads connected by leather cords. It is usually held under the arm while playing. The player adjusts the pitch by tightening or loosening the cords between their arm and body.
This drum was used in the 18th century to send messages, such as news about ceremonies or commands, over distances of 4–5 miles (6.4–8.0 km).
Skilled players can play full sentences. Most talking drums sound like a person humming, depending on how they are played.
Drums similar to the talking drum are found in Asia, but they are not used to copy speech. However, the idakka is used to copy singing.
Five types of dùndún pressure drums from the Yoruba people, and the atumpan and fontomfrom from the Asante (Ashanti) people, are especially well-known. These drums can send messages over distances of up to 20 miles (32 km), with other drummers relaying the messages to spread news quickly.
History
Hourglass-shaped talking drums are among the oldest musical instruments used by griots in West Africa. Their history can be traced back to the Bono people, Yoruba people, the Ghana Empire, and the Hausa people. The Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria and Benin, as well as the Dagomba of northern Ghana, have developed a highly advanced style of griot music centered on the talking drum.
Many types of talking drums have evolved over time, most of which share the same basic construction. Other shapes, such as the Dunan and the Fontomfrom, also appeared and were given special names. This construction is found mainly in modern-day West Africa, with exceptions in northern Cameroon and western Chad. It also appears in areas where people from groups common in neighboring West African countries live, such as the Kanuri, Djerma, Fulani, and Hausa.
In Senegalese and Gambian history, the tama (called "tama" in the Serer language) was a musical instrument used in the Serer people’s "Woong" tradition. This tradition involves a dance performed by Serer boys who are not yet circumcised, also known as the "Xaat." The tama drum has religious significance in Serer culture, which predates the Ghana Empire.
In the Xaat tradition, the tama is the fourth drum in a group of four musical drums. The other drums include the Perngel, Lamb, Qiin, and Tama.
Historically, the tama (like the Serer junjung) was played by griots of Senegambian kings during important events, such as wars, when kings needed to speak to their people, or during special occasions in Serer lands. These events included calls for bravery, such as during the mayhem at Tahompa (a 19th-century surprise attack) and the Battle of Naoudourou. In these events, some Serers chose to die rather than be conquered by Muslim forces. Suicide is allowed in Serer religion only if it follows the principle of Jom, which means "honour" in the Serer language.
Ayangalu is believed to have been the first Yoruba drummer. After his death, he was worshipped as a god and is now considered one of the Orishas. Followers of the Yoruba religion believe he inspires drummers to play well. The word "Ayan" means "drummer" in Yoruba, which is why some Yoruba family names, like Ayanbisi, Ayangbade, Ayantunde, and Ayanwande, include the prefix "Ayan." This prefix shows that these families are responsible for passing down the traditions connected to Ayangalu.
In the 20th century, the talking drum became part of popular music in West Africa. It is used in Senegalese Mbalax music and in Nigerian Fuji and Jùjú music, where it is called a dùndún. This should not be confused with the dundun bass drum used by the Mandé peoples.
The talking drum is also used in ceremonies and events such as weddings, funerals, and private gatherings. It is commonly used by African music bands as part of their instruments.
Playing technique
The pitch of the drum is changed to copy the sound patterns of speech. This is done by adjusting the tightness of the drumhead. The two drumheads are connected by a single cord that controls their tension. The middle part of the drum is held between the player's arm and body. When the player squeezes the drum, the drumhead tightens, creating a higher pitch. When the drum is relaxed, the pitch is lower. This allows the drum to change pitch during a single beat, making a wavy sound. The drum can copy the pitch, loudness, and rhythm of speech, but it cannot copy the sounds of vowels or consonants.
Europeans first noticed the use of talking drums as a way to send messages in the early 1700s. Messages could be sent between villages faster than a person on horseback could ride. In the 1800s, Roger T. Clarke, a missionary, noticed that the drum signals matched the tones of syllables in traditional and poetic phrases.
Many African languages use tone to change the meaning of words. For example, the Yoruba language has three main tones: low, medium, and high, similar to the musical notes do, re, and mi. Different ways of using these tones help send different messages. The same system of three tones and their variations is used in Yoruba music and culture. However, the Serer language and related Senegambian languages do not use tone, unlike most other Niger-Congo languages.
The challenge was to send complex messages using only tone, without vowels or consonants. In his 1949 book The Talking Drums of Africa, John F. Carrington, an Englishman living in Africa, explained how drummers sent messages over long distances. They used low tones called "male" and high tones called "female." Messages were sent through phrases and pauses, and could be heard up to 4–5 miles away. Sending a message by drum took eight times longer than speaking, but it was useful for warning villages about attacks or events. Carrington noted that each short word on the drums was paired with an extra phrase. These phrases were not needed in speech but helped explain the main message.
For example, the message "Come back home" might be played as: "Make your feet come back the way they went, make your legs come back the way they went, plant your feet and your legs below, in the village which belongs to us."
Single words were turned into longer phrases. For example, "Moon" would be played as "the Moon looks towards Earth," and "war" as "war which causes attention to ambushes."
These extra phrases help explain the main message. When learning to play the drums, students were taught specific phrases for each word. This made learning the drum language difficult, and few people wanted to spend time learning it. The extra beats helped avoid confusion. Interestingly, by the time Europeans understood how the drums worked, their use in Africa had already started to decline. Over time, some words lost their meaning. Carrington explained that when words were not used often, the phrases linked to them were forgotten. For example, when drummers heard the beat for "young girl," they thought it was the phrase for "fishing nets."
As Finnegan noted, messages sent by drums were not only for practical purposes. Drum languages were also used for literary forms, such as proverbs, poems, and songs. In some cultures, drumming was a highly developed skill, passed down through generations. Expert drummers who mastered the language and poetry of drums were often part of a king's court.
Details of design
The size of drums varies among different ethnic groups, but they all share a similar basic shape.
The Tama drum, used by the Serer, Wolof, and Mandinka peoples, is known for its small size. It is usually about 13 cm (5.1 in) long, with a drum head diameter of about 7 cm (2.8 in). This small size creates a higher-pitched sound compared to other talking drums made the same way.
In contrast, the Yoruba and Dagomba peoples have some of the largest talking drums in their musical groups, such as the Lunna and Dùndún ensembles. These drums are typically 23–38 cm (9.1–15.0 in) long, with drum heads measuring between 10 and 18 cm (3.9 and 7.1 in) in diameter. In Yoruba ensembles, these large drums are used with smaller drums similar to the Tama, which are called Gangan in the Yoruba language.
Playing styles
The way people play drums is connected to how the drums are built and the sounds of the languages spoken in those areas. A clear difference in drumming styles can be heard between regions where Fulani and Mande-speaking people live and areas further east where fewer Mande languages are spoken.
In western areas like Senegal, Gambia, western Mali, and Guinea, the main drumming style uses quick rolls and short bursts of sound between the hand holding the stick and the free hand. This style is connected to the languages in these regions, which often use pitch changes or are not tonal. This style is commonly heard in the music genre called Mbalax in Senegal.
In eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, western Chad, and Nigeria (except areas with large Fulani or Mande-speaking groups), the drumming style focuses on creating long, sustained notes. The stick-holding hand hits the drum, and the free hand is used to control and change the sound right after the hit. This creates a soft, rubbery sound that matches the complex tones used in the languages of these regions. This style is clearly heard in music where the talking drum is the main instrument, such as Fuji music from the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
In some groups, individuals were given "drum names" that could be used to send messages. For example, among the Bulu people of Cameroon, names like "Even if you dress up finely, love is the only thing" or "The giant wood rat has no child, the house rat has no child" were used. Drummers would send messages by playing the recipient’s name, followed by the sender’s name and the message.