The talking drum is a drum shaped like an hourglass from West Africa. It can be used to send messages by changing its pitch and rhythm to copy the tone and speech patterns of humans. The drum has two drumheads connected by leather cords. It is usually held under the arm while playing. The player adjusts the drum's pitch by tightening or loosening the cords between their arm and body.
This drum was used in the 18th century to share messages, such as news about ceremonies or commands, over distances of 4–5 miles (6.4–8.0 km). A skilled player can play full phrases on the drum. Most talking drums sound like a human humming when played.
Similar hourglass-shaped drums are found in Asia, but they are not used to copy speech. However, the idakka is used to mimic vocal music.
Five types of dùndún pressure drums from the Yoruba people, and the atumpan and fontomfrom drums from the Asante (Ashanti) people, are especially important. These drums can send messages up to 20 miles (32 km), with other drummers passing the messages along to spread news quickly.
History
Talking drums shaped like an hourglass are among the oldest musical instruments used by West African griots. Their history dates 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 that focuses on the talking drum.
Many types of talking drums have been created over time, most sharing the same basic structure. Some drums have different shapes, such as the Dunan and the Fontomfrom, and are named separately. This construction is found mainly in modern-day West Africa, with exceptions in northern Cameroon and western Chad. These areas also include groups like the Kanuri, Djerma, Fulani, and Hausa, who live near West African countries.
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, which involves a dance performed by Serer boys before circumcision, also known as the "Xaat." The tama drum has religious meaning in Serer culture, which existed before the Ghana Empire.
In the Xaat tradition, the tama is the fourth drum in a group of four. The other drums used by the Serer people are: 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 (to call people to fight), when kings needed to speak to their people, or during special moments in Serer culture, such as calls for bravery. Examples include the Tahompa attack and the Battle of Naoudourou, where Serers chose to die rather than be conquered by Muslim forces. In Serer religion, suicide is allowed 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 honored as a god and is now considered one of the Orishas, spiritual beings in Yoruba religion. It is said that 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 of Ayangalu.
In the 20th century, the talking drum became part of popular music in West Africa. It is used in Senegal’s Mbalax music and in Nigeria’s Fuji and Jùjú music, where it is called a dùndún. This should not be confused with the dundun bass drum of the Mandé peoples.
The talking drum is also used in ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and private events. It is often played by African musical groups as part of their performances.
Playing technique
The pitch of the drum is changed to copy the tone patterns of speech. This is done by adjusting the tightness of the drumhead. The two drumheads are connected by a shared cord. 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 sound. When relaxed, the drumhead produces a lower sound. This allows the pitch to change during a single beat, making a wavy sound. The drum can copy the pitch, loudness, and rhythm of speech, but it cannot copy vowel or consonant sounds.
European people 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 could ride a horse. In the 1800s, a missionary named Roger T. Clarke noted that the drum signals matched the tones of syllables in traditional and poetic phrases.
Many African languages are tonal, meaning that pitch changes the meaning of words. For example, the Yoruba language uses 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 changes is used in Yoruba music and culture. However, the Serer and Senegambian languages are not tonal, unlike most other Niger-Congo languages.
The challenge was sending complex messages using only tone, without vowels or consonants. In 1949, an English man named John F. Carrington wrote a book about how African drummers sent messages over long distances. They used low tones called "male" and high tones called "female." The drummer used phrases and pauses, which could be heard up to 4–5 miles away. This method took eight times longer than speaking normally but was useful for warning villages about attacks or events. Carrington explained that each short word on the drum was paired with an extra phrase, which added context to the main message.
For example, the message "Come back home" might be translated as: "Make your feet come back the way they went, make your legs come back the way they went, plant your feet and legs below, in the village that belongs to us."
Single words were turned into longer phrases. For example, "Moon" might be played as "the Moon looks toward Earth," and "war" as "war that causes attention to ambushes."
These extra phrases help explain the main message. Drummers were taught specific phrases for each word, which made learning the drum language difficult. Few people were willing to spend time learning it. The extra beats helped avoid confusion. Interestingly, when Europeans learned how the drums worked, their use in Africa began to decline. Over time, some words and their phrases were forgotten. Carrington noted that drummers sometimes confused phrases, such as mistaking the phrase for "young girl" with the one for "fishing nets."
As Finnegan explained, drum messages were not only for practical purposes. They were also used for literary forms, such as proverbs, praise songs, historical poems, and laments. In some cultures, drum language and literature were highly developed. For example, among the Ashanti and Yoruba people, drumming was a specialized skill often passed down through families. Skilled drummers who knew the drum language and literature were often part of a king’s court.
Details of design
The size of the drums varies among different ethnic groups, but they all share a similar basic shape and structure.
The Tama drums used by the Serer, Wolof, and Mandinka peoples are known for having smaller sizes. These drums typically measure about 13 cm (5.1 in) in total length and have a drum head diameter of about 7 cm (2.8 in). This size creates a higher pitch sound compared to other similar talking drums.
The Yoruba and Dagomba peoples, however, use some of the largest talking drums in their Lunna and Dùndún ensembles. These drums usually measure between 23–38 cm (9.1–15.0 in) in length, with drum head diameters ranging from 10 to 18 cm (3.9 to 7.1 in). In Yoruba ensembles, these large drums are played together 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 different areas. A clear difference in drumming styles can be heard between areas where Fulani and Mande-speaking people live and areas further east where fewer people speak Mande languages.
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 linked to the languages spoken there, which often use pitch accents or are not tonal. This style is common in the music genre called Mbalax in Senegal.
In eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, western Chad, and Nigeria—except in areas where Fulani or Mande-speaking people are the majority—the drumming style focuses on creating long, sustained notes. The stick-holding hand hits the drum, while the free hand is used to control and change the sound right after each hit. This creates a soft, rubbery sound that matches the complex tones used in the languages of these regions (see the Niger–Congo tonal language chart). 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 ethnic groups, each person had a special "drum name" that could be used to send messages to specific individuals. For example, among the Bulu people of Cameroon, drum names included phrases 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." Drummers sent messages by playing the recipient’s name, followed by the sender’s name and the message.