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 sounds and patterns of human speech. The drum has two drumheads connected by leather cords that can be tightened or loosened. It is usually played while held under the arm. The player changes the drum’s pitch by adjusting the tension of 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 to 5 miles (6.4 to 8.0 kilometers).
Skilled players can play full sentences. Many talking drums sound like a person humming when played in certain ways.
Other hourglass-shaped drums 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, along with the atumpan and fontomfrom of the Asante (Ashanti), are especially important. These drums can send messages up to 20 miles (32 kilometers), with other drummers passing the messages along to spread news quickly.
History
Hourglass-shaped talking drums are some of the oldest musical instruments used by West African griots. 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, developed a complex style of griot music centered on the talking drum.
Many types of talking drums have evolved over time, with most sharing the same structure described earlier. Other shapes, such as the Dunan and the Fontomfrom, also appeared and were given special names. This structure is found mainly in the current borders of West Africa, except in northern Cameroon and western Chad. It is also found in areas where people from groups common in neighboring West African countries, such as the Kanuri, Djerma, Fulani, and Hausa, live.
In Senegalese and Gambian history, the tama (called "Woong" in the Serer language) was a musical instrument used by the Serer people in a tradition called "Woong," which involves dances performed by Serer boys before undergoing a ritual called circumcision, also known as "Xaat" in the Serer language. The tama drum has religious meanings that existed before the Ghana Empire.
In the Xaat tradition, the tama is one of four drums used in a musical ensemble. The other drums include Perngel, Lamb, Qiin, and Tama.
Historically, the tama (like the Serer junjung) was played by griots of Senegambian kings during special events, such as wars (to call people to fight), when kings needed to speak to their people, or during important moments in Serer culture, such as calls for self-sacrifice. Examples include the 19th-century attack at Tahompa and the Battle of Naoudourou, where some Serers chose to die rather than be conquered by Muslim forces. In Serer religion, this is allowed only if it follows the principle of Jom, which means "honor" in the Serer language.
Ayangalu is believed to have been the first Yoruba drummer. After his death, he was made into a god and is now considered one of the Orishas. Followers of the Yoruba religion believe he is the special protector of all drummers and inspires them to play well. The word "Ayan" means "drummer" in the Yoruba language, which is why some Yoruba family names, such as 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 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 special events such as weddings, funerals, and private gatherings. It is commonly used by African musical groups as part of their instruments.
Playing technique
The pitch of the drum changes to copy the sounds 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 drum is held around the player's waist, between the 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 produce a sound that rises and falls, similar to speech. However, the drum cannot copy the sounds of vowels or consonants.
European people first noticed the use of talking drums in the early 1700s. These drums could send messages between villages faster than a person could ride a horse. In the 1800s, a missionary named Roger T. Clarke discovered that the drum signals matched the tones of words in traditional 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. These tones are similar to the musical notes do, re, and mi. Different ways of using these tones help send messages. The same system of three tones is used in Yoruba drumming. However, the Serer and Senegambian languages are not tonal, unlike most other Niger-Congo languages.
The challenge was sending messages without using vowels or consonants, only tone. In 1949, John F. Carrington, an English person living in Africa, wrote a book called The Talking Drums of Africa. He explained how drummers used low tones (called male) and high tones (called female) to send messages. By using pauses and phrases, drummers could send messages up to 4–5 miles away. This method took eight times longer than speaking, but it helped warn villages about attacks or events. Carrington noted that each short word on the drums was paired with an extra phrase. These phrases added context but were not needed in normal speech.
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."
Short words were often expanded into longer phrases. For example, "Moon" might be played as "the Moon looks towards Earth," and "war" as "war which causes attention to ambushes."
These extra phrases helped explain the main message. Drummers were taught specific phrases for each word, making it hard to learn the language. Few people wanted to spend the time to learn. The added beats made the meaning clearer. However, when Europeans learned how the drums worked, they were already used less in Africa. Over time, some words lost their meanings. Carrington said that when words were not used often, the phrases for them were forgotten. For example, drummers once thought the phrase for "young girl" was actually the one for "fishing nets."
As Finnegan explained, drum messages were not only for practical uses like warnings. They were also used for poetry, proverbs, and stories. In some cultures, drum language and literature were highly developed. For example, the Ashanti and Yoruba peoples had rich traditions of drumming. In these cultures, drumming was often a special skill passed down through families. Expert drummers who knew the language and poetry of the drums 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.
The Tama drum, used by the Serer, Wolof, and Mandinka peoples, is known for its smaller size. It is usually about 13 cm (5.1 in) long, with a drum head that is about 7 cm (2.8 in) wide. This smaller size creates a higher-pitched sound compared to other talking drums of the same type.
In contrast, the Yoruba and Dagomba peoples use some of the largest talking drums in their Lunna and Dùndún ensembles. These drums are typically between 23–38 cm (9.1–15.0 in) long, with drum heads that range from 10 to 18 cm (3.9 to 7.1 in) wide. 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
Playing styles of drums are connected to how the drums are built and the sounds of the languages spoken in different areas. A clear difference in how drums are played can be heard between regions 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 way of playing the drum includes fast, repeated beats and short sounds made between the hand holding the stick and the free hand. This style is connected to the languages spoken there, which often use pitch changes or do not use tones. 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 drum is played by hitting the drumhead with the stick-holding hand and using the free hand to control and change the sound after each hit. This creates a long, smooth sound that matches the complex and heavy tones used in languages in these regions (see Niger–Congo tonal language chart). This style is clearly heard in popular music from these areas, especially in songs where the talking drum is the main instrument, such as Fuji music from the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
In some cultures, individuals were given "drum names" that could be used to send messages to specific people. 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." Drum players sent messages by playing the recipient's name, followed by the sender's name and the message.