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 played while held under the arm. The player changes the drum’s pitch by tightening or loosening the cords between their arm and body.
This drum was first used in the 18th century. Players used different tones to send 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, depending on how they are played.
Drums with a similar hourglass shape are found in Asia, but they are not used to copy speech. However, the idakka drum is used to mimic vocal music. Five types of dùndún pressure drums from the Yoruba people, along with the atumpan and fontomfrom drums from the Asante (Ashanti) people, are especially important. These drums can send messages up to 20 miles (32 km), where other drummers repeat the messages, helping news spread quickly.
History
Talking drums shaped like an hourglass are among 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, have developed a highly advanced style of griot music that focuses on the talking drum.
Many types of talking drums have evolved over time, most of which share the same construction described earlier. Other shapes, such as the Dunan and the Fontomfrom, were created and given special names. This construction is found mainly in the modern borders of West Africa, with exceptions in northern Cameroon and western Chad. It is also present 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 "tama" in the Serer language) was a musical instrument used in the Serer people's "Woong" tradition, which is 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 existed before 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 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 martyrdom. Examples include the mayhem at Tahompa (a surprise attack in the 19th century) and the Battle of Naoudourou, where some Serers chose to commit suicide 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 made a god and is now considered one of the Orishas, which are spiritual beings in Yoruba religion. Followers of Yoruba religion believe he is the patron spirit of all drummers and inspires them through his presence as a muse. The word "Ayan" means "drummer" in the Yoruba language. This is why some Yoruba family names begin with "Ayan," such as Ayanbisi, Ayangbade, Ayantunde, and Ayanwande. 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 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 used by the Mandé peoples.
The talking drum is also used in ceremonies and events such as weddings, funerals, and private gatherings. Most importantly, it is a common instrument used by African musical groups.
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. The drum's waist is held between the player's arm and body. When the player squeezes the drum, the drumhead tightens, creating a higher note. When the drum is relaxed, the note is lower. This allows the pitch to change during a single beat, making a sound that wavers. The drum can copy the pitch, loudness, and rhythm of speech, but it cannot copy vowel or consonant sounds.
Europeans first noticed the use of talking drums in the early 1700s. Detailed messages could be sent quickly between villages, faster than a person could ride a horse. In the 1800s, a missionary named Roger T. Clarke noticed that the drum signals matched the tones of syllables in traditional, poetic phrases.
Many African languages are tonal, meaning the pitch of a word helps determine its meaning. For example, the Yoruba language has three main tones: low, medium, and high. These tones are similar to musical notes do, re, and mi. Different ways of changing these tones are used to send 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 to send complex messages using only tone, without vowels or consonants. In 1949, John F. Carrington, an English man living in Africa, wrote about 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, which could travel up to 4–5 miles. Sending a message by drum took about eight times longer than speaking, but it was useful for warning villages about attacks or events. Carrington explained that each short word on the drum 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 translated 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 helped explain the main message clearly. Drummers were taught specific phrases for each word, making the language hard to learn. Few people wanted to spend time learning it. The extra beats reduced confusion about the message's meaning. Interestingly, when Europeans learned how the drums worked, the drums were already being used less often in Africa. Over time, some words lost their meaning. Carrington said that if a word was not used often, the phrase for it was forgotten. For example, when drummers heard the beat for "young girl," they thought it was the phrase for "fishing nets."
As Finnegan explained, drum messages were not only for practical purposes. They were also used for literary forms, such as proverbs, poems, and songs. In some cultures, drumming was highly developed and used for storytelling, history, and rituals. In places like Ashanti or Yoruba societies, drum language and literature were very important. Drumming was often a special skill passed down through families. Experts who knew the drum language and literature 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 design.
The Tama drum, used by the Serer, Wolof, and Mandinka peoples, is known for its smaller size. It typically has an overall length of about 13 cm (5.1 in) and a drum head diameter of around 7 cm (2.8 in). These measurements create a higher pitch compared to other talking drums with the same construction.
In contrast, the Yoruba and Dagomba peoples 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 alongside 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 types of languages spoken in different areas. A clear difference in how drums are played 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 way of playing the drum includes quick rolls and short sounds made by the hand holding the stick and the free hand. This style is connected to the languages spoken in these regions, which often use pitch accents or are not tonal. This style is commonly heard in the music genre called Mbalax from 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 making long and continuous notes. The stick-holding hand hits the drum, while the free hand is used to stop or change the sound right after the hit. This creates a sound that feels soft and rubbery, similar to the complex tones used in the languages of these areas (see Niger–Congo tonal language chart). This style is clearly heard in music from this region, especially in songs where the talking drum is the main instrument, such as Fuji music from the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
In some groups, each person had a special "drum name" that could be used to send messages directly to them. 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.