Drums in communication
Drums used for long-distance signalling and communications
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Key Takeaways
- Developed and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long-distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions.
- Ceremonial functions could include dance, rituals, story-telling and communication of points of order.
- Slit-log drums are common in the drum communication systems of Papua New Guinea, where they are known in Tok Pisin as garamut .
- While some are simple and utilitarian, they can also be highly elaborate works of sculpture while still retaining their function.
Developed and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long-distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions.
Types
Talking drum
While the tone and articulation of the hourglass-shaped talking drum can be finely controlled, it cannot be heard at distances beyond a gathering or market-place, and it is primarily used in ceremonial settings. Ceremonial functions could include dance, rituals, story-telling and communication of points of order.
Some of the groups of variations of the talking drum among West African ethnic groups:
- Tama (Wolof of Senegal)
- Gan gan, Dun Dun (Yoruba of Nigeria and eastern Benin)
- Dondo (Akan of central Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire)
- Lunna (Dagomba of northern Ghana; Mossi of Burkina Faso)
- Kalangu (Hausa of northern Nigeria, Niger, northern Ghana, Benin and Cameroon)
- Doodo (Songhai and Zarma of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger)
In the 20th century the talking drums have become a part of popular music in West Africa, especially in the music genres of Jùjú (Nigeria) and Mbalax (Senegal).
Slit gongs
Message drums, or more properly slit gongs, with hollow chambers and long, narrow openings that resonate when struck, are larger all-wood instruments hollowed out from a single log. Slit-log drums are common in the drum communication systems of Papua New Guinea, where they are known in Tok Pisin as garamut. Variations in the thickness of the walls give varying tones when struck by the heavy wooden drum sticks. While some are simple and utilitarian, they can also be highly elaborate works of sculpture while still retaining their function.
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