The history of the talking drum

For many years, the talking drum has been noted as one of the symbols of the old African tradition and an instrument of music indigenous to the Yoruba culture of western Nigeria and Benin republic and Ghana. However, the talking drum is more than just a cultural artefact or a musical instrument. The talking drum has served a deeper purpose over the years, a purpose which with the advancement of technology and the improvement in communication principles – cellphones, internet etc, has slowly dissipated into misty myth and legend.

The talking drum

Known in many different cultures by different names; dundun *or *gangan *by the Yoruba of Nigeria, Benin republic and Ghana, mbaggu by the Fulani of sub-saharan Africa, *tamanin *by the Dyula of Mali and Burkina Faso, doodo by the Songhai people, kalangu* by the Hausa of Nigeria etc, the talking drum is an hourglass-shaped membranophone. It is a made of a hollow wooden stock which is hourglass shaped with both ends covered by the drum skin – which can be of animal or even fish origin. The drum skins are connected across the hourglass frame by leather tension cords. The pitch of the drumbeat is modulated by the player squeezing those tension cords against his frame as he plays. In this manner, the drummer is able to mimic the sounds of human speech.

Origins of the talking drum

It is not certain where exactly the talking drum originated, however it is clear that it originated from Sub-saharan Africa where it is still played to this day. In West Africa, there are many variants of the talking drum in size and style of play, especially in relation to the different languages spoken in the regions, however one thing is consistent; the application of the drum in the relaying of messages.

How the drum talked

When danger approached a village, the talking drum was used to warn villagers using sounds plucked from the beat in tones that match the speech of the land. The drumbeat travels across the air with clarity and faster than a horse rider would, thus serving as an effective means of communication. It however requires special skill to be able to play the talking drum and use it to transmit messages that were intelligible to the receiver. Like an intricate Morse code or telegraph, the pitched shaves and beats of the drum meant different words, which however had to be followed up by explanatory phrases so that the meaning was not lost in ambiguity. Traditionally, as among the Bulu of Cameroun, a drummer had a name tag with which he was known – like a handle, and messages from that drummer started off with the handle and signed off the same way. The messages were then relayed poetically with short phrase messages often becoming eight or ten times longer.

A simple call tag like Still Weather would be drummed as something like “The storm does not fall, the sun is at rest, the breeze is still, the sky does not weep” and messages such as “Come back home” would be drummed 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”. In this way, the messages were passed along poetically while also ensuring clarity. Every beat meant a sound in a phrase, and every phrase coincided with a word. In this way, the words were broken up into specific phrases which were drummed out in separate sounds.

The Griots of West Africa

Similar to the bards and travelling minstrels of the medieval age, the griots of West Africa are living flesh and blood repositories of ancient knowledge. These men and women possess the stories of their people, triumphs and failures, stories that are recalled using the talking drum. With the aid of the talking drum, the storytelling griot narrates the story of a time, punctuating her words with the drum and building the suspense and excitement for the climax. Praise songs for eminent personalities, as well as prayers are also accompanied by the tones of the talking drum.

In recent times, the griots and the culture of passing down tradition orally has fizzled in African society. While the talking drums live on, their major applications are for their music in various genres such as the Fuji and Juju music of Nigeria and the Mbalax music of Senegal.