these are my guinean drums.
the deep-reddish goblet-shaped drum on the left is a djembe. during the past 20 years the djembe has become the most popular drum in the world. most people think of djembes when they think of african drums (even though there are hundreds of other drum types). the djembe originated in west africa hundreds of years ago, but is now found all over the world - in many shapes, sizes and materials.
the beauty of the djembe is that it has a loud, deep bass note plus at least two higher notes ("slap" and "tone", plus variations). this allows the djembe player to play a full-sounding, wide range of sounds, and be a "one-man-band", when needed. Anyone can play rhythms on a djembe within minutes, but it takes the average player around two years to be able to play "slaps" and "tones" with proper technique.
the wood shell on this particular djembe is a hollowed-out cashew tree trunk. the drum is tuned by using a rope-tuning system called the "mali weave", in which diamond-shaped knots are pulled into the vertical ropes, which raises the pitch by increasing skin tension. the skin is tuned very tight, using a tremendous amount of tension. in fact, when a djembe is tuned tight on a hot sunny day, a single drop of rain hitting the skin can cause it to explode. the ideal djembe skin is an african female goat skin. (i wish there were synthetic skins that could approximate the sound of a real skin, but there aren't yet. so i try to honour the sacrificed life of the goat by playing as well as i can... and also, enjoying every musical experience to the utmost. i do not take this sacrifice lightly.)
the other three barrel-shaped bass drums in this photo are called dununs. they come in a set of three, and are also made from hollowed out tree trunks. dununs are traditionally played laying horizontally on stands, using a wooden stick in the dominant hand. each drum has an iron bell attached to the tuning ropes, which is played with a metal bell stick in the other hand. the bell plays a timekeeper rhythm and the drum rhythm is overlaid. The drum hits are almost always played simultaneously with some of the bell hits.
each drum in the set of three plays a different part. some of the parts seem simple to play, but the placement of them within the combined rhythm is sometimes very tricky to achieve. the parts interlock in very intersting ways. each bell is playing a different part too, and they combine to form interesting polyrhythms too.
sometimes, due to a lack of players, the three bass drums are played standing on end, by one player. in this case, the intricate interplay between the three drums is simplified and bell rhythms are foregone entirely. Or another player plays an extra sangban and bell. a guinean friend recently informed me that this is how most groups play now. the traditional method of having one player for each drum/bell is mostly reserved for ceremonial occasions.
there are two types of notes played on dunun bass drums... the "open hit" and the "press". the smallest "kenkeni" plays the most metronomic beat of the three, and is the reference for the other parts. the middle-sized "sangban" plays the most integral, melodic part. and the big "doundounba" plays the accents and solos. (note that this is opposite to most western music in which the highest pitched instrument is usually the solo instrument.)
a lot of the musical interest in this music comes from the fact that it is polyrhythmic - based on multiples of 2 and 3 played at the same time. a listener/dancer can usually hear rhythms of 4 and 6 at the same time - which makes it wonderful music to dance to.
this music is made for dance. each traditional song has a dance associated with it. and each traditional song is played at a certain type of occasion... harvest, wedding, rite of passage (circumcision), etc.
guinean-born mamady keita is recognized by most to be the premier ambassador of this music to the western world.
west africans have developed some of the most interesting and intricate percussion music in the world. most popular music (rock, blues, soul, dance, rap) has roots in music from this area.
there is an extensive repetoire of percussion music for dununs and djembe. ideally, for most traditional songs there are three dunun players and three djembe players (one soloist and two support players). Plus singing, shakers, double-bells, balafon, other drums, etc.
the fact that this music requires four to seven players means that it is interactive and social... and very fun. it is intellectual and intuitive at the same time. there are psychological benefits to this. to play well, one must get beyond thinking about playing, and just play... trusting ones hands to do the right thing. the interaction between musicians and dancers is mutually reinforcing.
i have studied this music for the past seven years. and playing this complex rhythmic music on these drums with my drummer friends has opened my ears to a whole new world of intricate polyrhythms... and a whole world of interrelated artistic people. it has changed my life - beyond measure.
i took this photo of my drums at the park, just before an outdoor afternoon festival gig.
