Samuel Ogundare
AAF
Professor Dilworth
May 26, 2013
African Drums
The topic I picked to do my research on is African Drums. I choose this topic because they are a big part of African culture and the way they are made is defiantly an art piece. I found a lot of information on African drums and I realized that a lot of these drums originate from some part of Africa. The drums I will be focusing on are the Djembe, The Talking Drum, and Dun Dun. Furthermore I will be talking about the Djembe which is the most popular drum in Africa
The Djembe is a rope-tuned skin-enclosed goblet drum that is played with bare hands and is originally from West Africa. Bamana people in Mali say that the name of the Djembe comes from the saying "Anke djé, anke bé" which means to "everyone gather together in peace" The meaning of the drum defines the drum's purpose. Also in the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" which interprets as "peace”. The body of the Djembe is carved of hardwood and the drumhead is made of organic rawhide, which is usually made from goatskin. Djembes have an outside diameter of 30–38 cm and its height is 58–63 cm without the rings. Most have a diameter in the 13 to 14 inch range and they usually weigh 5 kg to 13 kg depending on the size and shell material. A medium-size djembe made out of the traditional woods weighs about 9 kg. It can create a extensive range of sounds, making it a most versatile drum. The Djembe is very loud, allowing it to be heard clearly as a solo instrument over a huge percussion ensemble. The Malinké people say that a talented drummer is one who “can make the djembe talk”, this means that the drummer can tell an emotional story through their drumming.
Usually Djembes are carve...
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...aying edge. Four to five individuals would stretch the wet skin over the drum head to apply tautness at the same time fasteners were driven into the basin. The reduction of the skin while it dried then applied adequate extra tension for the skin to resonate. Factory-made Djembe drums, use a comparable system. However, instead of using vertical ropes, the top circle is pulled against the skin ring by motorized lugs that are fastened with a wrench.
Tuning is a very important part when it comes to the making of the Djembe. After securing the verticals, a djembe is tuned by making twists in the verticals to reduce them. When there is more than one finished row of spirals, the vertical line forms diamond shapes that can be very stylish. The amount of tension that can be applied this way is considerable. A djembe tuned to solo pitch usually has a tone frequency of 400 Hz.
Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help them have better success with the surrounding peoples and culture, but there is a lack of attendance in these schools. There are also many education issues in proper sexual practices that would help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, in a place in the world were theses illnesses are at surprisingly high levels.
At the University of Chicago, Dunham decided to study anthropology with a focus on African and Caribbean ritual dances. Here, she studied under many of the best anthropologists of the time, and in 1935, she was awarded a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to study dance in any way she wished. So, she decided to use this money to travel to the islands of the West Indies and document the ritual dances of the people. She visited such islands as Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique and Haiti; however, she found a special connection with the people of Haiti and the dances they performed, particularly in their Vodoun rituals. In 1936, Dunham received a bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago, and after gathering her research and materials from her work in the Caribbean, she submitted her thesis, Dances of Haiti: Their Social Organization, Classification, Form, and Function,” to the University of Chicago in 1938.
Brief History From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern: the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art of the cuisine so treasured and carefully transmitted to their daughters has become part of the great culinary classics of these lands. But seldom are the African blacks given that recognition.
Beck, John. Encyclopedia of Percussion. 2nd ed. New York: Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, 2007. Accessed May 15, 2014. http://books.google.com/books?id=8U83AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Collins, John. “African Popular Music: A Historical review of Sub-Saharan Africa”. African Art, Traditional and Popular Music.com. 2002. Web. 06 May, 2014. http://aatpm.com/AfricanPopularMusicCollins.htm
If you have ever watched the television show “Survivor” or a “Foster’s” commercial you have probably heard that annoying but rather interesting noise in the background music. The instrument that is capable of making such a strange noise is called a didgeridoo. The didgeeridoo is a strange type of trumpet that is used by the Aboriginal people of northern Australia. It is used just as we use our musical instruments for singing and dancing or ceremony and entertainment. It is thought to be one of the oldest instruments still used around the world today. It’s recorded history goes back nearly 1500 years but it is probable that it has been around much longer.
Throughout the semester, various styles of music and the aspects of culture associated with these styles have been analyzed. Musical elements such as dynamics, texture, form, timbre, melody, instruments, etc., have been used to thoroughly explore each kind of music from different areas of the world, with an emphasis in music from Africa, India and Indonesia. These aspects of music go far beyond just music itself. Culture also plays a huge role in music and the accompanying musical elements. Each country and culture has a different style and distinctiveness that add to what makes the music of that certain culture unique. Music in Africa may differ dramatically from music in Indonesia or India not only due to those certain elements but also due to how it is interpreted by people and what it represents for those people. In addition to this, what one may consider music in one culture may not be music to another. These differences have been made apparent in the several demonstrations that we have been exposed to in class.
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
Music is a form of communication, letting others knows what is going on in the country, political, social or economic and any other problems the people of the Caribbean faced. With so many different ethnic backgrounds in the Caribbean, they are people with Asians, Indians, and Africans descents. This created a language and culture barrier but each ethnic background shared a common link music. Music bridged the gap between the different ethnicities Music is part of everyone’s culture especially here in the Caribbean. Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in...
In Ashanti tribe, family and the mother’s side are most important to this particular group. This tribe believe that child often inherit their father’s soul while flesh and blood is received from the mother. “Instrument such as talking drums are used for learning the Ashanti language and spreading news and used in ceremonies. This instrument is very important to the Ashanti and there are very important rituals involved in them”. (Vollbrecht, Judith A., 1979).
Music is very important for Black Americans as it has always been a form of expression that may have otherwise not been available. First, the African slaves brought the drums from Africa and to make a long story short, we still feel the beat! Hip- Hop, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Rap, soca, dance hall and many, many more genres of music derived from the influence directly or indirectly from the complex beat(s) of the African drum. The dances related to hip hop and rap are also rooted in African
Mainly the West Africans used percussive instruments. These drums came in all sizes ranging from ten to twelve inches to ten to twelve feet. Their drums were made out of hollowed out logs and gourds with a tight skin over the hollow. They also used idiophones to make music. They used a variety of bells, castanets, gongs, and sometimes they made small xylophones or small pianos. Aerophones weren't as prevalent as the percussions or idiophones. Some explorers made small flutes, horns and trumpets from elephant tusks.
Overtime, Hip-Hop artists began to diversify their sounds and rhythms by different influences regarding ethnic backgrounds or creating certain moods for their audiences. Based on the article, “ The Significance of the Relationship Between AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC AND WEST AFRICAN MUSIC,” the author, Olly Wilson elucidates how African slaves used drumming as a way to call out to one another, for camp singing, and for negro spirituals as well (Wilson, 1974). During the Antebellum Period, African slaves would create beats from drums in which Hip-Hop today uses drums to project beats but at much different paces than in the past. Throughout its history, this genre of music has focused on beats instead of the melody, which is a commonality among African tribal music and today’s contemporary Hip-Hop. Depending on the timeframe and area the beat comes from, shows the impact of how those rhythms will sound. For instance, old school beats have different sound patterns than modern beats. Geographically, countries hear and spread music to each other and different ethnicities pick up their unique beats and rhythmic sounds; creating interrelationships of mixed musical cultures and specializations. In the article, “B-Beats Bombarding Bronx: Mobile DJ Starts Something 41with Oldie R&B Disk” by the author, Robert Ford expresses how the Hip-Hop pioneer, DJ Kool herc rose to fame by introducing assorted rhythm breaks (Ford, 2004). Also, as generations passed, Hip-Hop took a turn away from jazz and snappy blues to contemporary rap and R&B which is considered as “ghetto” or “gangsta music.” White critics have this false misconception of Hip-Hop and rap music and believe that they depict the harsh realities of ghetto life, poverty, and vulgarity. When in reality, it is a big phenomenon and apart of African culture because it conveys how they try to rise above the disorders of pauperism and the
Juju music emerged in the 1920's and is the most well-known form of Yoruba popular contemporary music in Nigeria. Juju has its roots in traditional Yoruba drum based music. Juju is dance music played by large ensembles centered on guitars and drumming. Singing is a major part of Juju music and is inspired by Yoruba poetry, proverbs, praise songs, and the musical character of the language. The culture and music remained the same for decades after colonization and its explorers left Nigeria. The negative legacies...
Traditional African Religion The Religious Sphere There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and a sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the afterlife is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion.