Drumming as a Language
In this installment, we will discuss how exactly messages are sent on the talking drum. Carrington explains that because many African languages are tonal, they can be represented on the drum. Words are often differentiated by the tone they are said in, so though they may have the same sound the meaning of the word depends on what pitch you give to each syllable. Carrington gives a few examples:
The letters in the tone column H and L stand for high and low, and it is pretty easy to see that it is very important to get the tones right while speaking, or you could mean the exact opposite of what you said! In its most basic form, that is how words are translated onto the drum, through its tones. But as you can see from the chart, some words have the same tonal patterns, so they must be further distinguished when drumming them out. So therefore, the words are never drummed alone. They are always accompanied by a sentence that gives enough clues to allow those who are listening to figure out the exact words. Carrington give the example of the three words songe (the moon), koko (the fowl), and fele (a type of fish). They all have the tonal pattern H H. These words would always be drummed alongside other words that created a phrase such as
(I know its a little hard to line up the tones with the word, just remember that each syllable has a designated pitch, so if you’re confused count the syllables and the pitches and match up those with the same number)
These are common enough uses of these words that those who know drumming language would be able to understand. Many messages when translated into drum language become more poetic and elongated. For example, the statement “he has returned” is played on the drum as “he has brought back his legs, he has brought back his feet.” Some words that the drummers beat out on the drum they don’t actually know the meaning of. When asked about these words they simply said, “These words were given to us by our fathers and we do not understand what they mean.” They do understand what the phrase as a whole is communicating though.
Carrington also learned during his time in Africa that males in communities that communicated with talking drums had a drum name. The drum name was given to them by their father either after a special ceremony or in some tribes, once they were able to understand the drum, which was around age 5 or 6. He explains that in the Congo, a full drum name was made up of three distinct parts: (1) a name characteristic of the boy (this corresponds closely with what you might call your given name), (2) the first part (1) of his father’s drum name, and (3) a phrase representing the village where the boy’s mother is from. The full drum name was rarely used though, it was usually enough to just beat out just the first part. Men in tribe with a longer history of the talking drum have names that they have inherited from ancestors and it is continuously passed down through generations. Because in more recent times, the drum is not being used for communication to the extent it used to be, drum names are most likely not as common as they used to be. This is only an educated guess though, because unfortunately a Google search of “African drum names” or any variation thereof gives a list of the names of drums, not people.
In an attempt to learn a little more about communication using a talking drum and to see and hear how it is done, I turned to Youtube. The first video I want to talk about I have mentioned before, Michael Varner’s “Skin that Speaks.” In the video he explains that during a performance, the talking drum beats out proverbs as its rhythm. In the piece he performs, which he composed, Varner plays the proverb Life is hard, my friends.” Here is a link to that part of the video if you would like to hear it. I also found a series of videos of master drummer Rasaki Aladokun who explains what he would play at certain events, such as a marriage or a funeral. He sings the words, beats the rhythm and even translates, so it’s a great example of the many uses of the talking drum. Here is a link to the first part. And finally, I found Ayanlere Alamu Alajede, a drummer who gives free talking drum lessons through Youtube videos. His video I will post below because I think it shows best what I have been explaining to you. And it’s the shortest. (It kind of has a long intro so if you want to get to the lesson you can skip to 1:10)
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Sources
How To Play a Simple Rhythm On The Talking Drum
The Talking Drums of Africa by John Carrington
Skin that Speaks: the "talking drums" of Nigeria | Michael Varner | TEDxUTA
