So I’ve mentioned Fontomfrom before, and wanted to talk about it a little more in depth. Now talking drums usually have cords connected to the skin that is pulled over the head of the drum. As shown here:
Picture Sources: Dundun Talking Drum
This is so that the drummer can change the pitch of the drum by squeezing or releasing the cords. A Fontomfrom ensemble includes the two talking drums atumpan. The atumpan look like this:
One is a female drum and the other is male. You may have noticed that they lack the cords that the other talking drums have. The two drums are tuned to each other, the male one being a higher pitch than the female one. Fontomfrom is from the Akan people who reside mostly in Ghana and their native language, Twi, is bi-tonal, so the two drums with different but corresponding tones are able to talk in Twi. The atumpan is played with two bent drum sticks usually by a master drummer. They are made from the wood of the Tweneboa and the Akan used to make sacrifices to the tree, such as an egg or a mouse though this is no longer practiced. The drum is made from a single piece of wood and is open at its narrow base. The Ashanti, another ethnic group on the Gulf of Guinea, believe the atumpan to be sacred and so do not attach any blood, jawbones, or skulls to it.
As mentioned, the atumpan make up an important part of a Fontomfrom ensemble. Akan Fontomfrom is a very important part of Akan culture. A Fontomfrom ensemble is made up the dawuro bell and three pairs of drums. The first is a pair of from drums, a tall, heavy, low-pitched drum, the second pair is the atumpan which are also heavy though not as tall as the from and higher in pitch, and finally the pair of eguankoba drums which are small and very high pitched. The leader of the Fontomfrom ensemble plays on the from drums.
Pictured below are the drums that make up a Fontomfrom ensemble. The two unlabeled drums to the far right are the eguankoba.
Picture source: Professor Lee’s Lecture 4
Akan chiefs used to have most of the political power in Ghana but in recent times, that power has been transferred to the Ghanaian government. Chiefs are still present though and often settle small scale land disputes and similar problems. They may not have to same political power they used to but they are still chiefs and as such represent their power in other, traditional, ways. For example, purchasing a royal set of Fontomfrom and funding performances, is an Akan chief tradition. The ensemble plays whenever the chief makes a public appearance, like at village ceremonies or funerals. My professor showed us a video of a Fontomfrom performance which to me seemed like a procession or ceremony as there were lots of people walking around who were talking and shouting as well as someone in a chair being carried by a group of men who I assumed was the chief. The person being carried was in fact the chief, but the event was actually a funeral, which seemed strange to me because no one seemed sad or in mourning, in fact there were people dancing to the drums. It’s interesting to see how different cultures approach momentous events like birth or death, and for the Akan, these events would be incomplete without the presence of a Fontomfrom drum ensemble.
Here is a link to the video that we watched in class. It’s easy to hear the drums and the bell at the beginning, but if you watch long enough (or skip ahead) you eventually the see the two tall from drums and the smaller atumpan.
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World Music: Traditions and Transformations by Michael Bakan (pgs 198-201)
