Talking Drums in a Societal Context
When I first started my research of the talking drum, this was not one of the topics I was planning to cover, but as I research I’ve realized that this topic is very important in the study of African drums as drums are held in incredibly high regards in African society.
       In an interview with Joh Camara, a master drummer from Mali, he says “Where I’m from…when you are a boy, your toy is a drum.” He says that when he was young and would cry they would give him a drum to bang on. He got his first drum when he was two years old and began drumming at age five. Camara comes from a griot family. Griots are very important within Mande culture. (Mande is an ethnic group in West Africa located mainly in Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Gambia.) A griot, or jeli as they are also known, is a member of a hereditary class of traveling historians, storytellers, and musicians. When asked to explain what a jeli is, Camara states,
“In my culture, jeli means blood. Why we call them jeli? So let’s try to think about the human being, you know; look at our body. Without our blood, how would we survive? There is no way! You can’t survive without blood. So think about it as if Africa is a human body. So these people, which we call jeli, would be the blood of that human body. That’s why we call them jeli. That’s how important they are.”
The jeli play many different roles within the village, and that’s why they are considered the lifeline of the Mali people. I wanted to include that entire quote here because it came directly from someone who is part of the culture, revealing that even in more recent times, this historical position is as alive as ever. Jeli percussion instruments include the tamani (a talking drum), djembe, and dounoun drums. As noted before, Camara started playing an instrument at a young age, and this is true of many members of a griot family. Camara has since become a master drummer, a revered position in many West African cultures. To become a master drummer, one must study for years under other masters and earn the title through hard work. Master drummers must be able to play any part of any rhythm in your ethnic group as well as in surrounding ethnic groups in any ceremonial situation. They need to know all the different parts on all the different drums and the songs and dances that go with them. As a drummer trains under a master drummer, they generally receive their own drum when they receive to title of master drummer.
       West African culture is very much based around drumming. Drums accompany almost everything, the birth of a baby, the death of someone in the village, marriage, sporting events, and even circumcisions. Drums also serve as symbols that represent their culture. The drums of the Akan, which include the talking drums atumpan, are made from cedar wood, which houses the Tweneboa spirit. So the drummer of the atumpan becomes identified with the spirit. Talking drums also aid in communication from one village to the next. (Exactly how they do that we will get into later) They send important messages and can gather people who live great distances apart for a ceremony or celebration. This isn’t as necessary now as it was in the past, but talking drums can still be heard today, such as the atumpan on Ghana radio and television during news reports. The atumpan or donno (another talking drum) can be heard announcing lessons in elementary and secondary schools in Ghana. In Nigeria, The iya alu or dundun drum can also be heard before, after, or during news broadcasts on the radio or the TV. So even though these drums are no longer necessary to communicate over long distance, the people of West African have been able to incorporate their culture into a modern world. These drums also present in African diasporic communities, where they are used when the group is already gathered to announce as well as educate the younger generation.
       The book by Carrington gives a representation of the different occasions a talking drum would be used but the book was written in 1949, so the events described were common then but may not be so prevalent now. Still, they are important in understanding the history and cultural significance of talking drums in Western African society. Births were only announced on the talking drum when the father was away. Not all tribes had drum phrases that dealt with birth, but of those who did, different tribes had different phrases that were used for the announcement and the announcements included the sex of the child. There was also a special call for when twins are born. The talking drums role in marriages was often to allow the man to express his feelings for his to-be wife or for the family of the man to call the family of the wife so they can exchange wife for dowry. Sometimes a man and woman would run off together back to the man’s village where the village would celebrate by beating the drum in a message of victory. Talking drums were also used to announce a death in a village to the surrounding area. As you can see, talking drums have always been an integral part of West African culture and remain so today.
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African Drumming: The History and Continuity of African Drumming Traditions by Modesto Amegago
Interview with Joh Camara
The Talking Drums of Africa by John Carrington
The Music and Culture of Mali
Professor Lee’s lectures
What’s a “Master” Drummer?
