Basic Introduction to the African Drum
The African drum (Djembe) originates from West African tribes and belongs to traditional instruments of indigenous peoples. It is typically worn around the neck and played while walking, rather than being placed on the ground. What's unique is that this instrument must be played with hands, one hand adjusting the pitch while the other hand strikes out the rhythm.
Product Features
The African drum is a membranophone percussion instrument, shaped like an African mortar used for grinding corn or grains, made by hollowing out an entire tree trunk and covering it with goat skin. The drum is approximately 50 to 60 centimeters in height and 30 to 38 centimeters in diameter, although some African drums from Côte d'Ivoire can have a larger diameter.
The African drum produces sound when struck with the hands. Depending on where it is hit, different tones can be produced, allowing for high, medium, and low sounds. This drum can be played solo or in ensemble with other traditional African instruments.
History and Folklore
The African drum is also commonly used to transmit information and language. Drummers use different strengths and strike different parts of the drum surface to produce various sounds. Combined with rhythms of varying tempo, these create different drum patterns which function as a signal language to convey various messages. During quiet times such as morning and evening, the drumbeats can travel up to 15 kilometers away. Drummers repeat the beats in sequence, enabling them to transmit messages with astonishing speed and accuracy—locations a hundred miles away can receive the message within two hours. In the past, when slave traders captured Africans, the people would use drum language to alert others to escape quickly, leaving the slave traders empty-handed. Drum language was also used to mobilize people for public works, to resist enemy attacks, and to report fires.
Africans often use drumming to express things that are not easily conveyed through words. For example, among the Akan people of Ghana, husbands traditionally praise their wives using drum language at dances. Drum language can also be used to announce births, deaths, and marriages.
In many places in Africa, there are periodic gatherings to select drummers. At the “Drum Competitions” held in Ghana, drummers are divided into two groups competing against each other. They start with brisk and lively drumbeats praising the chief's virtues and achievements, then use slow and fresh rhythms to narrate ancient myths and legends, followed by rapid beats announcing news and interesting events within the tribe. The complex and varied rhythms in the drumming express different emotions, sometimes stirring anger, other times laughter. People listen intently, afraid of missing a single beat. The climax of the “Drum Competition” is the “drum battle.” One group poses a question, and the other must answer with drumbeats and pose a counter-question; failing to do so counts as a loss. The audience surrounds the drummers, helping with strategy and encouragement, trying every means to defeat the opponent.
In summary, the most prominent and primary element in African music is rhythm, and the drum forms the foundation of this rhythm and is the most important instrument for expressing musical language. The importance of the drum in African life is unparalleled by any other instrument.