Yoruba talking drum ensemble pdf

Overlapping rhythms embedded with symbolic religious meanings are played by a variety of drum ensembles including cylindrical bata drums, hourglassshaped dundun talking drums, and the tall gelede drums. The sakara drum is one of the four major families of yoruba drums of nigeria. Omowale instructs and choreographs for the ensemble s adult and youth corps. The group has traveled to places throughout the united states and also to mexico, italy. The talking drum speaks in tones that are adjusted with leather cords that run the length of the drums. The concept of a talking drum provides perhaps the most important illustration of. By oba adeyemi, the alaafin of oyo interview by wole balogun. Music is an integral part of life to the 8 million yoruba people living in west africa. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitch of the drum by squeezing the cords between their arm and body. Yoruba drums typically belong to four major families, which are used depending on the context or genre where they are played. The talking drum s ability to imitate the total sound of language has made it superior to any of. Each family includes drums of different sizes, with the mother drum iya ilu playing the lead role and other drums playing in support.

It is called the talking drum because its sound imitates the tonal quality of the yoruba language. The nigerian talking drum ensemble is a group that performs with the hopes to educate the people about the nigerian culture through music and dance. The online yoruba language and culture portal for kids. In 1985 francis awe formed the nigerian talking drum ensemble with his wife, omowale, who is the lead dancer. It is made of a piece of carefully carved apa wood to form a hourglasslike frame with two ends covered with membranes of kid.

Senegalese tama player, yamar thiam of the finnish group galaxy, performing at the imatra big band festival at imatra, july 2005. In yoruba culture, expert drummers with a mastery of the accepted vocabulary of drum language and literature were often attached to a kings court. Talking drums can be played in various patterns and rhythms for different cultural activities i. The cd to this book is available online yoruba drums from benin, west africa, by. The sakara is also made and used by the hausa people of northern nigeria. Talking drum the dawn of the talkingdrum the talking drum, as indicated by its name, actually talks. Other talking drums of conical or tubular construction exist around africa, but they are rather known by their particular names instead of the term talking drum. I am interested in using this medium to unify the people of all races and colors. The yoruba bata drum ensemble, as seen on lagbajas site.

The yoruba example the main talking drums, in relation to which the dance has been researched, are the main solo drums, called iya ilu, which can be translated as the mother drum, and a quite popular smaller participant, known as the talking drum in english, though it is called gangan in yoruba. These doubleheaded, hourglassshaped drums are often played in. Taxonomies or categories of yoruba drums various types of drums or drum sets can be identified among yoruba people of southwestern part of nigeria. Batakoto is a yoruba 3sectional ensemble of talking drums. Traditionally, the talking drum is a unique musical instrument that mimics the voice and synthesizes language. The iya ilu leads the ensemble, leads the talk, dictates pace, determines song. It is against this backdrop that this paper attempts to advance argument for. Benin, west africa is the home to several yoruba religious cults based on a pantheon of gods. In 1948, however, the yoruba talking drum was added to the ensemble. The most common type of talking drum among the yoruba is called dundun see plate i. The dundun drum is a large doubleended, hourglassshaped, bass drum that can be played either standing up or on its side. The yoruba language is a tonal language that speaks in proverbs where a word alone will not suffice.

From the mid1930s to the late 1940s, juju was performed as dance musicin taverns as well as at assorted family festivities, such as naming ceremonies and weddingswithout any significant shifts in instrumentation or musical style. Listen and download this nigeria cultural yoruba dundun local beats from drums, this is a nigeria and african based beat that portrays our african culture and heritage. Dundun ensemble dundun is the most popular talking drum of the yoruba people with very high speech competence. The yoruba name for the talking drum is dundun, which means sweet sound. In a dundun ensemble, there is one drum that has a potlike shape and is played with two leather string beaters rather than with a wooden stick. It is made from clay where only 1 side has the skin attached while the other side is.

Gender dialectics of yoruba drum poetry shared meaning can be made possible w hen there is consideration for situational contexts, the use of stock phrases and practical interpretation of. The group uses mainly traditional musical instruments such as talking drums ensemble which comprises of dundun iya ilu, aguda, omele isaaju, atele, gudugudu, djembe, palongo, agogo, sekere, coral and tama. It is called gongon by its originators, the yoruba people of western region of nigeria. Two different tones can be achieved by playing either directly on the paste or on the skin. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to modulate the pitch of the drum by squeezing the cords between their arm and body. The ogidogbedu is one of the four major families of yoruba drums. Its sounds can be heard as far as 20100 miles away, especially when it is intended to relay messages. Dundun drums hour glass drum, talking drum even though most yoruba drums mimic speech. Each family includes drums of different sizes, with the mother drum iya ilu playing the lead role. Drum languages and literature are highly developed among the yoruba.

Thought to be the oldest of yoruba drums, the gudugudu plays as accompaniment to the extended dundun family of yoruba talking drums. Yoruba dundun ensemble drums for the orisa youtube. In yoruba talking drum ensembles, this is used alongside smaller talking drums similar to the tama, called gangan in yoruba language. The use of talking drums as a form of communication was noticed by europeans in the first half. The gbedu drum is traditionally used on state occasions or during ceremonies of ogboni, the ancient yoruba secret society. Master talking drummer, drum teacher, entertainer, drum maker olalekan leads his group in entertaining the viewers at a local tv station in nigeria. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Talking drum 1 talking drum a talking drum the talking drum is a west african hourglass drum whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. So, these are the drums that come to mind when the phrase or expression talking drums is mentioned. The talking drum is an hourglassshaped drum from west africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. Europeans sometimes refer to it as an hourglass drum, because of its shape. In yoruba land, the talking drum is a percussion to which people can rhythmically dance, but the alaafin of oyo, his royal majesty, oba lamidi adeyemi said recently that the cultural significance of the yoruba talking drum goes beyond mere entertainment value. Egungun dancing with bata drums african bata lebee cultural troupe osun grove.