The Djembe: West Africa’s gift to world music!
Honourable Thursdays
The human voice is the best ever instrument ever created and its fusion with the clapping of hands has produced many wonderful melodies.
Africa is home to a range of instruments like slit gongs, rattles, double bells, harps, fiddles, ngoni, the kora and several others.
The continent has also been home to xylophones and lamellophones like the mbira, wind instruments like the flute, trumpets, penny whistles and many string instruments like the string guitar and the lute like Algerian oud.
These instruments are rightly celebrated but one instrument has been described as the best ever and scholars have declared the Djembe drum the “heartbeat of African community”.
Whether tales of trapper So Dyeu stealing the drum from chimpanzees and bringing to his people are true, it remains that the drum is one of the best and most significant instruments ever in Africa – in fact it is said to expresses the mood of the people and evokes emotion.
No toms, hi-hats, snares or kickers – just a cylindrical wooden shell covered at the drumhead with animal skin and mostly played with bare hands.
Famed Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji once said “The Creator wants us to drum. He wants us to corrupt the world with drum, dance and chants. After all, we have already corrupted the world with power and greed. Which hasn’t gotten us anywhere – now’s the time to corrupt the world with drum, dance and chants.”
Closer to home, Douglas Vambe has captivated generations with his skills on the drum, his play has for generations been the signature tune for national broadcaster ZBC’s news and also declared as a world heritage material, it also the soul of the Mbende –Jerusalem dance.
The conga, water drum, talking drum, bougarabou, the fontofrom, the ewe, the mukoku , the kpanglogo, and the different types of ngoma drums (or engoma) in Central and Southern Africa are all famed drums but one seems to stand out – The Djembe drum.
The Djembe Drum
The instrument is an African icon infused with a lot of folklore but it is believed that the drum was invented around the 12th Century by the Manila Empire (the Mandinke or Malinke people) of West Africa.
Some believe that it was the blacksmiths that crafted the first djembe while some scholars have proposed that it was a woman who broke through the bottom of an old mortar (duri) whilst pounding millet and the drum was born.
No matter the cases, ingenuity or accident the Djembe has travelled from the humble beginnings to the biggest musical stages across the globe.
According to drummer Abdoulaye Diakite, the Djembe was originally named jebe barra, meaning the peace drum and the name Djembe is said to translate to everyone gather in peace.
The drum has been played for generations forming an integral part of cultural and ritualistic life in Mali, Guinea, and Senegal.
Belonging to the percussion family of membranophones, the hand –carved, goblet shaped and goat or cow skin covered Djembe drum has seen steady rise to be one of the most sought after instruments in the world.
The djembe has been an integral part of the African culture and tribes in and around Mali, Senegal and Guniea have been using the drum at most of the traditional and spiritual ceremonies.
The drum has a unique and distinctive shape, it is goblet shaped and hollowed out of a single piece of tree trunk.
Legend has it that the Mandinka people used wood from Lenge trees, which held great spiritual importance for them while also lending the drum its resounding acoustic.
The head of the drum is normally covered with shaved goat skin providing the high pitch on the drum, the skin will be lapped around with a steel hoop and coil rope that can be adjusted by the vertical ropes lining the outside body of the drum.
Traditionally the djembe was only played by respected high –class musicians known as griots or djembefolas.
The drum was normally played with the accompanying singing and dancing that had different symbolic meanings at important events such as rain making festivals among many others.
It was only until 1950’s that the influence of the Djembe was heard further than West Africa after an active role played by artistes, drummers, ballets and most importantly the political leaders on the bloc.
It was Fodéba Keïta, who founded Les Ballets Africains in 1952 before then Guniea President; Sékou Touré declared the ballet Guinea’s first national ballet.
Worried about the influence of western cultures on the continent, governments saw it fit to sponsor national ballets and ensembles providing incentives for artistes collaborating the village celebrations with the modern stage.
Sékou Touré also built special places for rehearsal and performance places in his presidential palace and soon Ballet d’Armee in 1961 and Ballet Djoliba were to be created and they toured extensively across Europe and Africa exposing the Djembe to the world.
It was after his death in 1984 that the ballets suffered and drummers like Mamady Keïta , Famoudou Konaté , Abdoulaye Diakite, and Babara Bangoura, emigrated and made regular teaching and performance appearances in the west.
Ladji Camara a member of Ballets Africains had also started teaching the djembe 1960s and continued to teach into the 1990s, performing extensively with Babatunde Olatunji further exposing the Djembe .
This was to be the beginning of journey that has seen the djembe being played in many bands across the world.
The drum has become a percussion drum of choice for many artistes because of its rare qualities and has overtaken the Congolese conga as one of the most sought after drums. Djembe –centric recording has by far surpassed any recording by any African drum.
Djembe tutorials have also taken the world with classes and tutorials on how to play the drum. The internet is filled with a lot of online courses on the Djembe spreading the influence of the djembe across the world.
One of the high profile tutorials on the Djembe is ran by an organisation called Soul Rhythm Africa Drumming, a Nevada based organisation that organises tutorials, workshops and lessons on the Djembe.
Djembe Calss at Soul Africa Drumming
The drum is also used widely in team building activities across the United States and has also influenced the tribal house industry with many artistes preferring the djembe to the congas because of the high pitch tones it produces.
True Tribal House though in its purest form does not have any live musicians but rather relies on the power of digital instrumentation.
Local tribal house bands Djembe Monks and The Movement have taken great use of the djembe.
Jah Prayzah and Third Generation band have also fused the djembe with the marimba on their percussion in producing a fine and rare fused sound.
The South African Navy band use the Djembe just many other South African bands and producers that have made the drum an integral part of their music.
International artistes like Paul Simon, Bombay Djembe Folas have used the djembe while Shakira fused her sound with the drum on the hit song “Waka Waka”.
The Drum has truly become a music icon and an economic hub for West Africa. Websites like dembefola.com have been used to market the djembe drum a making it not only a music success but also an economic one.
Like Henry Longfellow said, “Music is the universal language of mankind”; the Djembe has risen from the dusty terrain of the Mandika people to be a true music icon cutting across all known boundaries, race or ethnicity and in the process unifying all – A TRUE GIFT TO WORLD MUSIC!
