African Percussion Instruments ? What You Need to Know
April 11, 2011The defining moment of African music comes in the form of percussion instruments. It is the common theme in all special events in an African community . During the old times, African music was used to bring African people together, they often held social gathering, social meetings and ritual events. Due to the need to participate in the community, they would play percussion instruments, the most rhythmic musical instruments they had. Here are some African percussion instruments that you would likely encounter in any part of the community.
The Djembe
The djembe is a drum which uses an animal skin covered head. The djembe drum has a thicker top half and a thinner lower half making the drum resemble a goblet. The body is typically made from an echoing log to create various acoustics. The head is tightened with the use of ropes although, nowadays, some makers make use of steel hoops, nylon core ropes, and rubbers when tightening and tuning the drum. Djembe is , oftentimes, the main piece of the percussion section. It has different tones and tunes depending upon the size of the instrument. It is played by striking the drum head with fingers or hands to create different tones.
Udu
In the African language, “udu” is a type of drinking vessel and it is usually made of clay. This former drinking vessel features an extra hole in its body to produce sounds. The sound it creates can be likened to that produced by a glass bottle. In order to produce a sound, you cover the top hole with one hand while the other hand manipulates the other hole. A wide range of varying tones would then be produced.
Slit Drums
Another widely used percussion instrument in Africa is the Slit drum. This kind of drum is typically made from hollowed wood or carved wood so it can produce a sound. These drums can be made of logs or bamboo. Drums and mallets are, oftentimes, used to strike the drum in order to produce a sound. Just like udu, the slit drum also produces a rainbow of tones.
Double Bells
When two metallic bells are combined in a horseshoe fashion, you get what is known as Double Bells. Double Bells are played with mallets in order to produce two kinds of sounds. In the African percussion instruments, double bells are the ones that mark measures and keep the pace for the other percussion players.
Aside from these four, other percussion instruments commonly used by the Africans hand-shakers, wooden xylophones, and lamellophones (finger pianos).
Djembe drums for sale at the Djembe Drum Shop, visit www.djembedrumshop.com for further information.
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