Perception of Nigerian Dùndún Talking Drum Performances as Speech-Like vs. Music-Like: The Role of Familiarity and Acoustic Cues (original) (raw)
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The present paper proposes an articulatory and acoustic study of the representation of Yorùbá tones in gángan (a talking drum). The video and spectrographic analyses of the data collected from five native drummers in Nigeria show the number of syllables in a word directly corresponds to the number of strikes on the drum membrane. As the talking drum resonates from the strikes, the drummers tightened and loosened the drum membrane to articulate the three tones in Yorùbá. Furthermore, tonal processes such as tone contour formation on the second tone in HL or LH sequences are musically rendered. Based on this evidence, this paper concludes that drummers are able to represent syllables, lexical tones and tonal processes of Yorùbá speech with a talking drum.
Frontiers in Communication, 2022
This paper explores the interdependence between organology and phonology in the Yoruba dùndún and bàtá drums. We analyze how the specific features of these drums, such as corpus shape, size, kind and number of membranes, and playing techniques affect their systems of speech surrogacy. The study relies on field recordings collected by the authors in Lagos, Nigeria, in February 2020, featuring drummed performances of Yoruba sentences previously unknown to the informants. The recorded sentences were transcribed and analyzed comparatively, which allows us to characterize systematic regularities in the speech-to-drum mapping. Observing how the intrinsic characteristics of language sounds (pitch, duration, intensity and spectrum) are addressed by means of the organologic and acoustic properties of the dùndún and the bàtá, we conclude that these drums' different properties foster distinct speech surrogacy systems. Alongside a consideration of native perspectives on speech surrogacy, we propose an understanding of drum languages as platforms capable of supporting the development of native theories on sound and language.
Music and Tonal Communication: Decoding and Conserving the Agidigbo Instrument in Apala Music
2017
The Agidigbo is a major melo-rhythmic instrument of the Apala music, used by Yoruba musicians to achieve speech surrogate due to the tonal inflection of the Yoruba language. While it is somewhat easier in Yoruba vocal music to employ the three phonemic tones - low, mid and high for word intelligibility, the musicians must however adapt these tones in playing the melo-rhythmic instruments for adequate communication. This is because among Africans, there is often a tonal communication relished between the musicians and the listeners. While literature abounds on tonal communication in Yoruba music, with overt concentration on the ‘talking drums’, there is paucity of academic research on the tonal communication of the Agidigbo. This study thus examines the communicative attributes of the Agidigbo, with musical and contextual analysis of its decoded communications. Oral interviews and bibliographical evidences were used to elicit information. Content analysis was used to process the musi...
Drummunication:The Trado-Indigenous Art of Communicating with Talking Drums in Yorubaland
Global Journal of Human Social Science, 2012
The talking drums of the Yoruba people of the South West of Nigeria are like many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are melody producing/enhancing musical instruments accompanying song and dance performances made of hollow round frame with tightly fixed plastic or skin membrane on the surface(s) beaten with the hand(s), stick(s) or other materials. However, the Yoruba talking drums of the South West people of Nigeria are unlike the many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are not just mere melody producing/enhancing musical instruments. This is basically because they can be used to disseminate vital messages and to respond to disseminated information. This paper introduces the term drummunication to explain the use of Yoruba talking drums to send and receive messages or information. The paper attempts a taxonomy of the Yoruba drums to establish the real talking drums. It explicates the functions of effective drummunication and barriers to effective drummunication. Most importantly, it suggests steps that can be taken to enhance the effectiveness of drummunication.
The talking drums of the Yoruba people of the South West of Nigeria are like many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are melody producing/enhancing musical instruments accompanying song and dance performances made of hollow round frame with tightly fixed plastic or skin membrane on the surface(s) beaten with the hand(s), stick(s) or other materials. However, the Yoruba talking drums of the South West people of Nigeria are unlike the many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are not just mere melody producing/enhancing musical instruments. This is basically because they can be used to disseminate vital messages and to respond to disseminated information. This paper introduces the term drummunication to explain the use of Yoruba talking drums to send and receive messages or information. The paper attempts a taxonomy of the Yoruba drums to establish the real talking drums. It explicates the functions of effective drummunication and barriers to effective drummunication. Most importantly, it suggests steps that can be taken to enhance the effectiveness of drummunication. Abstract-The talking drums of the Yoruba people of the South West of Nigeria are like many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are melody producing/enhancing musical instruments accompanying song and dance performances made of hollow round frame with tightly fixed plastic or skin membrane on the surface(s) beaten with the hand(s), stick(s) or other materials. However, the Yoruba talking drums of the South West people of Nigeria are unlike the many other types of drums found in other parts of the world in that they are not just mere melody producing/enhancing musical instruments. This is basically because they can be used to disseminate vital messages and to respond to disseminated information. This paper introduces
THE YORUBA DUNDUN DRUM ENSEMBLE: A PANORAMIC INCURSION INTO ITS MYSTERIES
Composing, Performing, Musicologising And Teaching: The World of An Astute African Musicologist (A Festschrift In Honour of Professor Claudius Oluyemi Olaniyan, 2020
The talking drum otherwise known as the hourglass drum is a prominent traditional musical instrument in Africa. The Yoruba Dundun a leading talking drum, is a membranophonic musical instrument that mimics the tone and prosody of speech. It is ubiquitous in the contemporary world of African music. The distinctiveness of the Dundun talking drum lies in its rhythmic and communicative potency. Extant literature has shown that from ancient times to date, the Yoruba Dundun drum which exists in typologies has been a viable means of worship, entertainment, and communication. Its association with the Ayan Agalu (deity of drum) dynasty makes it a subject of inheritance. To this end, the paper aims at identifying the systematic classification of the Dundun ensemble to examine the mysterious elements. The article theoretically relies on Idamoyibo (2016) that argues that "traditionally, no Ayan drummer plays his drum without due ritual consultation with the deity". Apart from personal background experience from Agbo ile Ayan (Ayan family compound) where the author grew up, the paper relies on existing literature, bibliographies, and other interviews with other Ayan family professionals talking drummers in terms of research for relevant data. The article finds out that there has been a transformation in Dundun practices today as a result of Western religion and formal education. The paper concludes that the talking drum irrespective of its associated mysteries is still useful and relevant in modern-day religions and society at large.
UNILAG Journal of Humanities., 2017
The Agidigbo is a major melo-rhythmic instrument of the Apala music, used by Yoruba musicians to achieve speech surrogate due to the tonal inflection of the Yoruba language. While it is somewhat easier in Yoruba vocal music to employ the three phonemic tones-low, mid and high for word intelligibility, the musicians must however adapt these tones in playing the melo-rhythmic instruments for adequate communication. This is because among Africans, there is often a tonal communication relished between the musicians and the listeners. While literature abounds on tonal communication in Yoruba music, with overt concentration on the 'talking drums', there is paucity of academic research on the tonal communication of the Agidigbo. This study thus examines the communicative attributes of the Agidigbo, with musical and contextual analysis of its decoded communications. Oral interviews and bibliographical evidences were used to elicit information. Content analysis was used to process the musical and tonal data generated in the Agidigbo music. This study establishes that although Yoruba musicians are entertainers, they are also regarded as custodians of moral law and habitually encode messages in their music, with its decoding entrusted to their enlightened faithfuls. This is evident in the Agidigbo, an instrument particularly used by the Yoruba people for musical, socio-cultural and linguistic communication. Significantly, this study aids the understanding and decoding of this indigenous instrumental heritage. This paper thus argues for more musicological research on this communicative instrument towards its globalization and conservation.
PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE USE OF SOUND AND ACOUSTICS IN IGBO CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Language had been a veritable tool for communication among homo sapiens and had been described as human specific. However, there are several extra linguistic forms of communication that have been made possible also by sound and acoustic effects as in language production. Based on the foregoing, the paper investigates non verbal forms of communication among the Igbo people of the south eastern Nigeria. The production of sounds and acoustic effects from various traditional instruments are studied. Also, also various parts of the body other than the normal vocal sounds are investigated. Furthermore, the paper studied the use of these sounds in communication, especially in cultural communication among the Igbo people. We adopt the descriptive survey method and use the theoretical framework of oramedia an aspect ethno-cultural communication in exploring the dynamics of extra-linguistic sounds in Igbo cultural communication. The paper discovers that sound patterns and acoustic effects (extra linguistic) other than the sounds from the vocal tract system of man play a significant role in human communication, especially in cultural communication.
IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities (IAAJAH), 2020
Traditional music is central to the lives of the Yorùbá people. This genre of music is constantly being challenged by emerging trends in musical arts in the Yorùbá states of the South Western Nigeria. It has continued to writhe under the stress of urbanization and globalization. The challenge of upholding this waning musical tradition falls on the surviving socio-political institutions. This paper therefore, examines the Gb du traditional music of the of p people of Lagos State. The article examines the sound, the structural patterns and other extraneous content of this particular traditional drums as performed in p land. Exploring ethnomusicological approach, the study relies on archival and ethnographic sources for its methodology. The article employs as research instruments, focus group discussion, key informant interview, non-participants' observation methods to elicit data. This article aims at bringing into focus critical perspectives of traditional music of the Yorùbá people. Primary data for the article were collected from the palace of Olú of p , a prominent and ancient Yorùbá town in Lagos state, South West Nigeria. This article concludes that efforts need to be made by concerned authorities to promote Yoruba traditional music and preserve it from going into extinction.
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