Talking drum

File:Tama front.jpg

Yamar Thiam of the Finnish group Galaxy performing at the Imatra Big band Festival at Imatra, July 2005

A Tama (the "talking drum") is a drum whose pitch can be regulated to the extent that it is said the drum "talks". The player puts the tama under one shoulder and beats the tama with a stick. Tama player raises the pitch by tightening the strings and can produce highly informative sounds to convey complicated messages. Tama is used in playing Mbalax music.

Tama and dundun are possibly the oldest instruments used by west-african griots and their history can be traced back to ancient Ghana Empire.

External links

Media:http://www.kanyinsola.com/Efe1.wmv Video, ca. 8 minutes

References

• Cosaan Senegalese Culture: Griot's musical instruments
• Africa Guide: Senegalese Culture: Music
• Talking Drum from Instrument Encyclopedia, including a sound sample
• Charry, Eric 2000 Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago.
• Chernoff, John Miller 1979 African Rhythm and African Sensibility. Chicago. The University of Chicago Press.
• Diallo, Yaya and Hall, Mitchell 1989 The Healing Drum: African Wisdom Teachings. Rochester, Vermont. Destiny Books.
• Drame, Adama & Senn-Horloz, Arlette 1992 Jeliya: Etre griot et musicien aujourd’hui. Paris. Harmattan.
• Hale, Thomas A 1998 Griots and Griottes: Masters of words and Music. Bloomington and Indianapolis. Indiana university Press.
• Jansen, Jan 2000 The Griots Craft: An Essay on Oral Tradition and Diplomacy. Hamburg. Lit Verlag.