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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 West African 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.

The Tama is used in playing Mbalax music of Senegal and in Fuji music of Nigeria (where it known as a Dundun, not to be confused with the Dundun bass drum used in Djembe ensemble of the Mandé peoples.)

Tama drums are possibly one the oldest instruments used by West African griots and their history can be traced back to ancient Ghana Empire.

The Tama is also known by a variety of names witihin West Africa: Gangan, Dundun (Yoruba), Kalangu (Hausa, Songhay), Odondo (Akan), Lunna (Dagomba).

Tama is also a name of a drum company.

External links

Video of Nigerian talking drum, known as a Dundun, about 8 minutes

This article relating to musical instruments is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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 The Tama is used in playing [[Mbalax]] music of Senegal and in [[Fuji music|Fuji]] music of Nigeria (where it known as a ''Dundun'', not to be confused with the [[Dundun]] bass drum used in [[Djembe]] ensemble of the [[Mandé]] peoples.)
 Tama drums are possibly one the oldest instruments used by West African [[Griot|griots]] and their history can be traced back to ancient [[Ghana Empire]].
+The Tama is also known by a variety of names witihin [[West Africa]]: '''Gangan''', '''Dundun''' ([[Yoruba]]), '''Kalangu''' ([[Hausa]], [[Songhay]]), '''Odondo''' ([[Akan]]), '''Lunna''' ([[Dagomba]]).
 Tama is also a name of a drum company.