Djembe
The djembe is a goblet-shaped drum that originated from West Africa and has become one of the continent’s most well-known instruments. The djembe originated from the Malinke people in West Africa, and its name derives from one of the Manding languages, Bambara language, which signifies “everyone gather together”. The drum is carved of hardwood and topped with animal skin, it is usually goatskin.
History
Historically, the djembe has been connected with the Malinke people, an ethnic group related to the Mali Empire, which goes back to 1230 AD. However, the date of origin of the djembe is uncertain due to the lack of written files in West Africa, therefore, there is the possibility that the djembe was invented before the Mali Empire. The Mandinka culture was very ample, especially in the musical sphere as they created several instruments, such as the djembe, to follow up their traditions and spiritual rituals. Consequently, the djembe was played as part of the Malinke people’s rituals, ceremonies, initiations, marriages and more, and depending on the type of the occasion the rhythms of the drum would vary. In addition, numerous of the Mandingue rhythms originated from the singing, hand clapping and dancing of women during these events which the men posteriorly transferred to the drum.
The dispersion of the djembe occurred during slavery, where Africans were sent to the New World. As a consequence, Africans were banned to continue to carry out their traditions, nevertheless, Africans kept their traditions by practising them in secret. Thus, Africans practised playing the drums discreetly. Nowadays, African culture has remained in the area of music and has spread to different cultures in America and all over the world.
Basic Technique Sounds
The djembe is able to produce a variety of sounds but there a three basic sounds: bass, tone, and slap. These have low, medium and high pitch sounds and are achieved depending on the position of the striking by the hand of the player on the drum.
- The bass sound is played by striking the djembe with the palm and flat fingers on the centre of the drum. The bass has a low sound and it has a frequency of 65–80 Hz.
- The tone is produced by striking the drum closer to the edge. Fingers are together and no palm is involved. The tone has a medium high-pitched sound and its frequency is between 300Hz to 420 Hz, depending on the size of the drum.
- Finally, the slap is a high-pitched sound that is played in a similar manner as the tone. However, it is important to know the difference between a tone or slap, or else if stroked unproperly, it can cause the opposite sound than intended. Therefore, the difference between the tone and slap is the position of the fingers and hand. For the slap, the fingers of the hand hit the centre of the drumhead, and part of the palm is involved. In contrast to the tone where there is no palm involved, the fingers during the slap sound are spread as the hand is more relaxed. The slap frequency varies from 700 Hz to 1000 Hz.
Experienced players mix these three basic sounds while playing the djembe to create a combination of rhythmic patterns, eventually, this causes inexperienced listeners to think that several drums are being played when there is only one.
Design
The body of the djembe is made from wood, Malinke people usually would carve Lengel trees to build the drum as they were spiritually important and also, they would provide the drum pleasant acoustic sounds. According to the Malinke people, the djembe contained three spirits based on the elements it was made of: the spirit of the tree from it was made, the spirit of the animal whose skin is played and the spirit of the person who built the drum.
Sound Structure
The upper part of the body of the djembe creates a low resonance for the bass sounds while the narrow elongated lower part of the drum helps reflect the volume of all tones. The top of the drum is usually made from goatskin, which allows the djembe to produce a high-pitched tone and slap sound.
The tuning of the djembe is of great importance as it depends on the tightness of the goatskin. The goatskin needs to be tight on all sides of the drum therefore rings and ropes are used to tighten and stretch the goatskin and if one side of the skin is tighter than the other sides, then unwanted sounds will arise. Usually the pitch of the slap and tone increases the tension on the goatskin than the bass. Moreover, the volume of the drum may rise if there is an increase of tension on the goatskin, experienced players may reach sound pressure of 105 dB and above.
The shape of the djembe includes the body makes a Helmholtz resonator.
The djembe is characterized for being a Helmholtz resonator, this means that the container of air has an open hole. The volume of air in the open hole vibrates because of the springiness of the air inside. A common example of the Helmholtz resonator is an empty bottle, the air inside vibrates when you blow across the top (include diagrams
References
Price, T. Y. (2013). Rhythms of Culture: Djembe and African Memory in African-American CulturalTraditions. Black Music Research Journal, 33, 227-247. Retrieved January 31, 2019