West African Kettle drum

[Bingi_chile]

I completely freaked out when I spotted this drum last week. Has anyone ever heard of or seen this before?

-->It looks exactly like a very large djembe, but instead of having an open sound chamber/chute, the bottom is enclosed.

-->It has a thunderous voice, but with a looser boom than the average djun-djun.

-->Because it is not as deep as a djun-djun, the djundjunfola's stick can reach the skin at an angle that won't tire the arms as quickly as when playing djun.

AND BEST OF ALL: It only requires ONE skin to change! I hate having to change both skins on a djun, when only one needs changing.

Although it fallen out of popular usage in recent centuries, it is an indigenous innovation. The shopkeeper informed me that people know it as barra, bote or tabla.

I love the sound, but another reason that I'm going to dig it so much is that I'll be able to hit it at a more comfortable angle. I'm so excited to be getting it, and when I do, I'll be sure to post photos.

[James]

I've not heard of this before. There are loooaddds of different drums in africa though. Do you know what area / people it's from.

I presume you bought it then? It'd be cool to see a picture of it for sure

[bubudi]

The shopkeeper informed me that people know it as barra, bote or tabla.

those are names for 3 different drums, although they have a similar bowl shape. if you post a picture of it, then we could identify it for you. btw, tabla is an indian drum. the shopkeeper is probably refering to the tabale.

[Bingi_chile]

I certainly know about the Indian tabla, but I just figured that it might have become one of those "borrowed" words.

Like I said, it resembles a massive djembe, but without the "sound chamber/chute": imagine that someone took a saw and sliced off (yikes!) the sound chamber/chute, but plugged the bottom with another piece of wood. I'm not saying that it IS plugged, but at first glance, it might seem that way. I can't find any photos of it online, but when I DO bring it home, I'll post some photos.

He said that this stick drum originates in Mali. (The Bamana people? The Bozo people, perhaps?)

BTW--I DID find something MUCH SMALLER called a djembe bongo (????!!!) The drum I want looks just like the djembe bongo, except that mine would be about four times its size.

[Bingi_chile]

And although I actually got to bring it home a bit earlier than I had originally estimated, this homecoming was long overdue; I was definitely loving this before I even gave it a second look.

[James]

ooo creepy, it's like a djembe that had it's head cut off....

[Bingi_chile]

Well it's strictly about thunder and rhino tantrums, and I'm sure that'd sever some heads...I'm SO happy I won't be changing 2 skins at a time everytime. I hated doing that.

[bubudi]

that certainly looks like a bara drum. consider learning to play the instrument in its original context, where it has a different role (usually somewhere between bass and lead) and accompanies different rhythms. in my opinion that would be more beautiful than playing it as a dunun with the djembe, although there is no reason you couldn't do that. be aware though that the bara's sound is different to the kenkeni, sangban and dununba.

the susu people of guinea play a similar drum called bote in sets of two with the dominant hand playing the botes with a stick and the other hand playing a long, lightweight bell suspended by one finger and played with rings around the other fingers. this was the original bass drum configuration for the susu. you could get yourself a similar bell and rings and try it out.

[Bingi_chile]

What is the name of that bell? I'd like to try to find a photo of it online.

[Bingi_chile]

I got this drum's younger brother a couple of weeks ago and I love the combination.



Since my last post I have learned the following:

==It definitely isn't a bara because that type of drum is actually made from a calabash shell.

==It is most likely a bote or a tabala--my guess is that the difference between those two is regional language.

==But then again, a new third possibility is that it is called a tion. According to my source, the main difference between a tion and a bote is that of weight--the tion is much heavier. So maybe the case is that the tion is the larger of the family, sort of like dundun and sangban.

==Despite not being able to find much of a consensus on the West African kettle drums, neither from brothers on the Continent, nor from knowledgeable percussionists, it IS clear that they are for ceremonies (i.e., weddings, funerals, etc.). I think this specificity is the reason that few people actually play it. One person actually told me that the botefola places water in the bottom of the drum in order to soften the skin.


==That dangling bell that the botefola uses with a set of finger rings is called n'baba. (Or at least it is in one region--I googled that one.) I think RhythmTraders sells a video of someone is playing it.

[bubudi]

you're right that the susu bell that goes with the bote is called nbaba. the 'n' is silent but affects the pronunciation of the 'ba' syllable after it.

the bara is usually made out of a calabash gourd, as you pointed out, but they are sometimes made out of wood. so i wouldn't rule it out. however, the iron ring system is not traditional for a bara. bote seems likely here. in case you were wondering, your drums are made of lenke wood.

you need to be asking the right people about kettle drums. they exist in the bamana culture in mali (as well as several others), the bobo and bwa cultures in burkina faso, the senoufo and baoule cultures in cote d'ivoire and the susu and baga cultures of guinea. they have virtually disappeared from malinke cultures. so djembe players would tend not to know much about them, perhaps with the exception of those from burkina faso.

the word chun (tion) means 'bass drum'. usually it refers to a baridunun which is totally different than a bara. if you take a dununba shell and cut it to about 1/3 of its length and then skin it up you will have a chun.

[bops]

Looks to me like a Wolof Tabala with modern roping technique. It's obviously not a traditional drum. For some good Tabala music, check out Tabala Wolof: Sufi Drumming of Senegal. This music has some serious funk.

Doudou N'Diaye Rose's Djabote has some Tabala tracks on it, but it's not traditional Tabala music - more like sabar music played on tabala drums.

Even the smaller one is too large to be a Bote, and not the right shape. Bote don't have a 'boomy' sound - they have a very dry sound. Also, the skin on a Bote is treated with black oil, giving it a distinctive sound and appearance.

BTW, I ordered that video from Rhythm Traders that you mentioned ("Made in Guinea" with Ali Sylla). I don't highly recommend it. Although the playing is good, it's not a professionally-produced video, and the audio is constantly out of sync with the video, which makes it really annoying to watch.

[bubudi]

wolof tabala are a whole different kettle of fish. their shape is a lot more elongated as you can see from the picture below. aside from their unique skin tension system, they are long enough to be around elbow level when played seated.


i agree that bingi's drums are not so much the bote size...

there are old tabala drums that were used during war and to transmit very important (often ominous) news. they are disappearing but they looked basically like this only wider in shape and without metal rings. here's an example:


in contrast the bara drums in this pic look more like what bingi has:


another possibility is that it's just a djembe with the stem cut off and the bottom hole plugged

i haven't seen the aly sylla dvd yet but a friend of mine has it and says that despite the loss of synchronisation in bits it's pretty good from the perspective of the playing. aly sylla is a legend and was a rock in percussions de guinee. he is playing some specialist rhythms there and the advanced player can pick up the parts. he also said there are some very nice solos in there. the filming by all means is not professional which adds to the african experience so you need to be able to put those things aside to enjoy it on its merits.

[bubudi]

there is also the asante (ghana) 'kyinsim' drum which is commonly made with the ring system. it was also the heralder's drum.

although it is usually made from tweneboa wood, which bingi's drum is not. the kyinsim drums i've seen are all straight carved like this one, not rounded like the bara.

[bops]

Well I guess we can all agree that these are not traditional drums, rather a modern adaptation of a traditional drum, right? It could be argued that the technique and materials used to head the drum are as essential to its identity as the shape and wood of the shell itself.

I'm sure there are many cousins to the Tabala throughout Africa, so it could be a number of things, decked out with djembe-style rings. Those Wolof rhythms are real brain-benders, though, so I do suggest checking out that CD if you get a chance. My first djembe teacher, Pape Elhadji Jean Sene, was on that recording. He is the guy pictured here on the left: