drum art culture history

[KEANIEirishdjembe]

what are the diferences and connections between, Malian, Guinean and other west african music styles
can any one suggest a good resource to learn about these things
How old are the rythyms?
how much has djembe, dunduns changed in the last 50 years.

Has the success of Fomadou, Mamady etc made any change on the west african traditional music sceen
are they a product or a catalyst of change

how big of a factor was colonisation and slavery on the art there
it survived ok but it was obviously affected, how so?

was djembe invented with the arrival of metal rings
or was there a djembe before the blacksmiths of natural matherials
are there other drums played with two hands
most drums with natural matherials seem to be played with a stick and a hand, is this true, if so when was the transition to two handed style

cheers peace vibes
keanie

[Dugafola]

hey,

i just returned from guinea about 10 days ago and was fortunate to spend a good amount of time in the Sankaran region in and around the villages between Faranah and Kissidougou. I witnessed Tabaski, Sira and Soliba ceremonies/festivals and got to see the village djembefolas do their thing.

The djembes that were played were smaller then what we normally play...topping out around 11" to 12" max in diameter and only about 20" tall. the heading system consisted of thick goat skin, braided cow hide for rings and rope. if you go to a different region, ie Kouroussa, i think you'd see 'normal' djembes with rope and rings(or braided wire)

i haven't sorted out any pics yet but i'll try to post one today or tomorrow.

for a good read on the connection of traditional west african music, check out Mande Music by Eric Charry. it can be dense read, but a good starting point...

i'd say Famoudou and Mamady have had a major impact on the spread of traditional djembe drumming. but you must also consider the world tours of the les ballets african and djoliba national from guinea as the first real glimpse into traditional west african drum and dance. granted, the ballets took the traditional forms and modified it for the stage, it was westerners first exposure to instruments like the djembe outside of Africa. after each of Famoudou's and Mamady's respective careers in the ballet, they both focused on teaching foreigners traditional djembe music . CDs started to get produced and Famoudou's first album from Germany, Rhythm der Malinke, remains one of the most crucial djembe recordings still after 18 years. Of the big big Grand Master Djembefolas from West Africa, Famoudou and Mamady were among the first to be recorded along with Papa Ladji Camara also from guinea and Adama Drame from Burkina Faso.

[James]

Yea I have that book Mande Music too. It's great. You can get that through the shop now http://www.djembefola.com/shop.php - click 'books' then 'djembe and africa drumming'

I bought it in Gambia and it cost a fortune. I also did realise it was supposed to come with a cd...

Someone told me about a book called "dark child" too has anybody read that?

Hey Dugafola, good to have you back. I'd love to see some photos! You could upload them to the gallery here or I just joined flickr recently and have found it pretty cool (and free so far)

[Dugafola]

"l'enfant noire" by Camara Laye...aka "the dark child."

great book. read it and re-read it. it offers great insight into Malinke/Mande culture.

Camara Laye is one of the biggest writers to come out of Francophone West Africa.

[Marc_M]

Another good book is by Yaya Diallo and Mitchell Hall - The Healing Drum -

Lots of information on many levels - His personal experiences living in village culture, British school culture and in Canada. Also in drumming, initiation and secret societies.

Great read.

M.

[KEANIEirishdjembe]

ai cheers for suggestions

i found some good interviews with djembe folas in rootsy records which answered a lot of my questions
it's temporarly off the site cos of maintenance but hopefully will be back up in the future
the interviews were based on all things surrounding drummingcultue in mali
and were well interesting.