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One Two Tidings

African Percussion

Article from One Two Testing, November 1985

secret drums and ancient arts,


A little piece of Africa comes to SW9. A large piece of Andy Duncan goes to look and takes a small slice of Paul Spencer with him for pictures.

The Fontonfrom Orchestra and a held Kabassa;


WHEN YOU think about it, the modern music-maker is an unenviable creature. No sooner does he/she lash out on the latest piece of hardware than it is immediately made redundant by a) saturation use by everyone else, with consequent loss of fashionability and secondhand value, and b) the swift appearance of a rival device with all the features of its predecessor at half the price, plus two-way MIDI and a drinks cabinet.

How refreshing then to walk into a shop where you can find hand-made instruments, no two examples of which are ever exactly the same, whose use can be traced back over centuries rather than mere years and which should make any percussionist in a right frame of mind dribble at the very sight.

Such a place can now be found in Stockwell Road, London SW9, no more than five minutes walk from Stockwell tube station. It's called Kudum and is run by two African gentlemen. Ryan's specialities are in paintings, fabrics and other cultural artefacts; Nana is a drummer who you can see demonstrating some of his stock in our photos. Most of this comes from the west African country of Ghana with occasional nods in the direction of neighbouring Nigeria. As Nana bashed seven bells out of these items, I asked him about their origins and uses.

"The eight drums of the Fontomfrom orchestra are made from a kind of cedar wood called tweneboa or tweneduro," he says. "In the old days a sacrifice of an egg was made to the tree, usually a dead or dying one, before it was cut down, and prayers for protection from harm were said because our forefathers believed that a powerful spirit dwelt in it. This is why we still find drummers pouring libation before playing certain drums in Ghana."

After felling, the tree is cut into suitable logs which are then carried to the carver's workshop. There they are left to season for a few months. The logs are then peeled, shaped and hollowed out with special tools. Most of the drum skins are made from the skin of a duiker, or from cow hide. These are laced with strings and held down with pegs. Making a set takes about three months.

These particular drums come from the Ashanti region. The biggest, the From drums, are found mainly in the palace of the Ashanti chief. They are nearly six feet high and are played at ceremonial occasions like the Durba when the chiefs of the different Ashanti towns gather. They are communication drums, and their rhythms are also messages.

L to r, Kpanglogo congas. Kalimba, Frame Drum, Costal Conga;


"When the king and queen move amongst the people after the meeting it's the same as your Queen," explains Nana, "except that they are carried on palanquins and they are followed by two men who carry the From drums longways on their heads, played by a drummer who walks behind making announcements in rhythm. 'You are in the presence of the chief,' he says, or, 'Oh what a great chief.'"

The second largest pair, the Atumpan, are also communication drums. They send messages from one village to another but they are mainly used for dancing. After the chief has spoken at the Durba they are used to praise him; after that they play tunes like the Adowa for the whole gathering.

The Ashanti drums are accompanied by an Atoki cowbell and, when it comes to dancing, this keeps the beat. Both the Ashanti and Ewe tribes (the biggest in Ghana) use the shaker and cowbell as well as flutes and whistles. "Music isn't made solely by drums — this can become boring. You need flutes and whistles to go with them," insists Nana.

The Adowa is also played on other drums of the Frontomfrom orchestra: the Apentemma (which, like the From and Atumpan, is a pair of drums), and the single Brenkl. The last drum, the Adukurogya, along with the talking drum, is used for other types of dances when the people celebrate births, marriages or deaths.

The Donno, or talking drum, originated in northern Nigeria and the Sahara countries but is used by all the Ghanaian tribes including the Ashanti and the Mampussi — everyone except the Ewe. The two skins are connected by gut strings and the hour glass shape of the drum means that when you squeeze it by putting the drum under your arm and pressing it against your body the pitch changes upwards when you play it with its curved stick. Playing with fast squeezing makes the drum talk.

"The two big Atumpan drums would have been used at the chief's palace in traditional times," Nana says. "There would be one pair outside the palace where visitors would announce themselves to the drummer and state their business. Inside the palace another drummer with a second pair of Atumpan drums would receive the message from the first drummer. He would then inform the chief and get his reply before sending it back outside and allowing the visitors entry."

Large Atum pan.


The Ewe tribe inhabit the coastal region where there is a scarcity of solid wood — unlike the interior, where there is an abundance — so they make their drums like barrels, using strips of wood that have been carried from the bush, and binding them together with metal hoops. There are five drums in the set. The largest, Astimewa, commands the rest. The second in command is the next size down, the Sogbo, followed by the Kidi, the long, thin Kagan, and the Khobotsai. They are made from wawa wood which is similar to mahogany, and again they are mainly used for dancing (although they do have a ceremonial role).

The pair of Kpanglogo conga drums is made in the same way and from the same materials, and is used for dances like the Agbagya where male and female dance together as a pair, flapping their arms, which you might have seen in documentary films. These drums originate in eastern Ghana, where they have made drums for centuries. The other drum in the Kpanglogo set is the square Frame drum. It acts as the bass drum and commands the congas, telling them what to play.

"The round Brekete drums are found in both the Ewe and Ashanti regions," Nana continues. "They are wedding drums which are played with talking drums and flutes, worn over the shoulder with the strip of gut across the bottom skin. They're really the original side drums from which the modern marching drums are derived. The design of the string pattern which connects and tunes the two skins tells which tribe they belong to. The zigzag design is from northern Ghana, the straight one from the Ewe. The cloth that they wrap the drum in also identifies the family that made it."

The Kabassa, which is called Axaste in Ghana and Shekere in Nigeria, is played with all the other drum groups and the xylophone. It's made from different sized gourds and seeds from another type of gourd which is eaten and excreted by birds. The natives collect them and weave them into a net made from fishing net twine which is tied around the outside of the gourd, and the largest ones are hung around the neck for playing, the seed net tapped against the gourd shell with both hands.

"The Gonje is the original violin," says Nana. "It comes from the Dagarti region in northern Ghana but it's played all over Africa, in Nigeria, Gambia, even Egypt. It has a bowl-shaped body made from calabash which is covered in reptile skin. To that is attached a pole, topped by an old doorknob, which is strung with one piece of matted horsehair. Its bow also uses horsehair and friction is helped with modern violin resin. It's accompanied by a gourd shaker, with seeds inside, called the Bimne." This sounded to your correspondent rather like the old phonofiddle, a strange combination of violin neck and phonograph horn.

"There are more musical instruments which we hope to add to our selection," Nana continues, "like the Mbira from Zimbabwe, a thumb piano made out of calabash with metal strips for keys, and the Cora harp from Gambia, also made from calabash, the most common wood to be found in Africa. We use it to drink out of and to eat from as well as for making musical instruments.

"The Senku or Marimba also originated with the Dagarti tribe and its frame is made from calabash. It has 14 notes which are laid out in a piano scale and these are made from a wood we call firebush because of its red colour. It takes about three months to make and comes in three sizes. Underneath the notes is a set of gourds which act as resonators, amplifying their sound. Normally the makers bless a new instrument by slaughtering a chicken or guinea fowl and using its blood to cast out the evil spirits which they believe to dwell in the wood.

"The xylophone is accompanied by the Mbitintoa drum which is made from a gourd, cut across the top, over which a piece of goatskin is stretched. Inside, a handful of tops from coke cans rattle about as the drum is played with the hands. This drum has a mellow sound which matches well with the quieter sound of the senku.

"The Frikywa thumb-bells have their own music for six to eight people. They originated when the slaves were freed in the 19th Century when many settled in Morovia and Freetown (Sierra Leone), but it's mostly used by the Akans tribe. However, you will find it played right across Ghana. It has a hollow heart-shaped top which slips over the index finger. A small metallic ring is placed on the thumb of the same hand and sound is made by bringing the two together. It's another beat-keeping device."

Even this thumbnail sketch is somewhat more interesting than the spec for the average DX21. The sound of the instruments is downright inspiring and not exclusively for those with a Fela Kuti/Sunny Ade or Celluloid-styled Electro-African fetish.

With its carvings, jewellery, fabrics, clothes and paintings the shop is alive with colour and curiosities for anyone with a taste for something different. For those with only the remotest interest in rhythm it's a postive oasis, and there's even tuition available for the undeveloped talent.

This stuff may not be cheap, but it's come a long way and it's unique.

PRICES: Senku — large £400, medium £300. Atumpan — large pair £500. Kpanglogo — £150 each. Akasae — large £50, small £35. Apentemma — £150 each. Atumpan — medium £400 a pair. Brekete — £70. Dondo — £55. Frikywa — £5. Dawor (cow bell) — single £15, double £20. Frame drum — £40. Complete Fontonfrom set — £1,600.



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Shredder

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Korg SQD Sequencer


Publisher: One Two Testing - IPC Magazines Ltd, Northern & Shell Ltd.

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One Two Testing - Nov 1985

One Two Tidings

Feature by Andy Duncan

Previous article in this issue:

> Shredder

Next article in this issue:

> Korg SQD Sequencer


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