More significant are the stereotyped phrases used in drum communications.
There is, of course, the obvious point that there are conventional occasions and types of communication for transmission on the drum, so that the listener already has some idea of the range of meanings that are likely at any given time. However, there are various devices in ‘drum language’ to overcome this. After all, many words in a given language possess the same combination of tones. The intelligibility of the message to the hearer is also sometimes increased by the rhythmic pattern, again directly representing that of the spoken utterance.ĥ It might seem at first sight as if tonal patterns, even when supplemented by rhythm, might provide but a slight clue to the actual words of the message. It is the tone patterns of the words that are directly transmitted, and the drums and other instruments involved are constructed so as to provide at least two tones for use in this way. Such communication, unlike that through conventional signals, is intended as a linguistic one it can only be fully appreciated by translating it into words, and any musical effects are purely incidental.Ĥ This expression of words through instruments rests on the fact that the African languages involved are highly tonal that is, the meanings of words are distinguished not only by phonetic elements but by their tones, in some cases by tone alone. The instruments themselves are regarded as speaking and their messages consist of words. In the second type, the one used for African drum literature and the form to be considered here, the instruments communicate through direct representation of the spoken language itself, simulating the tone and rhythm of actual speech.
The first is through a conventional code where pre-arranged signals represent a given message in this type there is no directly linguistic basis for the communication. Bascom 1964, 1965 a Berry 1961 Herskovits 1960), expression through drums often forms a not inconsiderable branch of the literature of a number of African societies.ģ Communication through drums can be divided into two types. Although its literary significance has been overlooked in general discussions of African oral literature, (e.g.
That this is indeed a form of literature rather than music is clear when the principles of drum language are understood. IĢ A remarkable phenomenon in parts of West and Central Africa is the literature played on drums and certain other musical instruments. Examples of Drum Literature: Announcements and Calls Names Proverbs Poetry. 1 The description in this chapter is mainly based on Rattray 1923 Carrington 1944, 1949a, 1949b and (.)ġ Introductory-The Principles of Drum Language.
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