the meaning of masabo    welcome to west africa    quick notes about côte d'ivoire    about fana soro   
about the senoufo people    about traditional music    about traditional dance    about masks   
about the balafon    about the instruments    about oral traditions    about textiles and costumes   
school performance repertoire    masks - music & dance    learning activities    learning links   

Doundoun (dune-dune) and Kenkeni (ken-kenee)...the doundoun is a large cylindrical barrel shaped drum, made either of wood or metal, covered by a membrane of antelope or goat skin at each end. It is used as a base drum. The kenkeni is a smaller, higher pitched version of the doundoun. The drummer strikes the ends of the drums with a straight or curved stick with one hand, while the other hand strikes a metal cylindrical bell that has been attached to the top of the kenkeni. These drums provide the steady base rhythms in traditional West African music.

Borôrô (boe-roe-roe)...the borôrô is a two-stringed African harp used mainly by the Senoufo people in northern Côte d'Ivoire. It is an instrument used in combination with a sacred initiation dance called "Boloyé". The borôrô is made of a large calabash gourd over which an antelope or goat skin is stretched. A long, curved stick is inserted through the calabash and is tightened down with two strings which are then plucked with the fingers or a small wooden pick to resonate like a harp or guitar. A shaker is attached to the end of the stick to add more percussion to the sound.

Balafon (bah-lah-phone)...the balafon is a large wooden xylophone native to West Africa. Its origins are thought to come from Mali. The balafon is made of mahogany-type keys attached to various sizes of calabash gourds. The calabash have tiny holes drilled into them over which special dried spider egg sacs are stretched to provide a rare resonance. In Africa, a master balafon player is referred to as "balafola", which is sign of great talent of the artist. More Info on Balafon

Djembé (jem-bay)...the djembé is West Africa's most popular drum. It is mortar-shaped drum that is open at both ends and has a single membrane of goat or antelope skin stretched over it and is beaten with the bare hands. It produces three sounds, slap, tone, and base (claque, tonique, and bass en français). The djembé is used both as a solo and accompanying instrument. As with the balafon, a master djembe player is referred to as "djembéfola".

Tama (ta-ma)...the tama is a drum varying in size from very miniscule to medium size. It is wooden with goat or antelope skin enclosing each end. Leather bands are attached around the base of each skin. The tama is held firmly under the armpit of the drummer and struck with a curved stick. The drummer can make the drum "speak" by squeezing the leather cords and varying the pitch. It is a drum used for communicating between villages and announcing the news of neighboring communities. The tama, therefore, is often referred to as the "talking drum".

Shakers...there is a large array of small (and large) hand-held percussion instruments in West Africa. The most well known are the shakers made from a calabash over which a woven net with beads or seeds is hung to strike against the calabash.

Phetialla (fo-che-lia)...the phetialla is principally a Senoufo drum that is used exclusively as an accompaniment drum for the balafon. It is a wooden bowl drum enclosed on the top with cow skin, is struck by bare hands, and is mainly used in funeral processions.

Kpanlogo (pan-low-go)...the kpanlogo is a popular drum from Ghana.

See the Instruments

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To Print Instrument Colouring Sheets Click Here

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