The Lingual Fundaments of African Drums

Beyond Song Texts: The Lingual Fundamentals of African Drum Music
Author(s): Meki Nzewi, Israel Anyahuru and Tom Ohiaraumunna

Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 32, No. 2, The Landscape of African Music
(Summer, 2001), pp. 90-104
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820906
Accessed: 01-05-2017 19:43 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
Indiana University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Research
in African Literatures
This content downloaded from 132.248.9.8 on Mon, 01 May 2017 19:43:52 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Beyond Song Texts?The Lingual
Fundamentals of African Drum Music
Meki Nzewi, Israel Anyahuru, and Tom Ohiaraumunn
I kotala ihe nkxva m di ika ?

Do you understand what my drum is saying?
-Israel Anyahuru, 1976
what music is saying. More and more, the music available to the mod?
Increasingly, all over the world, people listen more and understand less
ern world audience in particular has increasingly no human-music
sense or meaning to offer. Perhaps the world no longer needs to make
human sense. After all, technological fantasy and barrenness in humane
attributes are in vogue and generating the alarmingly robotic human sens-
ing of the arts. Frustrated and atrophied intellects are striving obsessively,
to re-invent musical meaning, driven by analytical meningitis, creative ane-
mia, and faked presentational emotions. Listening dispositions are increas?
ingly autohyped, less edifying, and lacking in psychical therapy. As such,
people no longer understand or experience what music means, or how
and what music contributes to human essence. That is, the world is no
longer appreciating why music is an essential of beatific living, and not an
accessory in mechanized living.
In paraphrase, Israel Anyahuru interprets his music's human mission
in the following drum-texts:
"I cry" on behalf of those whose tears of pain (psychic therapy) are
not shed. Hence my drum weeps:
La la lu lu; la la lu lui (Oh dear; oh pity!)
"I excite sublime emotions," and thereby rally communal empathy
as well as the appropriate, imperative support-action that makes
communal, the sorrows or misfortunes of members of a commu?
nity. "Hence my drum announces":
Ebelebe egbuola ni o; ebelebe egbuola ni ol (A shocking occurrence has
befallen!)
"I ignite" the fire of self-activation in those whose driving spirit
have become dulled by doldrums. "Hence my drum incites
aspiration":
/ mere ngini eme, I mere ngini eme-e? (What have you achieved yet,
what have you achieved in life?)
"I make love," metaphysically, to persons whose sensual instincts
appear dormant. "Hence my drum sensualizes":
Nyenu m otu/amu, nyeenu m otu/amu. (Gratify me, sensual urge,
gratify my sensual urge.)
"I respire" the conscience of persons whose soul-essence has
expired. "Hence my drum queries":
O xvu onye mere ihela? O xvu onye mere ihela e? (Who has committed
this terrible deed? Who has caused this great sadness?)
Vol. 32, No. 2 Summer 2001
Meki Nzewi, Israel Anyahuru, and Tom Ohiaraumunna 91
"I acknowledge" the essence of aspiring to be a worthy person.

"Hence my drum publicly recognizes any worthy arrivee in an
event-context":
Enyi m nwoke lei (Or the known, actual name of the person is
encoded on the drum), / biala? I biala? I biala? (My good friend,
you are welcome, you are welcome; you are welcome!)
The model for this study of the drum-speaking phenomenon in Africa is
the Ese drum cum music of the Ngwa group of the Igbo in Nigeria. The
approach is to discuss the elusive, ancient African wisdom about music
living (beatific music experiencing), that is, probing the humanistic foun?
dations of African musical thoughts and practices. We will de-emphasize
exudations about the apparent contents and contexts of living with music
(music meaning). Also, the purpose here is not to indulge in elaborate
transcription and analysis of texts; rather we will attempt an overview of
the need, nature, and technique of drum-speaking, a making-human con?
cept of music, which will be exemplified with a specific Igbo example.
Whereas the rest of the world may have conceived lingual text in music
as song lyrics or recitative, and may have used musical codes as significant
signals in societal action, Africa's mental civilization has an extradimen-
sional musical conceptualization of lingual-texting. This is the metaspeech
concept of instrumental music, which has been popularly discussed as
drum-talking as well as the less encountered drummed dialogue, i.e.,
spontaneous drum versus vocal discourse. Drum-speaking presupposes an
enlightened cultural audience if it has to transact any prescribed or spon?
taneous societal/contextual/musical action.
Text in African music is, therefore, encountered:
as a vocal processing of language?song;

as instrumental processing of language?metasong;
as choreographic processing of language?the visual poetry of
dance as metaphor;
as symbolic documentation of cultural statements?the extramu?
sical meaning of special music instruments and musical arts
costumes.
This discussion is, however, primarily concerned with th

song or drum-speaking. Vocal-speaking and drum-sp
branches of the same conceptual stream, which impl
stylization of speech. The former is a melodic proce
melorhythmic process (see Nzewi, "Melorhythm" a
Derivations"). They both actually constitute an interface
of languages, because the idea of melody in African musi
so much concerned with motive profundity, that is, a super
of human vocal capabilities as a matter of vanity or exhib
Africa rationalizes that melody should be more commun
individuating and flamboyant. As such, it could, for inst
two or three notes and yet be imbued with vocal and r
that conjure emotive profundity.
92 Research in African Literatures
The interface of vocal speaking and drum-speaking is such that the lev
of tone of lingual statement, which when encoded on a drum exhibit e
sive pitch essence, that is, ambivalent pitch quality, become inevitabl
transformed into defmite pitches when expressed vocally, and vice ver
by persons who can sing tone levels.
But why the need to resort to metalingual processes when the hum
voice has no handicap? The African worldview is richly suffused with spiri-
tuality. Societal control and conformity were more effectively transacted a
well as enforced as suprahuman processes in which music is central. For the
African, a transcendental communication is much more compelling th
ordinary human communication, and cannot be countermanded, at th
risk of divine sanction or supernatural repercussion. The musical proce
for the African, is a neutral and therefore most powerful institution
transacting public as well as humanizing business. It is a supernatural
empowered and thereby spiritually affective as well as effective medium. A
such, what is said and acted in a musical process by the appropriate, co
textually enspirited performers is more impressive as well as imperati
than verbal utterances by subjective and manipulable human agents. Mu
has supernatural authority and delivers incontrovertible injunctions. O
higher scale of spiritual or transcendental authority than human musi
voices/actors, are musical instruments as well as spirit-manifest acto
which are neutral, suprahuman "voices." A lingual communication voi
by an instrument is then on a higher suprahuman order.
Hence an injunction, message, or other form of public communica
tion delivered through the agency of a talking music instrument carrie
more neutral and commanding authority than vocal music communic
tion by a performer with human identity. Furthermore, from the point of
view of mass communication, the instrumental voice has a farther reach
than the human voice in the traditional environment of public informa?
tion dissemination (see Nzewi, "Traditional Strategies").
There are distinctions between vocal melodies and instrumental

melodies. A vocal melody is normally categorized as a song, and
speaking as recitative. Other categories of vocal melody would i
vocalic lilting (typically African), scatting, ululation, drum-singing, m
drumming, etc, which do not implicate lingual text, but could
specific instrument melodies. Drum-singing, for instance, is enc
in African music as the vocal simulation of an instrument-peculiar tu
instructional purposes, while mouth-drumming is a recognized
mental music practice, an instrumental component of ensemble
with or without actual drums being present.
Approaching the essence as well as techniques of talking wit
instruments requires making distinctions between pitched inst
toned instruments, and percussion instruments. There has been
ventional error of classifying all nonpitched instruments of musi
in Africa as percussion. The Western world has arrogated itself th
ity to arbitrarily impose as well as perpetuate Western thought syste
inapplicable categories or classifications on unique aspects of African

mental-cultural systems, some of which are strange to the European-
American human as well as mental-cultural experiences. Africa's mental
and cultural practices are founded on Africa-viable philosophical and
systemized rationalizations. This fact of Africa's original mental genius the
West continues to ignore. Europeans and Americans have thereby
adamantly insisted on authoritatively misinterpreting Africa, as well as mal-
educating themselves about Africa. Inevitably, the misguided and mentally
insecure contemporary Africans also become mal-educated on certain
issues relating particularly to Africa's mental civilization.
Elsewhere, we have discussed Africa's conceptual distinction between
melorhythm (toned) instruments and percussion (see Nzewi,
"Melorhythm"). Melorhythm instruments are of lingual and psychothera-
peutic essence, and also subsume melodic essence. They are intended
primarily for speech communication, but could also play percussive roles.
Tunes played on melorhythm instruments, even when speech-derived,
automatically become melodies once reproduced by the human voice.
Speeches encoded on such instruments conform to the requirements of
tone level and rhythm of a given language. Melorhythm instruments rely
on the tone levels as well as the rhythm of a language to simulate speech.
Cognition of encoded speech further requires the factors of knowledge of
the idiomatic depths of a language, and the context as well as the prove-
nance of message or instrument type.2
The scholarly convention has been to use the term drum when speech
communication on instruments of African music is discussed. It is there?
fore important to recognize that the term drum could be adopted as gener?
ic for all the toned instruments of speech simulation, which Africans
not all together classify as drum. The following instruments are, in pr
tice, commonly used and variously preferred for encoding lingual text
parts of Africa: membrane drums, wooden slit-drums, bells, animal a
vegetable horns, as well as other toned (not pitched) music instrumen
sometimes, pitched instruments such as flutes also "speak." But not ev
instrument fitting into the categories above becomes suitable for effec
simulation of speech. Factors of size and quality of tone are meticulous
taken into account. As such, every tone-tuned instrument found in a
ensemble or cultural location is not necessarily used for encoding spee
even when the tune it plays conforms to the structural ambience of dr
speaking. It is important to note that there are tuned drums and tun
bells that have conjunct melodic and melorhythmic phonic character.
this class belongs the tuned drum rows, a species of which is the Ese
melodic/melorhythmic instrument, which is also primarily used for drum-
speaking, drum-dialoguing, and mass communication generally.
The concept of encoding lingual text on a music instrument deriv
from instituting authoritative voicing in a worldview that processes openly
disseminated information for particular, cognitive audiences. The essen
is in its imperative transcendental attributes, which empower it to coe
conformity in issues of societal engineering and human management
Drum-speaking could also be an esoteric communication intelligible to

circumscribed audience in hostile or emergency situations.
The style of lingual text communication on music instruments is di
ferent from the features of normal conversation in a culture. Sentence
construction and implications are basically idiomatic. There is also pr
dural as well as structural-musical logic. Significant tonal peculiarities
alert patterns, also cues and knowledge of poetic modes of language
course distinguish speech coding from purely musical configurations
enable the comprehension of drummed speech. Drum-speaking is a
mal process, characterized by terse statements and phonemic inters
sions. Statements could be proverbial or metaphoric or allegorical. A
phrase or statement is stated, and could be repeated exactly or sequen
on another tone level, before the next sentence/phrase. Drum-speaki
commonly of poetic essence. Exceptions would be the rare cases of
taneous contextual conversations such as drum-dialoguing?a spo
neous discussion between a speaking drum voice (manipulated by a m
drummer) and a speaking human voice or body language in dance.
Broad categories of drum speaking include name-calling, polity inf
mation (news and public announcements), contextual/social narrativ
dramatic dialogue, prototelegraphy and nontextual signifiers. The c
cern here is not to discuss the categories, which are differentiated le
the method or technique of drum-speaking and more by the content
the idiomatic features of a statement. What follows highlights the dis
tion of drum-speaking from the text-singing or song-texting, which is m
conventional and common knowledge all over the world.
Most tonal languages exhibit two or three primary speech-tone lev
Accordingly, talking on an instrument relies, primarily, on the deriv
of the two or three essential tone levels of a language on an adequat
toned music instrument. The interval between any two levels of tone
range from approximations of a second to a major third, plus a voice
that could be vocally rationalized as a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, or an octav
Certain instruments are uniquely suited for peculiar types and in
tions of drum-speaking. In traditional prototelegraphy the giant woo
slit-drum, which is constructed with the bole of durable resonant woo
preferred. African prototelegraphic sense invented and contrived t
music instrument technology of transmitting urgent messages to a
persed human group or to neighboring communities who share ling
affinity. The giant wooden slit-drums have farther reach than most
instruments of drum-messaging and drum-signaling3
The drum-speaking instrument on which the illustrations in this
cussion will be given is the Ese. The Ese is one of three types of tuned dr
rows (Aria Nkxva?"drum components")?a species of drum sets?so
only located in the southern part of Igboland of Nigeria. The diamete
the membrane tops of component drums range from 10 cm to 20 cm
partially determine the pitch/tone-level differences between compon
drums. The heights range from 13 cm to 18 cm. A component tuned d
has a mortar-shelled wooden framework. The open top is then cove
with an appropriate animal skin laced to the wooden frame. The Ese t
has an additional, open-ended "spirit-drum," which is used, musically, for

punctuating melodic phrases as well as for playing percussive sequences?
"rhythmic pounding" (isu nkwa). In drum-speaking the "spirit-drum" is
used for shades of voice-drops that are of phbnemic essence in the Igbo
language. The Ese has a scale of five notes (four tuned drum components
plus the "spirit-drum"). The other two tuned drum row types are the Ukom,
which has a scale deriving from nine or ten component drums, and the
Mgba, a different scale system deriving from 9 differently tuned compo?
nent drums.
The three drum row types have differentiated tuning formulae (scale
structures), and as such play different styles of music for different societal
contexts. Tuned drum rows are tuned during construction and are metic-
ulously fine-tuned before as well as during every performance session as
need may arise. Each component drum-note in a tone row has a pitch
essence characterized by interactive harmonies. The scale of each tone-row
is fixed, while the level of tuning (quality of sonic affect) of any particular
tuned drum set is relative?the determination of the starting tone
level/pitch for tuning before a performance session is at the subjective
musical, and contextual discretion of a master musician.
The Ese is used for the three-phased funeral events of a meritorious
adult male in the Ngwa group of the Igbo. The interval qualities between
the four component tuned drums, starting from the lowest note, approxi
mate to a minor third, a major second, and a major second. There is a spe?
cial, standard modern notation system designed for writing the music of
the tuned drum rows (see Nzewsi, Ese Music Notation). We shall, however,
for the purposes of the illustrations here, use the letter names A, B, C, D
to indicate the pitch-tone implications of the component drums, such tha
A-B is a minor third, while B-C is a major second, and C-D a sequentially
higher order of major second. The note Z indicates the voice-drop tone o
the open-ended "spirit-drum," which is vocally reproduced as an approxi-
mate octave of any pitch-tone from which a voice drop (musical or speech
is made. The rhythm structures ofa language are exactly retained in drum
speaking. As such, we will not be concerned here with the rhythmi
notation of drummed lingual texts, especially since the approach in thi
discussion does not emphasize musical structuring and analysis.
Text: Obaladike
(Person's Name) O/ ba / la / di/ ke - k-i; O / ba / la /di / ke - k-i,
Melorhythmic Code: B - B - B - C - B - B-Z; C - C - C - D - C - C-Z
Name-callings as well as any other categories of drum-spoken communica?
tion in the Ese performance context occur at the super structural order of
ensemble sound. Drum-speaking does not, therefore, interrupt or affect
the action-music framework of a piece. It rather monitors the contextual
events in progress as need arises. This is because the Ese drum set consti?
tutes a distinctive orchestral unit (Ripieno section). Its musical sense is
superimposed on, and interstructured with, the complementing musical
sense of the accompaniment (Concertino) orchestra of four other instru?
ments. The accompaniment orchestra keeps a significant and constant con-
textual musical action for a compartment (movement) of the composi

five compartments of the Ese music performance form. The master mu
cian is then at liberty to derive, at an independent level of contextua
musical meaning, the melodic as well as drum-speaking passages.
musical-contextual role is to mediate moods as well as direct, sequence,
comment on the scenario of the funerary event being transacted with
each compartment (see Nzewi, "Ese Music").
Name-calling occurs whenever there is need to identify and particu
larly welcome a notable member of the public while an event-session is
progress. As such, the normative full statement that identifies the arrival o
a person who deserves to be publicly recognized, such as Obaladike, wou
be as follows:
"Obaladike lei! Obaladike lei! Ibiala?Ibiala? Ibiald?"

"You, Obaladike, Have you come?"?/ biala is melorhythmicall
sequenced three times.
The literal meaning in the language is "Have you come?" But the
tual meaning is "You are welcome." The double or triple, musically
tial treatment of a statement is of more musico-poetic aesthetics
than any other cultural significance.
WTien the Ese musicians arrive in a location in order to transact con?
textual business, the first sound the master musician produces in the fir
Ilulu (proverbs), compartment of an Ese music event-form is in the
gory of prototelegraphy, to publicize that a death has occurred:
"Le lu lu lu; U lu lu lu! "(Tonal simulation of the sound of a weep-
ing voice.)
Then he announces:
"Na xvhe emee la; na xvhe emee la.r ("A terrible thing has occurred
"Nxvatakiri ogbede ehigh nne, nnaya anxvuo, Igara gini nna gi anxvu
I meregini eme nna gi anxvuo}" ("You, the child who is not quite big
whose father has died, where did you go while your father die
What did you do as your father died?")
Contextual meaning: You, young man whose father is dead, what effor
you make to save your father? What have you achieved that qualifies y
give your father a befitting burial, as per community prescription
thereby to merit taking over his societal and family responsibilities?
Tom Ohiaraumunna, a most celebrated Ese master musician, con
ues in a recorded (1976) explanation (accompanied with illustration
the Ese drum):
When the time (in the jEs^marshaled scenario of context-events
comes, the first son of the deceased would come out. In front of
the Ese drum set, and on the oath of Muo Ese (the symbolized
"Spirit Power" manifested visibly on the Ese spirit-drum) the first
son would then declaim what he did. He has to depose that he
strove to save the life of the father while the latter was sick?before
Death defeated his human efforts ....
When the first cock crows, I wake up, and, with my drums, I
begin to lament the deceased man. I mourn him as well as tell the
people (on the Ese drum) that it is daybreak:
"A chi avodi la ni o; a chi avodi la nioF' ("It is daybreak").
Meaning that it is time for funerary activities to start.
"Opara di na ala nna ya anwu o; I gara gini aga nna gi anwu 0?"
("The first son who was around while the father died, where did
you go while your father died?")
I cry [on the drum]: "He! He! He! He! He\"
I lament again [on the drum]: "E - k - lu - k - lu - lu\ . . ."
The Ese musicians have come with their drums to bury and
dirge another person's deceased person. That is why I tell the per?
son I have to play for his father's funeral to pay me well. For I am
a professional mourner, a merciful, kind-hearted person, and a
publicly recognized inquisitor. I stay in the open with the early
morning dew settling on my body as I mourn his deceased parent
on his behalf.
And as deserving men arrive for the event, I recognize and
welcome them?"/ biala} Ndewo. I mee la." ('You have arrived?
Thank you. You have done well.") ....
Any adult person who has cultural understanding will under?
stand the language of my drum ....
A person whose name I do not know, I will address as: "Enyi m
nwoke ki; Enyi m nwoke k! I biala ? I biala f I biala ? Maara m aka n 'ak-
paf ("My friend, you have arrived? Dip your hand into your bag
for my benefit.") The last statement means: Give me a present for
my role in according you merited public recognition.
There is no name mentioned in Igbo or English that I cannot
reproduce on my drum. But Ese composition also entails abstract,
spontaneous compositional process. Thematic or developmental
configurations that are sometimes automatically created by the
cognitive hands of a maestro, without his thinking about it. That
is, compositions that are not mentally calculated?intended as
encoded spoken language.
There is nonspeech Ese compositional style recognized as
such. So, it is not everything played on the drum that has lingual
implications.
Dramatic dialogue occurs during the cosmic drama, which is critical per?
formance in the Ese-event concept and scenario. Categories of persons
related to the deceased, and who are the principal human actors in the
funerary transactions, must make public declamations on the Ese oath.
The master musician's role is that of the principal agent that invokes the
supernatural actors whose metaphysical presences are evoked and imma-
nent in the event atmosphere. The profession act is a process of dramatic
dialogue that could be very elaborate. Tom Ohiaraumunna again gives a
sketchy illustration of the procedure and content:
I call the name of the entitled actor (who is on stage to declaim on

the ?$0-spirit oath). The actor runs to the compound entrance as
I pound the race-theme (of the appropriate second compartment
of the Ese event-music form) to prompt him. When he races back
to the presence of the drum stand, he puts his right foot on the
spirit-drum. I cadence the race-theme, and immediately change
the music to the chant-accompanied, declamation section of the
Oso nkxva (martial music compartment). Over the orchestral back?
ground of this section, I query the declaimer on the Ese drum, as
follows?if he is the first son of the deceased:
"Mgbaji! Nna gi, 0 mere gini emef 0 mere gini eme?" ("Mgbaji!
Your father, what did he achieve in life, to merit being buried by
the Ese music?")
For it is Ese music that symbolically buries as well as canonizes into
ancestry, a meritorious deceased adult male person.
Mgbaji replies, vocally: "My father had many children etc."
As he recounts his father's achievements, I affirm each
notable achievement on the Ese spirit-drum. Then I prompt him
again; I put other queries to him. Every time he makes a profound
declamation, and also when he must have finished his entire pro?
fession act, he must always swear an oath. To do this he either
touches or indicates the Ese spirit (oath symbol), and proclaims:
"If it is not as I have just declaimed, may the Ese spirit take my life!"
Then I will endorse?affirm his oath on the spirit drum.
When he finishes giving public testimony to the credits of the
deceased, I will acknowledge his performance by commanding
him to undertake another race to the entrance of the principal
road leading into the compound. The entrance to a compound is
a sacred spot. It marks the neutral boundary between the human
occupants of a compound and the supernatural forces who inter-
act, as ever present, immanent, and affective spirit essence, in that
particular human abode. When the declaimer returns to the Ese
drum post, I will call his name again on the drum. It is only then
that I query him to declare his own fundamental human achieve?
ments for which he merits the honor of canonizing his deceased
father into effective-affective ancestral reckoning. I query him as
follows:
"Mgbaji! Ogive gi, I mere gini eme? I mere gini eme?" ("Mgbaji! You
as a recognized person, what have you achieved as per the terms
ofthe community's person-ship reckoning?")
He answers my drum: "I ka ihe m mere?" ("You are asking me
about my personal achievements?")
I reply him on the Ese drum: "E-e! I mere gini eme? I mere gini
eme?" ("Yes! what have you achieved? What have you accomplished
in life that is worthy?")
Mgbaji will then declaim for public attestation, his own
human achievements. I affirm each declaration on the "spirit
drum," and prompt him for more. When he finishes recounting
his human merits, he will again end by swearing by the Ese potent
spirit to the veracity of his deposition.
I then send him on a final race, to "embrace" the spirit forces
at the entrance to the compound. When he returns, I will cadence
the second compartment. I will immediately strike-on the third
compartment, Ihu Nkwa (The Celebration, or the Face of the
Music), for him to celebrate in dance, his successful performance
acknowledged by the public present as well as the immanent spir?
its. As all that is going on, I could talk other things on the Ese. For
instance, I continue to declare on the Ese drum:
"Ebelebe egbuola ni o; ebekbe egbuola ni o!" ("A shocking occur?
rence has befallen. /A momentous event has occurred!")
"Whe la owu ngini e?" ('What has happened? What caused it?")
Israel Anyahuru, a celebrated Ukom music exponent who is a master
musician on the Ukom tuned drums designated specially for the funerary
events of a worthy, deceased adult female, and who also plays in the Ese
ensemble as well, continues (1976):
When we feel like taking some victuals, we do not need to stop
a performance in order to ask for something. I will alert and talk
to our host on the drum, while the music is going on. I will say to
him on the drum:
"Aguru aguwadilani anyi o! Pata nri; pata mmai!" ('We, the
musicians, are now hungry! Bring food; bring wine!") . . .
And when I find that people are dancing well to my music, I
must commend and encourage them on the drum:
"Unu amarala nkwa agba o!" ("You all are dancing so well!") . . .
In Ese, Ukom and Mgba music, there are sung sections and non-
singing passages. What you depend on as a capable performer in
an event context is the mental intellect to create what is appropri?
ate to an event scenario that is transpiring. And when you are
involved in a performance-composition, that is, musical interpre?
tation ofthe contingent occurrences in a context, what comes into
your head, sensitized by your impressions or observations, is what
you play.
There is thus no fixed content-duration ofa performance. There is equally
no fixed order for the introduction of tunes or lingual statements in the
process of chain composition in any compartment of the music for the
tuned drum row types. But there are normative features of form and con?
tent, as well as a pool of thematic repertory. The event-structure and the
prescribed order of activities normally determine the significant form of
an event-music type. But then, the contingencies of any performance ses?
sion would, for instance, determine the manipulation of the fundamental
form in order to interpret any peculiar features of every event-occasion, as
well as guide the sequence of presentation of the compartments. The
choice and development of the appropriate themes with which to transact
the actions in each compartment is at the musical judgment ofthe master
musician.
It is important to note that a performance session as well as a sessio

form is open-ended. Also, the specific content of drum-speaking is dete
mined by the contingencies of every performance session. There a
however, prescribed, standard textual statements, which are normativ
significant for a context. These must always be communicated appropr
ately at the contextual judgment of the master musician.
We equally note that for each tuned drum type there is also a repe
tory of songs and tunes. The melody of a song is normally stated first
the instrument, and immediately sung with the lyrics by the performe
The tunes are melodies that have no textual origin or connotation. Tun
could be sung with nontextual syllabification. There is, as such, a disti
tion between song-texts (lyrics), drummed-text (encoded speech),
drum-text (peculiar simulation of language that is pure melodic
melorhythmic composition, and singable without text).
The context and/or provenance of a drummed communicatio
enhance the deciphering and understanding of lingual texts encoded
musical instruments. Generally, much drum-speaking happens in perfo
mance contexts. The texts encoded by the master drummer could be sta
dard statements in the repertory of an occasion such as for the routine
a ruler's court. Texts could be polity statements, specific messages an
instructions, also conventional anecdotes in appropriate contexts. The
could be verbalizeable spontaneous comments that transact contingen
contextual emotions and activities. Thus a master drummer in an event-
music ensemble fulfils the African traditional concept of the master
cian: he has the social-musical responsibility to marshal the scenario
event. He is, then, first and foremost a competent musician and pe
mance-composer. He is equally required to be a reliable critic of the
actional merits of a prescribed scenario, a judge of the timin
sequencing of musical actions, an expert on the meaning and cont
the event, a conductor of the event-music ensemble, a dramatist, an
an entertainer.
The African idea of using instruments of music making designed t
voice human language has its logical extension in encoding the languag
of dance. In most African cultures dance is conceived and deployed as a
nonverbal medium through which cultural narratives and metaphors are
tacitly depicted beyond mime. The processing as well as the imaging o
dance in Africa implicates unique body poesy visually articulated as a co
formation of the artistic content, eurhythmics, and presentational rati
nalizations. As such, most African traditional dances have underlyin
lingual texts, sometimes tersely articulated in the titles of dances or other-
wise conveyed as choreological statements for a cognitive audience. The
name and meaning of a dance are then communicated as eloquent, visu
artistic-aesthetic imagery.
Dance could be visual expression of a spoken language in the sam
way as drumming is sometimes conceived as phonic-texting of spoken lan
guage. The essential difference, however. is that while dance discourse is
process of metaphoric display of body and costume in space-time dimen
sions, drum-speaking relies on the phonic articulation of the phonemes o
the spoken language in tone-time dimensions. In the African performed

arts milieu, every performance of a known dance display, formally chore-
ographed or idiosyncratic as in mass dances, is a fresh artistic-aesthetic
experience as well as a contingent transaction ofthe known cultural mean?
ing, textual theme, scenario, or story.
There have been warped perceptions of the peculiar poetic essence of
the figural elements as well as choreographic statements of African dances,
by ethnologist as much as by music and dance scholars. This has led to the
jaundiced interpretations and malpresentations of the intentions and visu?
al images, respectively, of the African concept of dance. The misunder-
standing and consequent misrepresentations have become popularly
promoted internationally as modern artistic presentations of African
dances. Some modern African dances often constitute prostitution danc?
ing?a visual body-imaging of the erotic fantasies of the modern Western as
much as African choreographers. Such bastard dances have no basis what-
soever in the original African dance philosophy, creative concept, and body
imaging irrespective of being inappropriately termed variously as contem?
porary or artistic African dance creations.4 The modern travesty constitutes
a mockery of the African body language moral posture and staging of age-
sex emotions. The representation of women in some ofthe modern inven?
tions of African dance, particularly, deliberately or ignorantly malportray
Africa's cultural womanhood values and virtues.
African traditional dances have sense and meaning, just as much
music with which the dance art shares symbiotic stream of conceptua
creative thoughts. The modern world has indulged in shallow appro
tions as well as sensational bastardizations of the otherwise significan
ments of African dances. Evidence of such warped interpretations of
visual sense and cultural meaning of African dance manifestations ab
in the commercially sensational dances used to promote modern Af
oriented popular music. Perverted representation of Africa's concept
practice of dance also characterizes modern artistic dances that are
pantly promoted as African. These illegitimate offspring produced by jau
diced creative minds, and which are ascribed African dance origins, a
course, legitimate creative experiments. But they represent the cul
fantasies ofthe modern inventors of African dances, who out of igno
or in pursuit of cheap commercial exploit insult and malpresent orig
Africa. Such personal false imageries have no bases in African danc
guage. It is important to note, for purposes of guiding the creation
authoritative modern advancements of African dance art, that Afric
dances convey textual meanings. These are implicated in the creative
presentational configurations of African traditional choreograp
motives, figuratives, somatic relationships, corporeal gestures and
tures, sex-age determinations, as well as ground formations and sta
blocking.
In the technique of drum-speaking on speech-instruments, text for?
mulation as well as its contemporaneous encodement as a tune is sponta-
neous. The knowledge of what has to be said, the poesy of its structure, as
well as its instrumental articulations transpire as symbiotic though
processes. Collaterally, there are instances of giving arbitrary lingual te

to abstract musical statements?textual representations that are often n
related to the context or stimulation of the musical construction. Such
spoken or lyric transliteration could become a popular identity for
musical theme or statement.
The original concept of drumming as metaspeech accounts for th
fact that drum themes are often articulated as vocables that have no lin?
gual connotations and which are often used in drum-learning exer
Sometimes a lingual text that has been stated on a drum is further
purely musical inflections and compositional elaboration, such as in
or sequential or transformational development a manner that is ab
musical in content. These then constitute unique techniques of dev
ing the lingual theme for musical interests in consonance with Af
compositional thoughts and practices.
Deriving from the nature of abstract musical imaging generate
drum-speaking is the issue of making musical meaning with respect
African sense of solo creations in the context of ensemble perform
An authentically African technique of solo playing gives the impres
discussing in a language. A cognitive listener feels that the instrum
soloist is making textual statements. The technique enhances empa
performer-audience contact. Hence we distinguish the African sen
process of instrumental soloing as extemporization?spontaneou
text-sensitive virtuosity sensitized by the mood or contingencies of
formance context. Masterly extemporization in the African tradit
music practice gives the impression of discussing with the audience
includes the ensemble coperformers) without implicating any arti
lingual communication. This artistic-aesthetic distinction of authe
African solo drumming demands the artistry of transacting a music
sion as a communal sonic feast. The audience is in empathic comm
with the soloist, subliminally sensing the meaning of the textual im
sions, which the soloist is simulating. What the instrumentalist is
doing is comparable to a master singer who impresses as well as invo
audience when he/she extemporizes texts to transact the contingen
a performance occasion, basic to a melodic-contextual theme.
The above distinction makes a significant difference from impr
tion. Improvisation could be defined as a soloist's (fixed or spontan
sensational ego celebration of a theme, an exercise that could be crea
energized by sensing the admiration or ovation of an audience.
Improvisational celebrations could be additional to an African traditional
drummer's essential process of contextual extemporization. Europe and
America have corrupted contemporary, solo African drumming such that
vague African performers imitate the bravura exhibitionism that is charac?
teristic of the modern star-syndrome of Western show business. Such
psychotic, individualistic drumming does not derive from the original,
humanistic African philosophy and principles of music making as
community-making.
The African performance arts principle requires that the master musi?
cian or dancer is not an expert who dominates a presentation with overt,
psychotic ego-displays. Rather the lead artist endeavors to democratize

ensemble action, and credits as well as involves the audience as empathic,
emotional performers. The master performer mediates performer-
audience rapport. As such, evoking human sensing as well as sentiments in
a creative-contextual process is imperative, whether the performance need
is music-specific or music-extrinsic. Most nonmusical contexts inevitably
demand musical-arts processing in the African rationalization of human
interactions, in which music invariably mediates varied emotions, conducts
attitudes, and structures actions.
Lingual-texting is a fundamental concept informing the construction
as well as performance deployment of African melorhythm instruments
such as the drum. African drum-speaking has important cultural inten?
tions as well as musical meaning beyond song text. It is an authentic as well
as authoritative process of societal management, which conjointly impli-
cates significant musical esthetic. Text-referencing in the original art of
African drumming could be verbalized in spoken language or could be a
virtuoso simulation of elusive lingual-texting.
NOTES
1. Israel Anyahuru and Tom Ohiaraumunna were two renowned and authoritativ
master musicians in Ngwaland of the Igbo, since deceased. They were my drum
teachers as well as authorities on African musical thoughts, theory, and practice
I studied the Ese and Ukom tuned drum rows with them in 1975-76. This article
includes direct transcriptions of my tape recording of some of their profound
knowledge about the sense and meaning of the Igbo traditional music heritage,
which they shared with me. I am convinced that they deserve to share the
authorship of this article with me.
2. For the factors of traditional mass communication founded on instrumental
music thoughts and practices, see Nzewi, "Traditional Strategies."
3. The rationalization and mechanics of mass communication in traditional
African societies with particular reference to wooden slit-drums has been
ined in Nzewi, "Traditional Strategies." Other writers, such as Kirby,
Ames et al., and Nketia have discussed contextual drum-speaking on
open-ended membrane drum species such as occur in the palaces and
occasions in parts of Africa.
4. This unfortunate trend has been critiqued in Nzewi, "Modern African
Arts."
WORKS CITED
Ames, D, E. A. Gregerson, and T. Nengebauer. "Taaken Samaarii:

Language of Hausa Youth." Africa 41.1 (1971): 12-31.
Herzog, G. "Drum Signaling in a West African Tribe." Word 1 (1945): 21
Language in Culture and Society. Ed. Dell Hymes. New York, 1964. 312-2
Kirby, P. The Musical Instruments ofthe Native Races of South Africa. London: Oxf
UP, 1934.
Nketia, J. H. K. "The Role of the Drummer in Akan Society." African Music 1.1
(1954): 34-43.
Nzewi, M. E. "Melorhythm Essence and Hot Rhythm in Nigerian Folk." Black
Perspective in Music 2.1 (1974): 23-28.
_. "Philological Derivations of Melorhythmic Improvisation." African
Ethnomusicology 1.1 (1983): 1-13.
_. "Traditional Strategies for Mass Communication: The Centrality of Igbo
Music." Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 5 (1984): 319-38.
_ . "Ese Music: Honours for the Dead; Status for the Sponsor." African Music 6.
4 (1987): 90-107.
_ . Ese Music Notation and Modern Concert Presentation. Bayreuth: Iwalewa-Haus,
Uof Bayreuth, 1990.
_ . "Modern African Mental Arts: Resolving Entrenched Aberrations." Paper
delivered at Afromusique Colloquium on Creative Synthesis in (African) Art
Music. Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Dee. 1998.

The Lingual Fundaments of African Drums

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

The Lingual Fundaments of African Drums

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Beyond Song Texts: The Lingual Fundamentals of African Drum Music

Author(s): Meki Nzewi, Israel Anyahuru and Tom Ohiaraumunna

Meki Nzewi, Israel Anyahuru, and Tom Ohiaraumunn

I kotala ihe nkxva m di ika ?

Vol. 32, No. 2 Summer 2001

"I acknowledge" the essence of aspiring to be a worthy person.

as a vocal processing of language?song;

This discussion is, however, primarily concerned with th

There are distinctions between vocal melodies and instrumental

inapplicable categories or classifications on unique aspects of African

Drum-speaking could also be an esoteric communication intelligible to

has an additional, open-ended "spirit-drum," which is used, musically, for

textual musical action for a compartment (movement) of the composi

"Obaladike lei! Obaladike lei! Ibiala?Ibiala? Ibiald?"

I call the name of the entitled actor (who is on stage to declaim on

It is important to note that a performance session as well as a sessio

the spoken language in tone-time dimensions. In the African performed

processes. Collaterally, there are instances of giving arbitrary lingual te

psychotic ego-displays. Rather the lead artist endeavors to democratize

Ames, D, E. A. Gregerson, and T. Nengebauer. "Taaken Samaarii:

Вам также может понравиться