The Real Talking Drum
Music Assignment Module 9
Talking Drum
History/Region
West African griots and their history can be traced back to the Ghana Empire. The Hausa people (and by influence, the Yoruba people of south western Nigeria and Benin and the Dagomba of northern Ghana) have developed a highly sophisticated genre of griot music centering the talking drum.
Cultural
In the game series Patapon the player is a god who communicates with his or her followers using four Talking Drums.
Construction
Various sizes of hourglass talking drum exist, with the dimensions of the drum differing between ethnic groups, but all following the same template. As mentioned before, talking drums are a type of membranophone. Unlike many drums used in America, talking drums have a drum head on both sides. The drum takes shape of an hourglass and has strings that connects the two drum strings.
Purchase
A reason to purchase a talking drum is to entertain your guests with music or even for decoration in your house. The drum is a beautiful instrument that it would be hard not to resist the eyes of your guests.