Djembé
The Djembé (often also: Djembe ) is a single- skin tumbler drum from West Africa , the body of which consists of a hollowed-out tree trunk.
The height of a Djembé is usually around 60 centimeters, the diameter of its covering, usually made of shorn goat skin, around 30 centimeters. Djembes are only struck with the bare hands and are characterized by an extensive sound spectrum , the deep bass of which the Djembé owes to the special, chalice-shaped shape of its body, which acts as a Helmholtz resonator when playing the Djembé .
Djembes are used both as a solo and as an ensemble instrument.
designation
The name of the drum and its pronunciation may vary by region. The Malinke in Guinea , where the instrument is widespread, say dyenbe (pronounced “dyèmbe” or “gèmbe”), the Fulbe in a modification of the Malinke word dyimbe , the Susu on the other hand sanbanyi . In the German-speaking world, the spelling Djembé (pronounced: Dschembee) is common, Jenbe in Mali , Jembe (English), Yembe , Dyembe (Guinea), Djimbi or Djimbe (generally West Africa). But other terms such as tamtam ( Senegal ) or Sanbanyi are also used by the Susu. Both the word Djemben and the English-speaking plural form Djembés are used as plural in German .
The same applies to the naming of the different rhythms and striking techniques of the Djembé game: Here, too, uniformity of the terms is difficult to achieve, as different languages and dialects (namely French and various African) are often used for one and the same object.
Distribution history
The Djembé was traditionally only made by blacksmiths ( Maninka numun ), who belong to the Malinke ethnic group in today's West African countries of Guinea , Mali , Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast . With the help of their metal tools, they could hollow out tree trunks and carve drum bodies out of them. The shape was modeled on the African mortar , but has refined over time. The Malinke preferred to use the Lenké hardwood that grew in their area of settlement, which is particularly strong and suitable for the high tensile force of the drum covering, and even today the most popular djembes are made from the best of such special African tonewoods.
The first djembes reached the western world between 1940 and 1960 via Paris, on the one hand through films, on the other hand through the tours of Les Ballets Africains , directed by Fodéba Keïta from Guinea, with the then young Papa Ladji Camara. The subsequent adaptations by various companies lived mainly from the charm of the West African Djembé sounds, and so the Djembé became increasingly popular - now it can be found in ensembles all over the world. Taufiq Qureshi introduced the Djembé into the Indian cultural area.
education
Since many ethnic groups originally have no phonetic or musical notation , the rhythms and techniques are not written down but passed on orally from generation to generation. You learn rhythms there, among other things, by imitating or repeating syllable sequences. For example, bass beats are often played with “u” (bum / dum), open beats with “i” (bi / di) and slaps with “a” (ba / da).
construction
The wooden body of traditional djembes is made seamlessly and by hand from a tree trunk, so that each drum made in this way is unique. The wall thickness of the body is around 25 millimeters at its lower opening, and a little less at the upper edge below the skin.
Traditional Djembé with a natural wooden body from Guinea
Traditional and modern Djembé in comparison
Modern djembé made from a mixture of plant fibers and synthetic resin with a shoulder strap
In the past, antelope skin was used as the skin for djembes , today thin, shorn goat skin is used instead, which is pulled over the upper opening of the wooden body with the help of two metal rings wrapped in fabric and then pulled around the waist of the drum by means of a string system and a third one Metal ring is tensioned. In the past, native cords made of natural materials were used as tension cords - today you can usually find a four to six millimeter thick simple polyester cord that is pre-stretched in better djembes .
Hardwood djembé with 1st row of tension knots
1st and 2nd row of tension knots on a Djembé
3rd and 4th row of tension knots on a Djembé
The traditional Djembé is tuned with special tension knots, which are tied according to a simple pattern and the Djembé, starting from the lower metal ring, runs in an upward spiral towards the skin. When tuning or re-tensioning such a traditional djembé, two adjacent longitudinal cords are pulled over each other with the help of the revolving tensioning rope (see illustration above) so that the mesh around the upper part of the drum continues to tighten with each new knot, and so does that The fur held by him is pulled tighter and tighter. The ultimate tension of the head and thus the sound of the drum, however, depends not only on the tension created by the strings, but also on the temperature and humidity . For example, some Djembé players tune their instruments again before the performance by exposing the skin of the instrument to the heat of a fire, which causes it to stretch even further, but ultimately also to tear.
sound
Every Djembé has a sound spectrum that is essentially influenced by the tonewood used, the shape of the body, the eardrum and the skin tension.
Depending on the tension of the hand and the point of impact, a distinction is made between three basic beats: the deep bass beat ( bass ) in the middle of the head, the "open" beat on its edge ( open / tone ) and the slap, which is also whipped on the edge of the skin, but whip-like . The entire sound spectrum of the Djembé, however, is much more differentiated - good playing technique enables many other fine nuances such as light tapping ( taps ) with the fingertips, trills with index or middle fingers and double strikes ( flaps / flams ), in which both hands come up almost simultaneously . After all, many players also attach special rattle plates (kessings) to their instruments, which when drumming produce an additional, metallic clattering sound (snare) .
Playing technique
There are three ways to play a djembe: standing, on a chair or sitting on the djembe itself. The soloist of an ensemble usually plays while standing in order to follow the dancers and to be able to influence the dance process directly . To do this, he hangs the drum around his neck and torso with the help of a ribbon or cloth. Sitting on a chair, the drum is tilted slightly forwards so that the bass can penetrate out of the lower drum opening, the drum is held between the legs or is held in place with a waist band or cloth. In the third position, the instrument lies on the floor and the musician sits on the body at about the height of the drum waist.
The posture when playing should always be upright and relaxed so that the arms can develop enough strength and speed . The Djembé is struck with the bare hands, whereby the forearms should be in a plane with the eardrum when the hands are placed flat on the middle of the head. The individual strokes are then played out of the arms , usually alternating with right and left - in the best case, they flow into each other, so that finally a kind of dance of the arms emerges.
Interplay of accompaniment and solo voices
Djembé music is a complex combination of several individual voices, which only produce the actual rhythm when they play together.
At the beginning of a piece there is usually a signal ( blocage ) from the soloist, then the accompaniment to which you sing and dance starts at the tempo determined by him.
The accompanying musicians should first of all provide a solid rhythmic foundation ( groove ) with clearly separated sounds , on the basis of which the soloist can then move fluently from one sound to the other, using various variations and solo figures to musically follow the dancers or give them new phrases. A djembé can be called a “solo djembé” if it stands out clearly and audibly from the playing of the rest of the ensemble due to its sound quality, for which the skin of such solo djembes is usually tuned very high.
If you want to change to another dance figure, the soloist plays a roulement , which usually consists of a series of slap - open combinations. Then the blocage follows again . This sequence is repeated with different solo figures and tempos until the dance ends. The special art consists in coordinating the individual rhythm patterns so precisely with the dancers that the entire ensemble, i.e. drummers and dancers, can use the blocage as a common turning point ( break ).
Ensembles
The typical line-up of an ensemble consists of a solo djembé, usually tuned a little higher, one to two accompanying djembes and one to three bass drums ( dunun ). The Djembé rhythms get their "heartbeat" and special character from the melody, which arises from the interplay with the differently tuned dunun, the dununba (low), sangban (medium) and kenkeni (high). In addition, wrought-iron idiophones are often used, such as the kenken or the atoke .
Dununba and Sangban can also be active as a soloist, with the latter often assuming a leadership role and, for example - similar to the solo djembé - giving signals for the change of dance figures. Combined with different bass figures of the dunun, one and the same basic rhythms of the djembé are often given different names, according to which they are then played on different occasions.
literature
- Serge Blanc: African Percussion: The Djembe . 1997.
- Mark Sunkett: Mandiani Drum and Dance: Djembé Performance and Black Aesthetics from Africa to the New World . White Cliffs Media, 1995, ISBN 0-941677-76-1 CD / Tape / Video. An in depth treatment of The dance and music of Mandiani people who originated in the Northeastern region of Guinea in West Africa.
- Jan Fuhlendorf: The Djembé manual - tradition, style, playing technique, purchase, care and repair . Frankfurt 1995.
- Sylvia Franke: Djembé percussion from West Africa - the instruments, the rhythms and the music for learning, teaching and experiencing from / with Ibro Konate, Sylvia Franke . 127 pages. Contains 2 CDs. Self-published, Hamburg March 2001, ISBN 3-9807221-4-7 .
- Ursula Branscheid: The Djembé in different line-ups. Rock, pop, jazz and other styles of music, concepts for different formations and line-ups. Game and textbook with CD for beginners and advanced players . Leu-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2000, ISBN 3-89775-028-7 .
- Ursula Branscheid-Diebaté: Djembé. Free play on the Djembé as a musical means of expression. Basics, tips and exercises for grooves and solos. Precise and free play on the Djembé . Textbook with CD for beginners and advanced learners. Leu-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 5th edition 2005, ISBN 3-928825-84-4 .
- Kalani: Jembe. Everything you need to know to start playing now! . Book and CD. Edited by MMII Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. USA, ISBN 0-7390-2360-8 .
- Rainer Polak (Ed.): The Jenbe Realbook . Book with foreword and complete transcriptions of all solos and Dundun voices of the corresponding CD "The Art of Jenbe Drumming - The Mali Tradition Vol. 1." bibiafrica music edition, Nuremberg 2006, and "The Mali Tradition Vol. 2." bibiafrica music edition , Nuremberg 2008.
- Rainer Polak: A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, in West Africa, and Beyond . In: Post, Jennifer (ed.), Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader. NY: Routledge Press (2005), pp. 161-185. First published in: The World of Music (2000) 42 (3): 7-46.
- Rainer Polak: Festival music as work, drumming as a profession. Jenbe player in a major West African city . Berlin: Reimer, 2nd edition 2010, ISBN 978-3-496-02840-6
- Rainer Polak: A musical instrument goes around the world. To interweave local, national and international contexts in the Bamako Jenbe game . In: Bauer, Ulrich, Henrik Egbert and Frauke Jäger (eds.), Intercultural Relations and Cultural Change in Africa. Contributions to the globalization debate. Frankfurt a. M .: Peter Lang Verlag (2001), pp. 291-312.
- Uschi Billmeier, Mamady Keita: A life for the djembe. 5th edition. Arun Verlag, Uhlstädt 2007, ISBN 978-3-935581-50-9 . (in German, English, French and Japanese)
Discography
- Aja Addy: Power and Patience . WeltWunder Records, Germany 1992.
- Mustapha Tettey Addy : Master Drummer from Ghana . WeltWunder Records, Germany 1995.
- Adama Dramé : Percussions Mandingues , France 1992
- Adama Dramé: Percussions Mandingues Vol.2 , France 1994
- Adama Dramé: Percussion pour Mandela , Strasbourg 1995
- Adama Dramé: 30 years of jembé. San Bissaba Foli . Sunset, France 1996.
- Adama Dramé: Afrique - Africa . Auvidis. France 1996.
- Mamady Keita & Sewa Kan: Afö . fontimusicali, France 1998.
- Ibro Konate & Anta: Wallawalla . Anta Records, Hamburg. Germany around 1998.
- Silvie & Hand to Hand: ... barefoot through the rainforest. Djembe percussion and chants from West Africa . Hamburg 1999.
- Yé Lassina Coulibaly: Yé Lassina Coulibaly . d'Asterios Productions, Paris. France 2001.
- Famoudou Konate, Thomas Ott: Rhythms and Songs from Guinea. Rhythms and songs from Guinea . Lugert Verlag, Oldershausen.
- Madou Djembé: Percussions d'Afrique. African drums . Sunset France. air Mail Music, Boulogne 2002.
- Silvie & Hand to Hand: Strandgut . Hamburg 2006.
- Jaraba Jakite et al. a .: The Art of Jenbe Drumming - The Mali Tradition Vol.1 . bibiafrica records, Nuremberg. Germany 2006.
- Famoudou Konate: Hamana Namun . tarikumusique - CD Tar 02, Conakry u. Pappenheim. Guinea u. Germany 2008.
- Drissa Kone et al. a .: The Art of Jenbe Drumming - The Mali Tradition Vol. 2. bibiafrica records, Nuremberg. Germany 2008.
- Dunbia, Yamadu, et al. a .: Dònkili - Call to Dance. Festival Music from Mali . PAN CD 2060, Leiden (NL) 1997.
Web links
- Eric Charry "A Guide to the Jembe" , originally published in "Percussive Notes" 34, no. 2 (April 1996)
- Rainer Polak "Rhythmic Feel as Meter: Non-Isochronous Beat Subdivision in Jembe Music from Mali" (2010)
- Kari Kääriäinen "Basic Technique for Djembe" - introductory page for playing the Djembe with video examples
- African djembe ensemble in the Paris metro. Youtube video
Individual evidence
- ↑ djembe-art.de types of wood
- ↑ Beat Floor: The Roots - Rhythms of the Malinké ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Eric Charry, A Guide to the Jembe
- ↑ a b Djembé ABC, worth knowing about African drumming
- ↑ Sound Lexicon, Basics about the sound of a Djembé
