Water drum (musical instrument)

Water drum made from calabash half-shells

A water drum (English water drum ) is a surcharge idiophone whose hollow resonance body either rests on the water like a drum is hit, or the resonance body is held with the hands and open on a water surface. The percussion instruments are found in the tropical belt of Africa and Southeast Asia. In a third design, which comes from the Indians of North America , a single-headed drum with a wooden body is partially filled with water on the inside to regulate the sound. The term "drum" is misleading in the first two cases, because there, in contrast to just mentioned Membranophon no vibrating membrane is present.

Hollow bodies attached to the outside

In sub- Saharan Africa , water drums consist of a calabash half-shell that floats in a vessel with water. The pitch results from the amount of air inside and can be changed by pressing down. Therefore, in some areas, water drums are held with one hand and hit with a stick in the other. Otherwise two mallets or the hands equipped with finger rings are used.

The assekalabo with the Tuareg in the north of Niger is played with plastic sandals in connection with the mortar drum tendé . Another water drum can be used with the single-stringed spit fiddle goge in the bori possession ritual in Nigeria . In Chad , the Kotoko people use the tembol . In Mali , young Bambara women play the dyi dunu at seasonal festivals and at the funeral of an old woman.

The Fulbe in Gambia call their water drum “dunding” . It is played together with the spit violin, flute, rattle and other drums. As an alternative to dumping , the Fulbe use the calabash drum horde with a diameter of a good 50 centimeters. Here the sound can be varied by pressing the opening of the half-shell, which has been hit with ringed hands, against the upper body while standing.

In the north of Togo the water calabashes ( toyn ) are played in pairs as two half-shells ( oka ) in metal or plastic buckets standing next to each other. The calabash struck with the stick ( kpovi ) of the right hand produces a low tone, the left a high tone. Both are struck alternately, always starting with the right, and serve as accompaniment to singing and dancing.

In Benin , men play water drums at funerals. The Mahi speakers in the south of the country created an ensemble with two water drums ( tohoun, tohun ), a large clay hammer ( go ) (related to the Nigerian udu and the south Indian ghatam ), the double hand bell ganvikpan (corresponds to the gankogui in Ghana ), the single bell ganssu and two basket rattle assanyan recorded.

In Haiti and Cuba , the calabash water drum is called jícara de jobá or güiro de joba . It is used ritually at funerals.

Tubes opened on the surface of the water

The water drums that occasionally appear in the music of New Guinea function completely differently . At the Iatmul on the middle Sepik , wooden hourglass-shaped pipes are tamped in pairs on the river bank on the surface of the water. The tubes are open on both sides and resemble the single-headed hourglass drums Kundu . A side handle in the shape of a crocodile, the tail of which protrudes over the body, is used to hold on. It used to be sacred instruments that women and children were not allowed to see. Today they are shown to tourists and represent an essential source of income as souvenirs. When immersing and pulling out of the water, two different tones are created. Water stands for the fertility principle. The hourglass shape embodies the connection between heaven and earth, two corresponding worlds that come together in the slender center and turn into each other. The human-devouring crocodile is a mythical animal that appears in connection with rites of passage .

Without drums, but with bare hands, women standing in the water on some South Sea islands ( Vanuatu , Solomon Islands ) create similar rhythmic tones. In some cases, men standing on the bank answer the women with their own songs, which they rhythmise with slit drums , pounding sticks or rattling vessels .

Drums filled with water

In the North American Iroquois ritual music, a wooden drum covered with animal skin on one side is used, the inside of which is partially filled with water. The water level, averaging one third, must be precisely adjusted through trial and error in order to achieve the desired sound result. The Iroquois also use differently shaped mallets to influence the sound.

The Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico use a water drum called ʾísal dádestlʾooni ( Apache ísal , "pot", "bucket", for example "bucket [with something] tied around"). For the drum, a large iron pot is partially filled with water and also with sacred materials such as grains and ash. In the past, large clay pots were used. Instead of the membrane that used to be made of animal skin, today a piece of a truck rubber hose is tied over the opening of the pot with a strip of fabric or a rubber strip. The head of the mallet is wrapped with animal skin. The ʾísal dádestlʾooni accompanies entertainment songs and songs for certain magical ceremonies. Usually there are four players who hold the drum under their left elbow while standing. During healing rituals ( gojital ), the seated player clamps the drum between his knees.

Web links

Commons : Water Drum - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Roger Blench: The traditional music of the Jos Plateau in Central Nigeria: an overview. Hamburg, March 2004, p. 4
^ Peter Cooke: Water-drum . In: Grove Music Online, 2001
↑ Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje: The Fulbe Fiddle in The Gambia: A Symbol of Ethnic Identity. In this. (Ed.): Turn up the Volume. A Celebration of African Music. UCLA, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles 1999, p. 108
^ Gerhard Kubik : West Africa. Volume 1: Ethnic Music / Delivery 11th row: Werner Bachmann (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures . VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1989, p. 140

^ Bénin. Mahi. Field recordings by Charles Duvelle 1963. CD: Prophet 13, 2000, tracks 1 and 2

^ Water Drum, 19th – early 20th century. Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik region, Mindimbit village, Iatmul people. Wood, fiber. Metropolitan Museum

^ Paul Collaer: Oceania. Volume 1: Ethnic Music. Delivery 1st row: Heinrich Besseler, Max Schneider (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1965, pp. 136–138

↑ Kiro Water Drumming Solomon . Youtube video

↑ Randy Raine-Reusch: Water Women of Vanuatu.

^ Anthony G. Moeser: The Iroquois Water Drum. (PDF file; 281 kB) pp. 24–26

↑ J. Richard Häfer: 'Ísal dádestl'ooni . In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 54

[1] Roger Blench: The traditional music of the Jos Plateau in Central Nigeria: an overview. Hamburg, March 2004, p. 4

[2] Peter Cooke: Water-drum . In: Grove Music Online, 2001

[3] Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje: The Fulbe Fiddle in The Gambia: A Symbol of Ethnic Identity. In this. (Ed.): Turn up the Volume. A Celebration of African Music. UCLA, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles 1999, p. 108

[4] Gerhard Kubik : West Africa. Volume 1: Ethnic Music / Delivery 11th row: Werner Bachmann (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures . VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1989, p. 140

[5] Bénin. Mahi. Field recordings by Charles Duvelle 1963. CD: Prophet 13, 2000, tracks 1 and 2

[6] Water Drum, 19th – early 20th century. Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik region, Mindimbit village, Iatmul people. Wood, fiber. Metropolitan Museum

[7] Paul Collaer: Oceania. Volume 1: Ethnic Music. Delivery 1st row: Heinrich Besseler, Max Schneider (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1965, pp. 136–138

[8] Kiro Water Drumming Solomon . Youtube video

[9] Randy Raine-Reusch: Water Women of Vanuatu.

[10] Anthony G. Moeser: The Iroquois Water Drum. (PDF file; 281 kB) pp. 24–26

[11] J. Richard Häfer: 'Ísal dádestl'ooni . In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 54