Karla News

Dùndùn Drumming: To What Extent Is It Important to the Yoruba Culture and Other West African Societies?

Yoruba

Although many aspects of Yoruba life have been impacted by foreign presence, the musical traditions have been maintained within the culture. The musical culture of the Yoruba is an important tool through which people convey emotion or evoke emotional response. As one goes through the stresses and pressures of everyday life, many times it is difficult to express one’s full emotions. Many people, including many in today’s society, believe that music is one the solutions to such a problem. Music can express highs and lows with defining emotional meaning. In West Africa, the ancient and modern cultures capture this phenomenon with their broad range of music, which is woven into the fabric of their lives. Particularly, the Yoruba culture, both past and present, have implemented music, more specifically dùndùn drumming, as a means of expression, artistic innovation, and structure. But to what extent is dùndùn drumming important to the Yoruba culture and other West African societies? Dùndùn drumming is highly significant to the Yoruba culture, because it has symbolic meanings based on its origin, it adds a sense of tradition to the Yoruba society, and it is used in all ceremonies of importance in the Yoruba culture.

The title “Yoruba” is used in modern terms to refer to all societies that speak the Yoruba language; however, the term was formerly used to allude to the Oyo people (‘Yoruba Music’ 1). The Oyo people inhabit the majority of the country Nigeria in Western Africa. The modern term Yoruba may encompass tribes of Ife, Oyo, Edo, and Western Ibo (Pemberton 27). Much of the knowledge of the Yoruba people comes from oral evidence, because no form of traditional writing existed in Yorùbáland until the 16th century when the Portuguese began to write about the people of Yoruba (Euba 37). The beginnings of Portuguese writings about the Yoruba finally put the history and legend of the people into tangible form. This was important, because it now gave historians a reliable source to research the people of Yoruba.

The dùndùn drum is extremely important to music in the Yoruba culture, because the basis of its origin has symbolic meaning to the culture. The origin of the dùndùn drum is a highly debated issue among the Yoruba. Hundreds of stories exist about the introduction of the dùndùn into Yoruba society. Although there are many stories and myths about the creation of the dùndùn drum, a select few have caught on and are the most widely accepted truths for the dùndùn’s creation. The different clans within the Yoruba believe various myths and stories; however, for all of the Yoruba, the dùndùn symbolizes steadiness and foundation, because it is the backbone of all music performed in the Yoruba culture.

The most widely known oral myth that accounts for the Yoruba establishment of civilization acknowledges the city of Ile Ife and the great Yoruba ancestor Oduduwa as the place of Yoruba origin (Pemberton 27). According to legend: Oduduwa’s son Okanbi had seven children, among them were princes and princesses, and from these children various tribes formed and combined to form Yorùbáland (29). Oduduwa and his seven children were alive sometime during the twelfth century (31). Many sources claim that Oduduwa became blind near the end of his life and his sons, the princes, stole his crown and agreed to disperse from Ile Ife to create their own kingdoms (Pemberton 35). Thus, the kingdom of Yorùbáland began to disperse farther into the West African territory known today as Nigeria. The small village states created by the princes and princesses grew into larger “centers of populations” as the kingdom spread and came into contact with other civilizations that had similar linguistic styles and social structures (36).

According to some sources, the dùndùn originated from a native of Sáwòró, who called himself Ayàn, which is in Ibàrìbáland [also known as Borgu] (Euba 38). Ayàn taught families in Sáwòró about the dùndùn drum and how to play it in ensembles. The families of Sáwòró enjoyed the dùndùn drumming so much that they hailed Ayàn even after his death, and the dùndùn drumming spread into the new colonization of Oyó where it prospered (38). This is one of the few myths that credits the origin to another African territory, Ibàrìbáland, and yet it does not account for a general time of origin. The myth of Ayàn introducing the dùndùn gives a symbolism to the drum that shows family as important in the Yoruba culture. Just as the dùndùn is the backbone of the rhythmic beat in an ensemble, the family is the backbone in a clan of Yoruba people.

From the twelfth century to the twentieth century, many subdivisions of people formed within Yorùbáland. Seven outlying groups of people currently exist in the twentieth century: Oyo, Ife, Egba, Ekiti, Kabba, Ondo, and Ijebu (Metz 104). In the nineteenth century, British influences began to affect Yoruba life. Former slaves returned along with British crusaders, and they established the Anglican Church and the first university in 1948 (105). Traditional religion in Yorùbáland consists of local theology combined with the central chieftain beliefs (123). The Islam and Christianity religions exist throughout Yorùbáland; however, locals have added in their own tribal beliefs to go along with the structured beliefs of the main religions (Islam/Christianity) (123). Some believe Islam was established in Yorùbáland as early as the eleventh century (123). Islam and Christianity contested each other in Western Africa during the nineteenth century colonial period, and today the Yoruba practice both.

See also  Could a Wild African Yam Increase Your Chance of Twins?

Other myths of origin show the dùndùn’s representation in a spiritual nature and in connection with religion. One story has it that a drummer from Ilé Ifé received the dùndùn as a gift of the heavens from the ancestral founders of Ilé Ifé (Euba 38). Others claim that the dùndùn drums came from Mecca, the capital of the Islamic religion. One myth that supports the claim that Mecca produced the dùndùn goes as follows: Allah (God) created the dùndùn for the Prophet Mohammed and placed the drum in a mosque in Mecca. The mosque and the dùndùns were guarded by two spirits that Allah had placed there along with the drums. Legend tells us that when intruders entered the mosque, the spirits played the drums to alert the Muslims that the mosque was in danger (39). These origin myths, which involve religion, also associate faith with the dùndùn. The connection between the two shows the figurative importance of the dùndùn to the Yoruba culture.

Moreover, the Yoruba’s association of the dúndún with their faith is a serious aspect of becoming a dúndún drummer. In the Yoruba culture, playing the dúndún brings “good things and the fulfillment of all the drummers desires”; therefore, successful drummers can furnish themselves with the necessities of life (Euba 99). The Yoruba believe that God brings these good things and this fulfillment of desires through the dúndún (99).

We can see the dúndún’s importance become critical by noting that while most Yorubas are Muslims and Christians, they directly contradict both religions, which are monotheist religions, by praising a God of Drumming they refer to as Ayàn (99), which is the mythological character mentioned in one myth of origin. Now, the view that the dúndún is an ordinary instrument in this culture can be dismissed, because it seems that they place the drum on a higher level of significance, similar to religion, when they blatantly contradict their religion to do so.

When looking further into religion’s correspondence with the dúndún, it can be seen the most dúndún drummers are Muslim, rather than Christian (Euba 96). Some Christian drummers do exist, but they are outnumber by the Muslim drummers (96). The relationship here does not seem to offer much to conclude upon, but we can note the fact that the Muslim religion is far more lenient on the Yoruba drummers for worshiping more than one God, then the Christians religion is (99). Besides religion, other aspects are prominent among most drummers. Most dúndún drummers are males between the ages of ten and seventy (96). The ability to play the dúndún is passed down from fathers to sons (99). The dúndún tradition provides for each generation to pass to the next is the reason why the drum is a key element in the Yoruba culture.

Similarly to exploring the origin, it is also important to establish a time frame for the origin. The task of putting a date on the dùndùn’s introduction into Yoruba culture is a difficult one and no conclusions can be drawn with any degree of certainty. The myth about Allah giving the Muslims the dùndùn in Mecca can be supported with the knowledge that hourglass drums similar in shape and nature to the dùndùn appeared first in Arabic culture circa 945 AD – 1258 AD (Euba 45). The hourglass shape also points to a different time period as the time of origin: experts find interest in a bronze plaque that depicts an hourglass tension drum, similar to the dùndùn, that is believed to have been cast between 1550 AD – 1650 AD (43). These clues may offer insight to the time period in which the dùndùn was introduced the Yoruba; however, multitudes of facts contradict any hypothesis that may be posed. For example, the bronze plaque previously mentioned dates the dùndùn almost 300 years before written history claims Alàáfin (King) Atíba introduced the dùndùn to the Oyó in 1835 when they became dissatisfied with their traditional folk music (39). Such contradictions make it difficult to date the dùndùn’s introduction, but stories behind the introduction are the key to understanding its importance to the Yoruba people. Each myth or story offers a correspondence with an aspect of Yoruba life that is important, and thereby proves that the dùndùn is an essential element of everyday life in Yorùbáland.

Using all the facts about the date of origin of the dúndún as evidence, it is feasible to conclude that the dúndún was created sometime around the ninth and tenth centuries. The lack of written proof leaves a large window of time in which the drum may have been forged. However, from oral evidence such as the myths of origin in Mecca and Soworo, we can hypothesize that the drum was created by another civilization other than the Oyo (Yoruba). This would make the time period of the ninth and tenth century comprehendible for the origin, because the Arabic influences on the Yoruba began around the eleventh and twelfth centuries, in which it is claimed that the mass Yoruba civilization was first joined. Thereafter, written accounts were formed with the brass plaque from Benin and the Portuguese writings in the eighteenth century. In the case of dating the dúndún, the earliest evidence must be given precedence over later claims to the creation of the drum, and that leads us to believe that the drum was created in the mid-ninth century in Mecca and later introduced to the Yoruba culture.

See also  Doctor Faustus: Summary and Analysis: Wagner and Robin, the Clown

Similarly to exploring the dúndún’s significance through its origin, exploring the drums meaning to the culture through its makeup and physics will also tell us a great deal about the importance. Dúndún’s are made in various models. The most popular model is called Iyáàlù (Euba 110). The Iyáàlù is an hourglass tension drum that includes a strap for the arm, strings down the sides that project different pitches, and small jingles on the side of the drumhead (112). All dúndún’s are played with a curved stick in combination with one of the drummer’s hands (110). By contracting the strings with varying amounts of force and striking the drumhead with the hand and stick, the drummer creates a pitched tone. Because the dúndún can create hundreds of pitches and the Yoruba language is based on tones, the drum can offer a small means of communication that is similar to that of the Yoruba’s oral communication.

The Yoruba’s authentic dúndúns are made from very specific materials, which affect the physics of the drum. The wood the drum is made from is from the àpá tree, which is known in English terms as a mahogany bean tree (Euba 118). When cutting down the trees prior to carving the drums, the Yoruba’s consider whether the tree is masculine or feminine. If it is feminine, it is considered to be rid of any spirit (118). But if it is masculine, a ceremony is performed to release the spirit before it can but can down (118). In this ceremony, the carver speaks to the tree:
“We wish to cut you down, O tree. If there is a spirit inside, let it depart.
May it not harm us, or our children. This is your offering of pacification…(119)”

The head of the drum is made from goat’s skin (125), the pitch controlling strings on the side of the drum are made from rolled skin from the bush buck (126). The drumstick is made from the wood of the ita tree, because after bending the carved wood for several days the soft wood hardens into a natural curvature (126). All these important materials add to the particular sound of the dúndún. The tradition of the drum is unique to the Yoruba, because they add their own specific aspects to the drum and its material design. Another person in a different place and culture could make a similar drum. However, it would not be the same quality of a traditional dúndún.

Furthermore, the dùndùn is significant to the Yoruba, because it adds to the tradition of the Yoruba culture. The language of the Yoruba is a language based on tones, from low to medium to high (‘Yoruba Music’ 1). Therefore, it is not difficult to understand how the tones from a human voice relate directly to the tones created on the dùndùn. This enables the Yoruba to tell stories through dùndùn performances. An example of this can be seen in the drumming at a festival called Odun Oro in the city of Ila Orangun. At this festival the King is honored along with past Kings, or Obas. The chief drummer at this ceremony plays structured tones, which represent the narration of the Ila Orangun political history (Pemberton 23). The ability of the dùndùn to translate stories from the past into the present is an extremely important aspect of the Yoruba culture. Thus, the dùndùn can be considered essential to the Yoruba, because is transcribes the history of the societies within the Yoruba from the past into the present. Moreover, without the dùndùn, the people of Yorùbáland might not know the extent of their past lineage.

Around 1817, the Oyo, a large international exporter of slaves in West Africa, fell into chaos as a civil war broke out (Metz 22). After about a decade, the entire Yorùbáland was engulfed in a civil war over exportation of slaves. War camps formed which later became heavily populated areas (22). At this time, the British entered the conflicts, blockaded the coast, and attempted to end the Slave Trade. This was the British’s first major impact in Yorùbáland, and as we see later, the religious affiliations of Yorubaland are impacted.

Finally, the dùndùn is extremely essential in the Yoruba culture, because it is used in almost every ceremony, celebration, or any other aspect of community life. One of the primary uses of the dùndùn is for music or rhythms during warfare. The Yoruba use the dùndùn in warfare, because it is believed to enhance the morale of the Yoruba warriors. During the Yoruba civil wars from 1700 AD to 1850 AD, the dùndùn was used primarily for morale purposes (Euba 60). The Yoruba use the dùndùn in wartime, because according to myth, a rainstorm occurred during a military outing. When this happened, all the speaking drums could no longer produce tones, because the drumheads were too damp, with the exception of the dùndùns. From this moment on, the dùndùn was hailed as the chief of all Yoruba drums (41). The dúndún is also used in wartime, and en route to any sort of competition, for marching along the way (42-43). Once again, we can see the importance of the dùndùn by noting its presence at key Yoruba events. The wartime usage also indicates that the dùndùn is viewed as a source of steadiness (from the tones it produces) in the Yoruba mind-set, which by itself shows the importance of the dùndùn to the Yoruba culture as a whole.

See also  Philip Larkin Literary Criticism

One of the popular festivals the dúndún is used at is the Egúngún festival of the spirits. The Egúngún festival is held to recognize the spirit world’s active interest in the world of the living (Euba 77). On the first and second days of the festival the only activity is a home-to-home performance of a dúndún ensemble (81). The third day includes more home-to-home ensemble playing, this time the ensemble members wear special masks for their role in the festival (83). After each home is visited, a container of palmoil buried as a symbol to the God of Fate (83). Then, the drummers and tribe members follow the Egúngún society to the marketplace, where a dance ensues all night to symbolize the conclusion of the festival (83). The dúndún is used exclusively for this festival, which means no other type of drum (i.e. Bata) can be used.

Also, the dúndún is used to announce or herald an upcoming ceremony, the presence of a royal authority or chieftain, or to proclaim any other major event within the Yoruba society. The Yoruba have passed down the dùndùn tradition for hundreds of generations, and the tradition has been maintained and passed along to the modern culture of Yoruba people. Even in today’s Yoruba culture, the dùndùn drum is still considered the most effective way to announce a future or current ceremony taking place (Euba 62). Several other ceremonies which include dúndún performances are: home warming gestures, marriage ceremonies, and ceremonies to name newborn, Yoruba children. The Yoruba also use the dùndùn at friendship club meetings for men and women (63). Many Yoruba instruments are limited to particular types of ceremonies; however, the dùndùn is not limited to specific occasions (62).

Perhaps, one of the most important ceremonies for which the dùndùn is used is the ceremonial burials. The dùndùn is used during the actual burial of a Yoruba tribe member and also in post burial ceremonies (Euba 63). The burial and post-burial ceremonies with the dùndùn drums are performed regardless of whether the person is associated with Muslim, Christian, or neither religion (63). The dúndún drum is obviously important during the life of a Yoruban person, so its use during the burial rituals is a sign that the Yorubas feel that the dùndùn is an important part of a passover into another realm. The dúndún is common at most all of the Yoruba ceremonies and ritual gatherings, but it is also not uncommon for the dùndùn to be excluded from a ceremony. For instance, the Yoruba people consider it poor taste to play joyous tones from a dúndún at a funeral ceremony for a young person (64). The recurring uses of the dùndùn during ceremonies in Yoruba culture shows the value and importance of the drum and indicates that the dùndùn is an essential to the Yoruba.

In conclusion, dùndùn drumming is a significant element in the Yoruba culture, because it has symbolic meanings based on its origin, it adds a sense of tradition to the Yoruba society, and it is used in all ceremonies of importance in the Yoruba culture. Different stories and myths from everywhere in Yorùbáland have been passed from generation to generation. Regardless of their factual nature, the stories still have a great deal to tell us about the dùndùn’s importance to the Yoruba people. The stories all have a basic explanation for the dùndùn’s appearance in West Africa, including myths with religious basis, lineage basis, and even ancestral basis. All of the basis topics in each story are extremely important to the Yoruba people, so the inclusion of the dùndùn drum tells us that the dùndùn was a key element in all of these life aspects. The tradition that the dùndùn passes along to each generation is an invaluable aspect of its existence. The Yoruba language is based on tones and pitches, similar to the dùndùn drum.

This connection has allowed the Yoruba to make pitch structured songs and rhythms that convey the lineage and history of the Yoruba society to future generations. This is an essential role of the dùndùn, because without this ability, we might not have the information that we now know about the Yoruba culture. Furthermore, the various ceremonies and rituals for which the dùndùn is a part are amazing. Any aspect of any culture that has as much inclusion as the dùndùn drum is a key element of that culture, just as the dùndùn is to the Yoruba people. All of these important aspects added together serve as powerful evidence of the dùndùn’s essentialness to the Yoruba culture. I think the Yoruba society views the dùndùn as a sacred symbol which stands for steadiness, foundation, and structure. All aspects of the Yoruba culture function on the basis of these principals, which is why the dùndùn has become so important.

Euba, Akin. Yoruba Drumming: The Dúndún Tradition. W. Germany: Bayreuth University, 1990. Euba Akin: ‘Yoruba Music’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [26 September 2003]), http://www.grovemusic.com Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. Nigeria: A Country Study. 5th ed. Washington: Library of Congress, 1992. Pemberton, John III, Funso S. Afolayan. Yoruba Sacred Kingship: ” A Power Like That of the Gods.” Washington & London: Smithsonian Press, 1996.