A drum is one of the most basic instruments that can be played. With the possible exception of the human voice, percussion instruments are without a doubt the most basic and fundamental instruments. The concept of percussion is expanded with a drum, which goes beyond simple banging together of rocks or pieces of wood. Instead, it adds a membrane that is stretched taut and produces sound when struck. Because of the drum’s simplicity, there are numerous examples of ancient drums found across continents and millennia.
One group of ancient drums originated in West Africa, most likely in the Mali Empire around the 9th century. The doundounba, sangban, and kenkeni are all members of the dunun family of ancient drums. When played with other drums, the doundounba is the largest of the three, and it produces deep, resounding notes that are usually spaced widely apart. The sangban is the middle drum in a dunun ensemble, and it usually plays the rhythmic role. The kenkeni is the tiniest of these ancient drums, and it’s usually played in a simple pattern quickly. The dunun drums are played with a stick, usually a single person, and frequently include a bell as part of the set.
Another well-known drum in Irish music is the bodhran. Although it is debatable whether bodhrans are truly ancient drums or are of more recent origin, they are likely to be several centuries old. The name is thought to have originated in the 17th century, and the drum is thought to have arrived in Ireland from Spain around the same time or a little earlier. The bodhran is a simple drum made of a basic hoop and a goatskin stretched across it. A seated musician plays the bodhran while holding the drum on its side. The drum is played with one hand, striking it with the hand or a small beater. The other hand sits on the inside of the drum head, pressing down on the skin to alter the timbre and pitch of the sound.
The daf is another of the world’s ancient drums, this time hailing from Iran. The daf is a thousand-year-old drum that influenced the development of similar European instruments as Islam spread to Spain. The daf is a large, circular-framed drum that looks a lot like the bodhran, which it may have influenced. The daf, unlike the bodhran, has a number of metal discs around the outside rim that the player can strike to produce a different sound. The daf can be compared to the tambourine, though the metal rings of the daf are much larger.
Many ancient drums can also be found in Asia. The Japanese taiko drums are perhaps the most well-known. Taiko drums have larger heads than most other ancient drums, with head diameters ranging from one to three feet (30-100cm) or even larger. Drumsticks are used to play taiko drums, and the size and weight of the sticks vary depending on the music being played. Taiko drums, unlike some other ancient drums, are stretched extremely tight, resulting in a fairly high pitch given their large size.
Of course, there are hundreds of other types of ancient drums that we did not cover — doing so would easily be a book in and of itself — but these are some of the most well-known, representing a global survey. North and South America, other parts of Africa, India, Polynesia, and essentially anywhere else on Earth where humans have lived have all produced ancient drums. The desire to make music appears to be universal, as does the use of animal hides to make tools for transporting or sorting grain. It appears that in a culture, it is only a matter of time before the two are combined and a new instrument is born.