Drums are an important part of most African cultures, and the variety of African drums is truly astounding. Many different types of African drums have existed for hundreds or thousands of years and have spread across the continent, as well as to other continents and islands.
The batá drums of the Yorùbá people of Nigeria are a well-known group of African drums. The batá drums are made up of three or five different-sized drums that can be played with a stick or with one’s hands. The drums have two heads, one large and one smaller, with a tapered neck that leads to a smaller head. The batá drums, like many other types of African drums, are sacred and are thought to house the deity Aá. As a result, prayers and offerings to the batá drums are possible. Despite the fact that batás are African drums, they are very popular in Cuba. The drums were first introduced when African slaves were brought to Cuba as part of their religious practice, and later became more secular. Batá drums can be heard in many types of Cuban music today, including Cuban jazz and timba.
One of the African drums is the bougarabou. The bougarabou originated in western Africa, and it is still primarily found there. The bougarabou was traditionally played as a single drum with one hand or stick, but in recent years, some players have begun to play multiple bougarabou of varying sizes. The bougarabou has one head, which is usually covered in cow hide, and is shaped like an hourglass. Jingling bracelets are frequently worn bougarabou players to add another percussive layer to their music.
Ashiko drums are African drums that can be found all over southern Africa and have even made it to the Americas. They’re large, conic-shaped drums with cow hide coverings. They’re almost always played with the hands, and they can be played standing up or laying on their side with the player straddling them. The drums are widely used not only in Africa, but also in the West, and many Westerners consider them to be an excellent first hand drum.
The drums known as talking drums are perhaps the most well-known of the African drums. Although this term can be applied to any drum that can be tuned to sound like words in the local language, such as the batá, it is most commonly applied to a set of African drums found in West Africa. These drums are available in a variety of shapes, but the most common is a straight hourglass with two leather-covered heads. The player can press or release the strings that hold the heads down to modulate the pitch of the sound that comes from them. They’re usually played with a stick, and the sound they make can be quite loud and travel a long way. Many African languages benefit from talking drums because the shifting sounds can approximate the language quite accurately in some cases.