| Most musical instruments today, and indeed, | | | | modern southeastern Mauritania, western Mali and |
| throughout history, have been a kind of luxury. Used | | | | eastern Senegal. This instrument is a pressure drum |
| for entertainment or perhaps in certain religious | | | | with an hourglass shape and drum heads on both |
| ceremonies, they have nevertheless been something | | | | ends. The body is wood and the heads are made |
| that humans could, if necessary, do without. Of | | | | from hide, fish skin or other membranes. Leather |
| course, there are those who claim they would die | | | | cords run the length of the drum's body and are |
| without music, and I would be among the first to | | | | wrapped around the hoops framing both heads. |
| expound upon the importance of music to the human | | | | These cords are the key to the talking drum, as |
| spirit and psyche. Still, music is, in its simplest | | | | they are the source of its pitch modulation. When |
| definition, an extravagance, something created for | | | | the drummer tightens his arm around the drum, |
| pure enjoyment. Yet there is at least one musical | | | | thereby squeezing the cords, the heads tighten and |
| instrument that has historically been used for another | | | | the instrument's pitch is altered. It was this |
| purpose. The drum, with its resounding notes and | | | | characteristic that allowed the ancient tribes of Africa |
| relative ease of use, has been used as a means of | | | | to send such complex messages over long distances. |
| long-distance communication for thousands of years. | | | | When the Europeans first began to explore the |
| There is evidence that many different ancient | | | | jungles of Africa, they were continually surprised to |
| cultures used drums to communicate over long | | | | find that the tribes had been forewarned of their |
| distances. These cultures often existed in forested or | | | | presence. Due to the Atlantic slave trade that |
| isolated areas, which made the use of aural | | | | flourished between the 16th and 19th centuries, |
| communication a logical solution. The people of | | | | talking drums made their way to the Americas. They |
| ancient Sri Lanka, for example, were using drums to | | | | were, not surprisingly, banned for a time when slave |
| communicate between the state and the community | | | | owners realized that the slaves were using the |
| 2500 years ago. Various Native American tribes used | | | | instruments to communicate between plantations. |
| both pressure and slit drums to send messages | | | | This ban, fortunately, has gone the way of the |
| between individual camps. Even Europe had its own | | | | Atlantic slave trade, and today talking drums are |
| drum for communication, the "Txalaparta," which was | | | | valued both for the ancient civilizations they |
| used in a part of Spain called the Basque Country. | | | | represent and their unique musical capabilities. |
| But the most famous of all drums used for | | | | In modern Africa, the talking drum is very popular in |
| communication are the talking drums of West Africa. | | | | various kinds of music. It is used in both Mbalax, the |
| The West African talking drum has its roots in the | | | | national popular dance music of Senegal and Gambia, |
| ancient Ghana Empire, which existed from | | | | and Fuji, a popular musical genre in Nigeria, as well as |
| approximately 750-1076 CE and was located in | | | | other kinds of music in other countries. |