What about the Dunun?
I would like to open up a discussion on a trend I have been seeing in West African drumming in my travels home and abroad.
I have been noticing a focus on learning djembe only, especial solos and leading and a lack of emphasis on the importance of dunun parts and arrangements.
In a traditional sense, when you are playing a composition or piece from Guinea or Mali there are at least 2 (Mali) and almost always 3 different parts on the dunun (Guinea).
When there are 3 parts we have the kinkini, a high pitched double sided drum which holds its part like a metronome. In Mali it is called the konkoni. There are therefore 3 different players.
We have the sangban which has a mid tone and may hold or move its part in relation to and in syncopation with the third lowest toned bass drum, the mother drum the dununba.
Together these three drums form a melody and bass line. They make a musical foundation for the djembes to lock into and work out of. It is also what dancers are keying in on.
In a traditional ensemble each double sided drum is played sideways and hit on the side with a drum stick. Each drum also has a bell on top which is hit with a striker with your other hand. In Mali the bell is held and hit with a ring on the thumb.
The bell parts are all slightly different from each other for the most part. What this means is that you have 6 different parts that are coming out of the dunun ensemble. 3 different tonal parts from the drums and three parts from the bells.
If you think of the traditional compositions as a house, the dunun would be your foundation, the djembe accompaniment your walls and roof and the solo would be your lights and decorations. Nice to have the solo, but the least important musically.
It is important to learn each different dunun part and play it in an ensemble with other people. In doing so you get a completely different vantage point of the composition. Then you can experience the fullness of the piece in a 3D way rather then a linear way.
If you play the kinkini and listen to the rest of the ensemble while you play together it is going to look feel and sound completely different then if you are playing a djembe part and so on and so fourth down the line.
So again by playing each different part you have a completely different musical experience. By not playing dunun you completely miss all beauty of the musical composition these parts combine to make.
If you want to solo on djembe and you know all the dunun and djembe accompaniment parts you can weave through the piece and reference each part as well. If you don’t know, you have to play over everything instead of through it.
When we have 3 parts or drums played standing up vertically and played by only one person we call this Ballet style. I will be talking about this in the next chapter. To be continued…