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The
early original Djembe drum comes to us from
Mali, in the West african coast, but it is also widely
built & played in other neighbour countries
(Senegal, Ivory Coast...).
Djembes
were built by members of a special social group,who
had an important role in
social life, since they also made tools,knives
and masks. Each
instrument was especially manufactured for one
particular drummer. A tree was chosen, and the
spirit of the tree wasoffered cola-nuts, to
apologize for the cutting. |
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The
"grios" ethny consists of musicians and singers who
were the official keepers of history and tradition
(by lack of any written records). Still today, the
grios are the ones who know which songs, dances and
rhythms should be performed at all social occasions
like baptisms, weddings and funerals.
Though,
there is no ethnical restrictions in becoming a "djembefola"
(djembe player/master). Being a djembefola is not
even considered a profession. The drummer of each
african village, even if he was a real master, made
a living with another job.The djembe has taken its
shape from mortars used to pound millet. It has an
hour-glass shape and is open on two sides. Most commonly,
a goat skin is stretched (really very tight!) over
the top. It is played with the hands, with basically
3 major key-sounds :
"Bass"
/ "Tone" / "Slap".
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Traditionally,
Djembe is played at different festivities or
rituals. It is almost always combined with singing
and dancing. There are also no real "spectators" of
Djembe in Africa, as everybody present participates
the festivity in some way or another.
The
drummers often start playing, in order to announce
the start of the festivities and gather the guests.
Then, a Grios starts to sing a song, to which everybody
answers in chorus. By this time, the musicians have
recognized the song and have started to play the corresponding
rhythm. The dancers start to dance the basic steps
of the rhythm, in a circle. When the griotte stops
singing, or the master drummer feels there has been
enough singing, the musicians increase the volume
and pace of the music.
Taking
turns, solo dancers (mainly women) emerge from the
crowd and come and dance in front of the djembefola.
The djembefola follows their steps and variations
on the djembe, and depending on how well they dance
and how many variations the dancer knows. Each solo
dance takes about half a minute. The pace of the rhythm
then decreases again, in waiting of the next dancer.
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