Music as Speech
Music as Speech
Dundun Drums. In his book on Yoruba drumming, Akin Euba explains that dundun drums mimic human speech, specifically Oyo or standard Yoruba dialect, thereby making the speech of the drums comprehensible to all Yoruba. Thus, the drums communicate proverbs, poetry, satire, and social commentary through actual words, not as code. Presenting a compelling argument for dating the beginning of the Yoruba dundun tradition to around the fourteenth century, Euba explains that memorized drum texts form a cumulative body of knowledge that serves as source materials for other literary forms and performance arts. Dundun drummers are particularly adept at speaking in proverbs that are relevant to particular contexts. In fact, as Euba points out, drum proverbs are used to elicit audience participation.
Akan Homs. Also known for their “talking drums,” the Akan use ceremonial Homs, Mmintia, to communicate in a language understood by Akan speakers. As Peter Kwasi Sarpong has pointed out, their language is “idiomatic, symbolic, and proverbial.” Unlike the dundun drums, which are used for ceremonial and nonceremonial occasions, the Akan
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Mmintia are reserved specifically for ceremonies for a king or chief. These Homs chronicle the history and daily events of Akan leadership, including information about the queen mothers and their lineage responsibilities. Because their language is dominated by idiomatic and historical references, Akan horn messages are understood by a relatively small number of listeners.
Sources
Akin Euba, Yoruba Drumming: The Dundun Tradition (Bayreuth, West Germany: Eckhard Breitinger, Bayreuth University, 1990).
Peter Kwasi Sarpong, The Ceremonial Homs of theAshanti (Accra, Ghana: Sedco, 1990).
Kwesi Yankah, “Voicing and Drumming the Poetry of Praise: The Case for Aural Literature,” in Interdisciplinary Dimensions of African Literature, edited by Kofi Anyidoho, Abioseh M. Porter, Daniel Racine, and Janice Spleth (Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1985), pp. 139-158.