What instruments are in the African Drum ensemble?

<h3>What instruments are in the African Drum ensemble?</h3>

I'm doing a Assessment in Music on African Drumming and i have to include this as a part of the assessment! PLEASE HELPP!


<strong>Burkina Faso best answer:</strong>
<p><i>Answer by alicias7768</i><br/>The instruments

The principal instrument in the African drum ensemble are:

Djembé
The Djembé in Susu language is a wooden carved, goat or cow skin covered hand drum, shaped like a large goblet, and is played with bare hands. According to the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembé comes directly from the saying "Anke dje, anke be" which literally translates to "everyone gather together", and defines the drum's purpose.


Dafra Drum also plays numerous West African traditional instruments including:


Balafon
As griot culture is a hereditary caste, the Kouyaté family has been called the keepers of the balafon. The balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa. Striking the tuned keys with two padded sticks produces the balafon sound.


Kora
A kora is and ancient instrument built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp and has 21 strings. Kora players have traditionally come from Griot families who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants.


Ngoni
The Dioula of Burkina Faso claim this instrument was originally played by the hunters caste and had six strings. Modern ngoni in Burkina are made of calabash instead of wood and have eight, ten or twelve strings
The ngoni looks like a guitar, its body is made of hollowed-out wood with dried animal (often goat) skin stretched over it like a drum. In the hands of a skilled ngoni instrumentalist, the ngoni can produce fast rapid melodies. In recent years some great young instrumentalists have developed the technical range of the ngoni.


Dundun drums
The dunun (DOO-noon) family of West African bass drums creates the rhythmic and melodic foundation for many Malinke rhythms. The dunun is a membranophone percussion instrument consisting of a hollow tubular wood body, cow skin head on both ends, rope tensioning system, is struck with a stick, and often is accompanied by a bell (kenken). Each of the three dunun has a specific rhythm and role to play in the ensemble, and has a specific name.The largest of the three is dundumba, which has the deepest voice and typically plays phrases that accentuate the rhythm's foundation and interact melodically with the sangban. The sangban is the middle-size drum, is tuned to mid-frequency that matches the tone of the djembe, and often plays a lead role in creating the core identity of the rhythm, with specific calls and variations that communicate to the dancers. The smallest of the family is kenkeni, which has the highest voice best suited to keep the pulse, or downbeat, of the rhythm. Each distinct part played by dundumba, sangan, or kenkeni typically has a bell pattern related to the drum pattern.


Tama/Talking Drum
Talking drums are hour-glass shaped with two heads (made from lizard (iguana) tuned by straps that connect the heads with each other. They are some of the oldest instruments used by West African Griots and their history can be traced back to ancient Ghana Empire. A highly sophisticated genre of griot music is centering on the talking drum


Djitafiè
The Djitafié is made out of a half calabash gourd and the egdes are attached with Coris seashells that resonates when the instrument is shaken. Women in West Africa play the Djitafié as an accompaniment instrument.

The maracas used as and accompaniment instrument and the calabash used to play nomad rhythmic such as the Peulh ethnic group also called Fula in Western and Northern Africa.</p>
<p><strong>Women kneading millet, Burkina Faso</strong>
<img alt="Burkina Faso" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6217/6220115000_debc8d49d0.jpg" width="400"/><br/>
<i>Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8278288@N02/6220115000">CIDSE - together for global justice</a></i>
Women kneading millet to prepare food.
LOCATION: Kaya, Burkina Faso
DATE: October 2007
PHOTOGRAPHER: Javier Mármol
ORGANIZATION: Manos Unidas</p>

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