Are you aware of the 5 common forms of djembe playing

[VagabonTribe]

Just wanted to post an interesting examination
We see 5 prominent forms of djembe playing in Mali, and althought they are related, each has it's own techniques, functionality, and musical repertoire unique from the others

Djembe as accompaniment instrument - According to many griots this was the original role of the djembe, accompanying other instruments and singing, but not as a lead instrument and not having an ensemble of its own. We still see this in Maraka villagesor in the Khassonke area where the n'tamani or dununda are the lead instrument.

Village djembe ensemble - Originally, one djembe soloist and one konkoni, now typically one djembe accompaniment, one konkoni, one djembe soloist, and often a dununba. This holds true for upper Guinea. The playing of the kassonke dunun or jeli dununba in the midst of the djembe ensemble (played as an accompanying lead instrument, and not as a dunun with a static rhythm) is a relatively recent addition. We are seeing many djembe ensembles that now play with talking drums also. The techniques are typically old-school, and the function of the ensemble is solely to support the people who want to dance. Drummers follow dancers' movements and the rhythms are typically specific to that village, ethnic group, or region.

Urban Djembe ensemble - This is the modern version of the village djembe ensemble. As well as knowing the traditional rhythms from numerous ethnic groups, these musicians are also required to interpret the music of ethnic groups that don't play djembe. As soon as the jelimusso begins to sing the djembe leader needs to know what rhythm to play with it. While we see the same symbiosis between drummer and dancer as in the village, we now see a change brought on by the formation of the National ballets back in the 1950's. Dancers will follow the signals of drummer to begin, make movement changes, or finish a dance. The necessity of the international troupe was such that dancers - many times multiple in n umbers - could not be dictating to the stage ensemble when to make changes, so they charged the drummers to make the calls that signal the dancers when to change.

Djembe in the troupe - This is what we see coming out of the nationalist/cultural movements of the 1950's and 60's. Still alive and well in most West African countries these groups, either private or nationalized take much of the traditonal music and dance and morph it into a stage presentation. They will often combine rhtyhms in new ways, and we see a new style of dunun playing - one person on three drums, rather than 3 people on one drum each.

Hope you find this informative.

Please feel free to add anything you like.

Djembe in the instrumental ensemble

[bubudi]

thanks rusty. what's the difference between 'djembe in the instrumental ensemble' and 'djembe as an accompaniment instrument' ?

[VagabonTribe]

thanks rusty. what's the difference between 'djembe in the instrumental ensemble' and 'djembe as an accompaniment instrument' ?

in the instrumental ensemble it is a percussion instrument used in many ways accompaniment, accents, solos

[VagabonTribe]

Just wanted to post an interesting examination
We see 5 prominent forms of djembe playing in Mali, and althought they are related, each has it's own techniques, functionality, and musical repertoire unique from the others

Djembe as accompaniment instrument - According to many griots this was the original role of the djembe, accompanying other instruments and singing, but not as a lead instrument and not having an ensemble of its own. We still see this in Maraka villagesor in the Khassonke area where the n'tamani or dununda are the lead instrument.

Village djembe ensemble - Originally, one djembe soloist and one konkoni, now typically one djembe accompaniment, one konkoni, one djembe soloist, and often a dununba. This holds true for upper Guinea. The playing of the kassonke dunun or jeli dununba in the midst of the djembe ensemble (played as an accompanying lead instrument, and not as a dunun with a static rhythm) is a relatively recent addition. We are seeing many djembe ensembles that now play with talking drums also. The techniques are typically old-school, and the function of the ensemble is solely to support the people who want to dance. Drummers follow dancers' movements and the rhythms are typically specific to that village, ethnic group, or region.

Urban Djembe ensemble - This is the modern version of the village djembe ensemble. As well as knowing the traditional rhythms from numerous ethnic groups, these musicians are also required to interpret the music of ethnic groups that don't play djembe. As soon as the jelimusso begins to sing the djembe leader needs to know what rhythm to play with it. While we see the same symbiosis between drummer and dancer as in the village, we now see a change brought on by the formation of the National ballets back in the 1950's. Dancers will follow the signals of drummer to begin, make movement changes, or finish a dance. The necessity of the international troupe was such that dancers - many times multiple in n umbers - could not be dictating to the stage ensemble when to make changes, so they charged the drummers to make the calls that signal the dancers when to change.

Djembe in the troupe - This is what we see coming out of the nationalist/cultural movements of the 1950's and 60's. Still alive and well in most West African countries these groups, either private or nationalized take much of the traditonal music and dance and morph it into a stage presentation. They will often combine rhtyhms in new ways, and we see a new style of dunun playing - one person on three drums, rather than 3 people on one drum each.

Hope you find this informative.

Please feel free to add anything you like.

Djembe in the instrumental ensemble

I see I made a mistake and forgot to list this. The djembe is used in the instrumental ensemble now as a percussion instrument to carry accompaniment lines, play accents, play solos.