The Role Of Drums In East Africa

Music has always been an important part of people's lives. Dating back thousands of years, music has represented individual, tribes, countries, gods, and so much more. Depending on the type of music the association can be narrowed down to a certain location. East African music has always been known for their roles drums play in their culture. Also called Membranophones, the East African drums play a critical role in their society. In Kenya a plethora of membranophones are vital to their way of life. They have not been subdivided in the indices as the indices as the information available is insufficiently reliable. Where some authors give classificatory detail others only record the word "drum" and thus the potential for error in the indices
This is depending upon the strings on the side of the drum. The drum is also hit with a special stick and with the hand. Depending on what hots the drum and the location the object strikes the drum different notes comes out from it . Attached to the male drum on the tense membrane there is a small piece of iron that called an akasa. This makes a slight jingle sound when the membrane is struck. Many times, two talking drums are set side by side (male and female drums) which are set in two different keys. The purpose of this is to get the sound of a male and female human voice. This technique is called Tympanophony
The leather from the animal was used for the cords and goatskin was the most commonly used animal for the membrane of the drum. Although the drum has been used for hundreds of years the first recorded sighting was in the 1700s when Europe first came to Africa. The instrument them quickly spread around the world through different European trade routes. People liked the very unique sound and shape of the drum. The hourglass shape of the drum is meant to fit under the arm of the person playing it so they can also control the tension on the cords as well as hit the membrane of the