| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agogo |  | An agogô (meaning gong or bell in Yoruba) is a single or multiple bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba music and also in the samba baterias (percussion ensembles). The agogô may be the oldest samba instrument and was based on West African Yoruba single or double bells. The agogô has the highest pitch of any of the batería instruments. | |
| Dundun |  | Dundun is the Yoruba name of the West African talking drum. The player puts the drum under one shoulder and beats the instrument with a stick. The Yoruba have an advanced drumming tradition, with a characteristic use of the dundun hourglass talking drums. Ensembles using the dundun play a type of music that is also called dundun. These ensembles consist of various sizes of talking drums, along with kettledrums (gudugudu). The leader of a dundun ensemble is the iyalu, who uses the drum to "talk" by imitating the tonality of Yoruba. | |
| Gudugudu |  | Gudugudu is a traditional drum used by the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria. It is a smaller, rounded, and melodic batá drum that is beaten with two thin and flexible "spatulas" made of a cow's hide or skin. In fact, this drum so melodic and danceable that it perhaps does not need an accompaniment. It can be seen and experienced in today's sekere, fuji, apala and possibly juju. | |
| Igba |  | The igba is a tom-tom that has a beating surface of the same approximate diameter as a bongo. An igba may be as small as 7 inches, or as tall as 3 feet. Traditionally, the deeper shelled igba are played with the hand, while the shorter drums are played with a curved stick. In an ensemble these drums often lead, and are used to "talk" by the talking drummers. By hammering on the tuning wedges which line the perimeter of the skin, the player tightens the drum's skin (usually made from antelope) to achieve the desired pitch and tone. | |
| Musical Bow |  | The musical bow is a simple string musical instrument consisting of a string supported by a flexible string bearer, usually made out of wood. Often, it is a normal archery bow used for music rather than as a weapon. The usual way to make the bow sound is to pluck the string, although sometimes a subsidiary bow is used to scrape the string, much as on a violin. Musical bows are still used in a number of cultures today, almost all over the world. The berimbau, a musical bow from Brazil, is quickly gaining players worldwide as a result of its association with the game of capoeira. | |
| Ogene |  | Ogene (gong) is a large metal bell. It has historically been made by the Igbo people of Nigeria. It is one of the most important metal instruments of the tribe. The Ogene is commonly used as a "master instrument" in a bell orchestra in the Omambala River basin of the Igbo. It is made of iron by specialist blacksmiths. The bell has a flattish, conical shape, and is hollow inside. The sound itself comes from the vibration of the iron body when struck, which is made to resound by the hollow inside of the bell. The iron body is usually struck with a soft wooden stick. | |
| Shekere |  | The shekere is a percussion instrument from Africa, consisting of a dried gourd with beads woven into a net covering the gourd. Throughout the continent it is called different things, such as the lilolo, axatse (Ghana), and chequere. It is predominantly called shekere in Nigeria. The instrument is used for folkloric as well as some of the popular music. In performance it is shaken and/or hit against the hands. | |
| Udu |  | The udu is an African pottery-drum originated by the Igbo and Hausa peoples of Nigeria. In the Igbo language, udu means vessel. Actually being a water jug with an additional hole, it was played by women for ceremonial uses. Usually the udu is made of clay. The instrument is played by hand and produces a special and unique bass sound by quickly hitting the big hole. Furthermore the whole corpus can be played by fingers. Today it is widely used by percussionists in different music styles. Fascinated by the possibilities and the various pitches of the usual Udu, Behnam Samani, a master in Persian percussion, created a new form, which still keeps the soft round harmonious bass tones yet opens the way to new inspiration and experience. |
Prev Top Next |
