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Talking Drum

Anacostia Community Museum

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    Object Details

    Caption
    The Talking Drum is an hourglass-shaped pressure drum so-named because it can imitate spoken language's intonations and rhythms. At either end of the drum’s body, the drum's heads are made of animal hide, fish skin, or another membrane wrapped around the drum's wooden hoop. Leather cords or thongs run the length of the drum's body and are bound around both hoops. The drum player holds the drum under the arm so as to squeeze the cords. When the cords are pressed and the head is tightened, the drum's pitch changes.
    Skilled talking-drum drummers can imitate African tonal languages' sounds and cadence, and reproduce proverbs and praise songs. The use of the talking-drum was forbidden in the United States during the enslavement era because of its ability to "speak" in an unknown language and possibly incite rebellion. This kind of drum is known as Dundun in Yoruba and Kalangu in the Hausa language.
    Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner collected this drum in Nigeria in 1951. He was interested in music and language tonalities and how they carry meaning within communities and cultures.
    Cite As
    Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution
    Accession Number
    2003.0032.0362
    Restrictions & Rights
    CC0
    Type
    drum
    Medium
    wood, animal skin, cloth, leather
    Dimensions
    16 × 7 5/16 × 7 1/16 in. (40.6 × 18.5 × 18 cm) [talking drum]
    2 3/8 × 1 1/4 × 10 1/16 in. (6 × 3.2 × 25.5 cm) [mallet]
    See more items in
    Anacostia Community Museum Collection
    Data Source
    Anacostia Community Museum
    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl8129ad892-110e-4e1e-839d-f73cc46cbf9f
    acm_2003.0032.0362
    ACM
    TALKING DRUM
    Anacostia Community Museum
    CC0
    Metadata Usage
    CC0
    GUID (Link to Original Record)
    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl8129ad892-110e-4e1e-839d-f73cc46cbf9f
    Record ID
    acm_2003.0032.0362

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