African Music – The Blog of Samite

Posts Tagged ‘Drums’

Many Traditional African Instruments evolved out of fabricating the instrument by hand, using materials available in the home.  Today they are made with fine materials and their popularity is growing around the world.

One of these instruments is a xylophone called a Balafon or Marimba.  It’s made from the Shea Butter tree that has been dead for many years and has released the oils from the wood.  That wood gets cut into boards and is further dried over fire pits.

The wood is cut into smaller pieces and combined with gourds to amplify the sound.  Sound is made by striking the planks with pieces of rubber made from old truck tires.  The professional Balafon is large and comprised of a hardwood frame with keys made from hardwood or metal.

African Bells are another traditional musical instrument and these were used as a means of communication between villages.  Many Bells come from Ghana but also from Nigeria and Cameroon.

The Nigerian Double Gong is 12 inches tall and produces two different gong sounds.  The toke bell is also called a Banana Bell for its oblong shape.  It is held in the palm of the hand and hit with a metal beater.  Small Toke Bells are 6 inches long while the large one is 10 inches.

There’s another class of instrument called shakers.  Most are made from wood and gourds and they produce a steady rattling sound.  One of the largest is a bead shaker, approximately 11 inches long and 8 inches wide.  A large shaker like this stands up well to the heavy percussive sound of drums and is preferred by many artists.

Drums are an important part of African music and there are many varieties available. Large and small, drums round out the unique and powerful sound made with Traditional African Instruments.

Traditional African music is as old as the human race, 150,000 years old. As such, it is not a kind of music with a written history. The intonations and melodies are difficult to note with the western staff.

One of the true legends in American folk music, Pete Seeger, supports Samite’s African Music and wants you to do so also. Here is Mr. Seeger talking about “My Music World” and the revolutionary aspect of the way Samite brings his music direct to you.




The closest western patterns that mimic African music are pentatonic, teratonic, hexatonic and heptatonic arrangements. Drums are the most popular musical instruments in Africa and these drums include almost anything such as hand clappers, sticks, bells, pots and friction sticks. Musicians in Africa also use wind instruments and like the percussion devices these instruments are made of gourds, wood, conch shells, horns and tusks.

The purpose of African music can be recreational, but it can also be ceremonial and ritualistic too. Closely intertwined with music is dance which amplifies the tonal quality of the sounds. Like the Asian languages, African dialects often hold different meaning when a particular word is “sung” with different tones. Dance is integral to the music as a way of enhancing its meaning.

Like music in the west, sub-Saharan African music is used for religion, battle, lullabies and work. Both cultures share instruments like wind instruments, strings and percussion.

The purpose of African music is to express the full extent of life through the sound. It’s an integral part of African culture and society. Children are taught the value of music and musical instruments at a very early age. By the age of three or four, African children are taught how to make their own instruments.

In this way art and Africa are intimately enmeshed, so much so, that some dialects lack a specific word for “music”. Music is so integral; there needn’t be a word for it, showing just how important African music is to its people.

You will help Samite immensely by ordering his new CD, “My Music World” and we thank Pete Seeger for his support.

The African music instrument, like the human race, originated in the cradle of humanity; Africa.  It is from here that all the musical instruments we use around the world today originated.

This is especially true of the instruments of Northern Africa which have a decidedly Islamic flair.  Nearly all the Western instruments used in Europe and the Americas started here from wind instruments to the strings like guitar and violin.

Drums are quite unique to the sub-Saharan.  They are not used much in Islamic music, but they are an integral part of musical expression in all other African cultures and societies.

To understand African music today we must first explore its roots.  The first Africans to leave the continent settled in the Caribbean in the 16th century.  By the early 17th century they arrived in the Colony of Virginia.

Unfortunately the African experience was not welcomed in the New World.  Artistic expression was tightly controlled or suppressed altogether.  Fortunately, African influences endured and today they are a driving presence in the American music scene.

African music especially that of the sub-Sahara, has strong rhythmic components.  Percussive instruments like drums, horns, rattles and even bells create an experience of many layers.  In addition, dance is an integral part of music and the body forms an instrument of its own with handclapping and bells jingling on costume to add to the musical texture.

The earliest music was intended as a communication form that was not intended to be pleasant or lyrical.  A particular drumbeat could signal the approach of an enemy tribe or even the King.  This is why ante-bellum plantation owners in America sought to thwart African slave expression.

The plantation owners feared there was a revolt underway that would catch the “owners” by surprise.  The slaves adapted their sounds to more Western sensibilities, one of many ways the African music instrument survives today.

To hear absolutley pure African music you will want to order Samite’s latest CD: “My Music World“.

A close look at traditional African music reveals a spectrum of influences; from the Arabic seeds of the north and its contribution to Egypt and Carthage, there are dominant strains that evoke sounds of the Middle East.  Specific locales to be included in this realm are Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.

It’s not exactly what one thinks about with Africa, however the Continent is vast and includes many ancient cultures.  Not to be forgotten are the Sudan and Ethiopia, all clustered in this unique area of northern Africa.

Southern, West and Central Africa are solidly sub-Saharan and lure influences from North America and Western Europe.   This is the music most often associated with “Africa”.  There is an emphasis on rhythm and dance.  Various work songs evoke the early history of music in antebellum America.  There are different songs to accompany marriage, childbirth and hunting.  Some songs repel evil spirits, some honor good spirits and much of it is political.

Sub-Saharan music incorporates four regions:  The eastern section of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Mozambique,  the South including Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Angola; Central, Chad, Congo, Zambia and music of the Pygmies, and the west which houses Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria.

African music uses various techniques not associated with this continent, like yodeling and melisma.  A broad spectrum of instruments are used.  Drums, rattles and bells create memorable melody and rhythm.

There are several kinds of xylophone and lamellophone, trumpets and flutes, but the most distinctive is the drum and it comes in many shapes and sizes.

English is the common language of Africa however specific local dialects lend themselves to the music.  A native singer adds an authentic component to a song whereas other songs are automatic for a western ear.    That’s because cross-pollination of music across the globe has brought a new dimension to traditional African music.

We invite you to listen to Samite as he pleasures your senses with the sounds and culture of Uganda and Kenya where he learned his style and crafted his unique skill.  There is an order form on his main website for you to pre-order his latest CD.  We are all excited about its release.