Bata Drums

Bata Drums are a set of three drums that are of Yoruba origin (ethnic group of Nigeria, West Africa). Although these drums originated in Nigeria, they are also found in Cuba due to the forced enslavement and migration of Africans from Old Dahomey to the former Spanish colony of Cuba during the era of African enslavement. The drums are used to play the sacred music of the Yoruba people.

There are two types of Bata drums: the traditional Bata, which are played in Nigeria, West Africa, and those that are played in Cuba by practitioners of the Lucumi and Santeria spiritual systems (Yoruba-based). The Bata drum is a hollowed wooden cylinder (carved wood/glued slats of wood) with two open ends (each of different diameter) that are ...