Drumming

Historical Context

Early drum design was simple and relied on readily available natural resources as materials for construction. Thus, depending upon the geographical setting, drumming took place using instruments that included resonant conical holes dug into the earth, logs, bamboo or dried gourds that had been hollowed out, or simply the human body being struck in a percussive manner. Some of these early drum construction techniques survive today: the Brazilian berimbau exhibits several such aspects simultaneously, with its gourd resonator, wooden bow, and split bamboo beater.

The ceremonial use of drumming has a long history that is still evident in, for example, the role of the batá drums in the Afro-Cuban Santería belief system or the horse-skin drums used in Mongolian shamanism. As a result of ongoing stylistic hybridization, aspects of ceremonial drumming have crossed over into secular music traditions, most noticeably where popular musicians choose to present their cultural heritage as part of their public identities by incorporating traditional elements into their work. In this way, the same Afro-Cuban batá drums used in Santería ceremonies may also now be heard as part of a popular music performance, as in the music of Cuban jazz-fusion ensemble Irakere, among others.

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