Drum: Equatorial guinea musical instrument
The drum is a member of the percussion family of musical instruments. In the Hornbestel-sachs classification system, the drum is a membran...
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The drum is a member of the
percussion family of musical instruments. In the Hornbestel-sachs
classification system, the drum is a membranophone. Drums is made up of at
least one membrane that is known as the drumhead or the drum skin that is stretched
over the shell of the instrument and struck by the player either directly with
the hand or by the use of a drum stick to give out the desired sound. There is
always an amplified sound head on the underside of the drum, specifically tuned
to a slightly lower pitch than the top drumhead. Other methods have been used
to make the drum to produce sound like the thumb roll. The drums are the
world’s oldest and the only musical instrument that can be found almost
everywhere around the world and the basic design f the instrument has remained
almost unchanged for many years.
source: hdwallpapersinn.com
He drums are usually played by
hitting it with the hand or with one or two sticks. In some traditional
cultures, drums have symbolic works and are used in religious occasions. Hand
drums are mostly used in music therapy because of their tactile nature and easy
use by many people. In popular music and jazz music, the drums are usually
referred to as the drum kit or a set of drums and the person the play the drums
are called the drummer. In place like the Burundi, the drum has some divine
status.
The shell of the instrument almost
invariable has a circle opening over which the drumhead is placed and
stretched, although the shape of the remainder of the shell differs much. In
the western musical instrument tradition, the most normal shape is a cylinder,
although the timpani have the shape of a bowl. Other shapes that can be given
to the drum are frame design, truncated cones and joined truncated cones. Drums
that has cylindrical shapes can be made to be open at one end or have two drum
heads. Single headed drums are typically made up of a skin stretched over an
enclosed space or over one end of the instrument. Drums that are built to have
two heads that is covering the both ends of a cylindrical shell possess a small
hole that could be created in halfway between the two heads. The shell of the
instrument forms the resonating chamber for the resulting sound. Exceptions
includes the African slit drum, also called a log drum because it is produced
from a hollowed-out tree trunk and the Caribbean steel drum is manufactured
from a metal barrel.Drums that have double heads can have a set of wires that
is known as snares held across the bottom head, top head of both heads of the
drum making the instrument a snare drum. In the modern band and the orchestral
drums, the head of the drum is placed over the opening of the drum that in turn
is being attached by the shell by a rim that then held by means of a number of
tuning screws known as the tension rods, which screw in to the lugs at the same
distant around the circumference. The tension of the head can be adjusted by
tightening or loosening the rods. Most of such drums have about six tension
rods.
The sound of Any drum will depend the
variables which are; the shape, the size of the drum, and the thickness of the
drum, also the material of the shell, counter hoop material, the material of
the drum head, the tension of the drum head, the position of the drum, and the
striking velocity as well as the angle. Before the invention of the tension
rods, the drum skins were attached and tuned by rope system just like that of
the djembe or with pegs and ropes just like that of the Ewe drums. The head of
the drum has the most effect on the sound of the drum; each type of drum serves
its own musical function and has its own unique sound. Double-ply drumheads
moisten high frequency harmonics due to they are heavier and they are suited to
heavy performance. Another factor that determines the sound of the drum is the
head tension against the shell of the drum. When the hoop of the drum is placed
around the drum and the shell and is tightened with the use of a tension rod,
the tension of the head can be adjusted. When the tension of the instrument is
increased, the abundance of the sound will be reduced and the frequency of the
drum will be increased and this will make the pitch of the drum higher and the
volume will be lower. The type of shell used in the construction of the drum
also affects the sound of the instrument because the vibrations resonate in the
shell of the musical instrument and the shell can be used to raise the volume
of the drum and to manipulate the type of sound that the instrument will
produce. The larger the diameter of the drum is, the lower the pitch of the
drum and the larger the deepness of the drum, the louder the volume of the
drum. The thickness of the shell will also determine the sound volume. The
thicker shells will always give out louder volume.
Drums produced with alligator skins
was found in the Neolithic cultures located in china. And this dates back to a
period of 5500 BC to 2350 BC. Drums are used not just only for their qualities,
also but as a medium of communication over great distances. The talking drums
of the African continent are used in the imitation of the tone pattern of
spoken language and throughout the Sri Lankan history; the talking drum has
been used as a means of communicating to the citizens of the community by the
state. The Chinese troops used the talking drum to motivate their troops to
help set a marching pace and to opt out orders and announcements.