Talk:Talking drum

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It is requested that one or more audio files of a musical instrument or component be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and included in this article to improve its quality by demonstrating the way it sounds or alters sound. Please see Wikipedia:Requested recordings for more on this request.

Assessment

Mid..."articles that are extremely important to the understanding of the subject, such as major instrument classes"...I’m considering talking drums to be this instrument class, as it incorporates multiple drum types. For instance, besides the hourglass drum talked about, there is also the Ekwe. Also the drum type is used among more than one nation our tribe in the continent of Africa and has thus "has achieved notability in a particular place or area."Jacqke (talk) 11:14, 22 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Many sources

Are that many sources truly necessary for a 2 paragraph article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Volcanictelephone (talk • contribs) 16:16, 21 December 2005 (UTC) = You and everyone else competent are welcome to widen the article. <tinker> 21 May 2006

Video

I know, I have asked how to do what was my intent - I did not want to upload this, only to link to the wmv file. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dumarest (talk • contribs) 21:04, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Did you mean to post this comment at someone's talkpage instead?

Soothing R 06:51, 20 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not really, I was unclear. I am talking about a video file I added, but added incorectly, and it has now been added I hope correctly.--Dumarest 22:10, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Definitions

This article is unclear in part. Is a talking drum a dundun, or are those two drums mentioned as more stuff about African drums? And dundun goes to djundjun. The same or what. Confusion. --Dumarest 22:10, 21 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The term talking drum is redirected to the Tama article. This should be changed. The Tama is a special case (Senegalese) of talking drum, so the general information should be in a general talking drum article and the Tama article should reference that one. If a redirection is used, it should be the other way arround. The amazing Yoruba Dundun is a talking drum, but not a Tama (the Tama is similar, but smaller). Generally, where an accepted general term exists for a type of musical instrument, this should be used and not the name of a special instance. Nannus 17:33, 29 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You are absolutely correct. I'll move this page when I get back from work today unless someone can make a strong case for it to stay here. — BrianSmithson 22:56, 6 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done. — BrianSmithson 09:45, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Journals

Lots of good information on talking drums if someone has access to JSTOR. — BrianSmithson 09:45, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Article Merging

Earlier, I was looking at the category listing African Drums, trying to find Arabian drums, and not knowing which drums were Saharan and which weren't, I just decided to open all the pages. The Ntama drum, I noticed, said it was also known as the talking drum, yet it never linked here, didn't redirect here, and this page never linked to it. So, I decided to propose a merge. Now, to go back and add the tags... Honalululand 22:35, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I say merge it. Ntama and Ntamani appear to be names for the drum type among the ethnic groups listed on the page. In fact, that information could just be added to the info box. It would be best if we could find a citation for the information first.

Nposs 00:43, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I say merge it too. they are both the same drum, so they should merge the page and for the title put the name of the drum and then in brackets put "talking drum"--Capgun 21:05, 27 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Merge. Strobilus 13:23, 2 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It would be better to merge them, but keep the title as "talking drum", as this is a regional instrument known by many names, in a wide array of languages. Since the English term for this drum is universally agreed to be "talking drum", that should be used. Some confused people have recently edited the Dunun article claiming it to be a talking drum, when in reality a mix-up between multilingual terms seemed to have occured.Anak 1 06:52, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I also agree. The articles should be merged. I think that the heading "talking drum" should be kept with different types of drums specified underneath. Different groups in Africa all use what we would call "talking drums" but they can vary stylistically between regions. Even though these drums may look different, they are still used for the same purpose and are generally used in the same way.

Merged. Picaroon (Talk) 22:50, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cautious

I have a drum exactly like the one in the picture for this article. I also have a friend that grew up as a PK (Preacher's Kid) in missions in Africa. She calls the drum a "singing drum." The talking drums that she tells me about are totally different. Made of gords or hollowed out wood. She sketched a shape somewhat like an upsidedown capital "T". They were used as a means to communicate between tribes a long distance away. I'm sure that some peoples call this drum a talking drum but before you merge the articles you may want to consider noting somewhere on it that the drum may go by other names such as "singing drum" in other regions. Of course I don't have any really good sources to site... And the name could be subject to translation, but some savvy reasearcher may be able to find something -(that I am not!!) Anyway, just a heads up - do with this info what you will! Hoola33 10:36, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That's interesting Hoola33. Where exactly in Africa did your friend live? I know that there also exist other drums that have the same function as the "talking drum" in this article, like the Atumpan/Fontomfrom bass drums of the Akan peoples of southern Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, but they are completely different instruments with a different playing style, and are almost always limited within their particular ethnic groups. In contrast, the general and most varied drum ascribed to transmit messages among the vast majority of the ethnic groups in West Africa is the very drum posted in the article. If your friend knows the name of the drum, perhaps an article already exists for it here. A problem with some users is that they don't research properly on Wiki to see whether an article actually exists before creating a whole new one. That's seemed to have happened with this whole Ntama/Talking drum business.Anak 1 07:04, 16 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Explanation

There is no explanation of how the talking drums talk eg about the tones and the use of redundant beats to give context and remove ambiguity of meaning. Any comments? Oxford73 (talk) 18:15, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I have a comment. I'm not buying it for a minute. How does it make sense to add a really long sentence to help the listener nail down the meaning of one word ("elephant") or a short phrase ("come home")? Those really long sentences are made up of single words and short phrases, so it becomes an infinite regress. The messages would become infinitely long. Did they have a code? Yes, if the drums were used for communication. But the explanation given is bogus. It's something someone who wishes he was a hippie would come up with. In a book about information, this idea sticks out like a sore, gangrenous, no-sense-making thumb. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.103 (talk) 10:04, 1 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Dunun are not talking drums

Dunun are never referred to as a "talking drum" by the Malinke. That term is reserved for the Tama, the hourglass-shaped drum. I am certain that this edit added incorrect information. The article should not refer to dundunba, sangban, and kenkeni as "talking drums"; they aren't. MichiHenning (talk) 23:24, 21 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image

That's a nice Tama in the picture, but it's disappointing to see an industrially-made metal stick. It would be much nicer to show an image with a traditional wooden stick. MichiHenning (talk) 02:23, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Citations

I am planning to heed the call for help in improving the citations in this article......would welcome any help. First citation: Manning, Patrick. The African diaspora: a history through culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Second citation: Carrington, John F.. Talking drums of Africa, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. Vjosh92 (Vjosh92) 02:06, 8 may 2013 (UTC) Third citation:Haack, Fred. In the land of the talking drums: a novel of intrigue, adventure and foreign affairs.. S.l.: Trafford On Demand Pub, 2009. Fourth citation: Tang, Patricia. Rhythmic transformations in Senegalese Sabar. Chicago : University of Illinois Press, 2008. pg 85 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vjosh92 (talk • contribs) 16:38, 8 May 2013 (UTC) Fifth citation: Rothenbuhler, Eric W., and Mihai Coman. Media anthropology. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2005. Sixth Citation: Patel, Aniruddh D.. Music, language, and the brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vjosh92 (talk • contribs) 02:23, 10 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

addition to "use in popular music"

Talking drums were used by Ludwig Goransson (played by Baaba Maal) on the score for Black Panther (2018). I can't remember if they were used on the Black Panther compilation album produced by Kendrick Lamar, but there is a strong chance they were. (sorry if I'm not following Formatting Rules; this is my first ever edit to Wikipedia) Mbc8488 (talk) 19:52, 9 October 2018 (UTC)mbc8488[reply]

Drum names

I changed the section heading "Drum names" to "Referring to a person by drumming". "Drum names" is not a good section heading (even though that's precisely what it's about) because it only helps readers who already know what it means (and who therefore probably don't need to read it). Readers who don't already know the topic might think it meant "how to choose a name for your drum" or "how to say the word 'drum' in other languages". TooManyFingers (talk) 20:57, 19 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]