Dunun (; plural dunun) (also spelled dundun or doundoun) is the generic name for a family of

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Ma ...

drums that have developed alongside the ''

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

'' in the Mande drum ensemble. A dunun is a rope-tuned cylindrical drum with a rawhide skin at both ends, most commonly cow or goat. The drum is played with a stick. Depending on the region, a plain straight stick, curved stick with flat head (similar to the stick used for a '' tama''), or a straight stick with a cylindrical head attached at right angles near one end may be used to strike the skin. Traditionally, the drum is played horizontally (placed on a stand or worn with a shoulder strap). For a right-handed player, the right hand plays the skin and the left hand optionally plays a bell that may be mounted on top of the drum or held in the left hand. The latter style is popular in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and originally from the

Khassonké people The Khassonké (CAH-KES-SON-QUE) are an ethnic group of Mali's Kayes Region. Descendants of the Fula and Malinké Khasso kingdoms, they speak the Khassonke/Xaasongaxango language, a Manding language similar to Bambara. Their traditional musi ...

. Three different sizes of dunun are commonly played in West Africa. *The ''dundunba'' (also spelled ''dununba'') is the largest dunun and has the lowest pitch. Typical size is 60–70 cm (24–28 in) in length and 40–50 cm (16–20 in) in diameter. "Ba" means "big" in the Malinké language, so "dundunba" literally means "big dunun". *The ''sangban'' is of medium size, with higher pitch than the dundunba. Typical size is 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length and 30–40 cm (12–16 in) in diameter. * The ''kenkeni'' is the smallest dunun and has the highest pitch. Typical size is 45–50 cm (18–20 in) in length and 25–35 cm (10–14 in) in diameter. Dunun are always played in an ensemble with one or more

Nomenclature

The names of the drums are

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

, meaning that they sound like the thing they describe. This is common for West African instruments. ''

Shekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a West African percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. The Shekere originated in a tribe in Nigeria called the Yoruba. The ins ...

'' (gourd rattle), '' sege sege'' (metal djembe rattle), '' kese kese'' (woven basket rattle), and ''kenken'' (a bell played with dunun) are Malinké onomatopoeic terms for other instruments that are commonly played together with dunun and djembe. ''Dundunba'', ''sangban'', ''kenkeni'', ''kensedeni'', and ''kensereni'' are Malinké terms. (''Kensedeni'' and ''kensereni'' are synonyms for ''kenkeni.'') In Mali and northeast Guinea, the dundunba and sangban are often both referred to as ''jeli-dunun'' (also spelled ''djeli-dunun'') because they were traditionally played by the '' jelis'' (French: ''

griots A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

''). Among the

Bamana people The Bambara ( bm, ߓߡߊߣߊ߲, italics=no, ''Bamana'' or ''Banmana'') are a Mandé ethnic group native to much of West Africa, primarily southern Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal. They have been associated with the historic Bambara Em ...

in Mali, the dundunba is known as ''khassonka dunun'' and the sangban is known as ''konkoni'' (played without a bell). There, the drums are headed with goatskin instead of the cowskin used elsewhere. The name ''djun djun'' is a common western misnomer. There is no such word in the Malinké language and this term should not be used. A dunun player is generically known as a ''dununfola'' (literally, "one who plays dunun"). Specifically, the kenkeni, sangban, and dununba players are referred to as ''kenkenifola'', ''sangbanfola'', and ''dununbafola'', respectively. The drum is also not to be confused with the dùndún, a type of

talking drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

used by the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

Techniques

There are two primary playing styles for dununs. The ''traditional style'' or Mandingue style has each player using a single drum resting on its side, either on the floor or on a stand, and striking the head with one mallet and a bell mounted on top with the other. A melody is created across the interplay of the three dununs. For the other style, known as ''ballet style'' as it is used in the National Ballets, one player has command of the three dununs standing on the floor, allowing a more complex arrangement for the dance. There are wide variations on how the dunun is played throughout West Africa. In

they are sometimes played with just one dunun and a bell that is held in the hand. In some regions of

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

the dunun is played with no bells, or only two dunun are played. In some regions of

up to five dununs are played at the same time. In Hamanah, (

) three dununs with bells are played. This style is one of the most known in the west, due to the influence of

Mamady Keïta Mamady Keïta (August 1950 – 21 June 2021) was a drummer from the West African nation of Guinea. He specialized in the ''djembe''. He was also the founder of the ''Tam Tam Mandingue'' school of drumming. He was a member of the Manding ethnic ...

Famoudou Konaté Famoudou Konaté is a Malinké master drummer from Guinea. Famoudou Konaté is a virtuoso of the djembe drum and its orchestra. One of only a handful of initiated masters of the Malinké drumming tradition, Famoudou is universally respected a ...

Mohamed Diaby Mohamed Ibrahim Diaby (born April 2, 1990) is an Ivorian football midfielder. He currently plays for USC Bassam in the Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division. In 2009, he played for FC Shinnik Yaroslavl in the Russian First Division. Career Diaby ...

Bolokada Conde Moussa "Bolokada" Conde is a master drummer from Kissidougou, Guinea, an expert of Malinke or Mandinka rhythms, and one of the world's foremost djembefolas. He joined the Les Percussions de Guinée to replace the legendary Noumoudy Keïta ...

, and other players from Guinea. It is formed of three dununs of different sizes; the ''kenkeni'' (smallest), ''sangban'' (medium) and ''dununba'' (largest). The ''kenkeni'' has the highest pitch and usually holds the rhythm together with a simple pattern. The ''sangban'' typically has a more complex part which defines the rhythm. The ''dununba'' often serves to add depth with deep, widely spaced notes. These drums provide a rhythmic and melodic base for the djembe ensemble. In

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

(

), a style of playing with two dunun developed. Both so called ''konkoni'', have goat skin and are played without the bell. The konkoni with the highest pitch keeps the accompanying rhythm and the konkoni with the lowest pitch keeps the lead melody and solos.
In the Khassonké region of

, the biggest of the dununs has the leading role - making solos and leading the song.

References

{{Authority control African drums Burkinabé musical instruments Directly struck membranophones Gambian musical instruments Senegalese musical instruments Guinean musical instruments Bissau-Guinean musical instruments Malian musical instruments Ivorian musical instruments Membranophones Unpitched percussion instruments de:Djembé#Die Bass-Trommeln (Dunduns)

Nomenclature

Techniques

See also

References