An Ikoro is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

created and used by the

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. It is a

slit drum A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums have one slit ...

that is beaten with a stick or sticks and can be used in some parts of Igbo land for communicating, similar to a

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 ...

. Ikoro in Igbo land is not beaten by everybody. It is so special that any time its sound is heard people will gather at the village square. As soon as it sounds, people around assume that any of the following has happened: murder, land has been defiled, there is outbreak of war, a calamity has befallen the community etc. The inevitable thing that happens any time the Ikoro sound is heard is that people must gather at the village square to hear the latest development. Ikoro also brings a sense of urgency. The only difference between Ikoro and

Ekwe An Ekwe is an Igbo traditional musical instrument. The ekwe is a type of drum with rectangular cavity 'slits' in the hollowed out wooden interior. The ekwe is made out of wood and most commonly a tree trunk. The ekwe comes in a variety of sizes ...

is the size. Ekwe is small in size and portable while Ikoro is enormous in size, cannot be carried by one person and is never carried from place to place. Ikoro is kept in a fixed place usually at the village square. Ekwe is an ordinary musical instrument and is used to play many types of traditional music.

External links

* {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720044333/http://anthro.siuc.edu/mccall/ohafia/igboscans/dibia/Ikoro.jpg , date=July 20, 2011 , title=Man playing an Ekwe drum at an Okwe festival Drums Slit drums African drums Igbo musical instruments Idiophones struck directly