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

West African West Africa, also known as 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, 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, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

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 mus ...

. 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 in length and 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 in length and in diameter. * The ''kenkeni'' is the smallest dunun and has the highest pitch. Typical size is in length and in diameter. Dunun are always played in an ensemble with one or more

Nomenclature

The names of the drums are onomatopoeic, meaning that they sound like the thing they describe. This is common for West African instruments. ''

Shekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. There are multiple ways to produce sounds with the instrument. It can be shaken or ...

'' (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''). Among the Bamana people 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, which can be used as a form of speech surrogacy by regulating its pitch and rhythm to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather t ...

used by the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people ( ; , , ) are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, which are collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, are over a million outsid ...

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, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

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, Famoudou Konaté, Mohamed Diaby, Bolokada Conde, 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 is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

(

), 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 Burkinabe 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