An Ekwe is an Igbo traditional musical instrument. The ekwe is a

slit drum A slit drum, or slit gong, is a hollow percussion instrument, often made out of wood or bamboo. In spite of its often being called a drum, it is not a true drum, because it lacks a ''drumhead'', the membrane (made out of animal skin or plastic) ...

with rectangular slits in the surface and a hollow interior. The ekwe is made out of wood, most commonly a log or a section of one. The ekwe comes in a variety of sizes and designs; the size is determined according to the purpose. An ekwe can be used for traditional cultural events, or it can be used for music. The ekwe is also used as 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 ...

communicating, in the past, with others at long distances. Ekwe players use different rhythms for different purposes, from celebrations to emergencies.

References

Igbo musical instruments Idiophones struck directly Slit drums {{Idiophone-instrument-stub