The talking drum is a unique West African drum in the shape of an hourglass (two cones joined by a narrow waist), with two heads drawn together by numerous leather cords along the body. It is widespread among the Yoruba, Hausa, and other peoples in Nigeria, Ghana, and neighbouring countries.
Its incredible feature is the ability to “speak.” The musician holds the drum under the arm and, by pressing or releasing the cords with the elbow, instantly changes the tension of the heads and thus the pitch of the sound. Since many African languages are tonal (where the meaning of a word depends on the pitch of the voice), the drum can reproduce the very intonations of speech, conveying whole phrases, proverbs, and messages over great distances. It is at once a musical instrument and an ancient “communication system,” an embodiment of the inseparable bond between music and word.
