Jembe

Goblet-drums are found across the Mandé region of West Africa, which refers to the geographical shadow of the Mandé empire (1235-1469 A.D.), including present-day Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and the Gambia. They are especially prevalent in Guinea and Sierra Leone among the Malinke people. None are more widespread, both within and outside of the Mandé world, than the Malinke jembe. This jembe, however, is about half the size of a typical jembe, signaling that it is part of a special sub-group of jembe from Wasulu. Wasulu refers to both the people, music and geolinguistic area of southern Mali, eastern Guinea, and northwestern Cote D’Ivoire that is well-known for its association with the cultural, moral and religious world of hunters (Durán 1995: 104).

The Wasulu’s distinctive identity is the result of migrations of Fulbe people into the region, which has been otherwise populated by Malinke, Bamana and Senufo people, since the fifteenth century (Charry 2000: 18-19). In the decades following independence in the region (1970s and 80s), the word Wasulu has become synonymous with its music (Durán 1995). Wasulu singers and musicians are frequently referred to as kònò (pl. konow), which means bird and is also used to describe non-hereditary singers. This is significant because, as Durán explains, “[t]he bird is a symbol of freedom, wisdom and beauty of voice in Mande. The konow are musicians by choice and natural ability, with a ‘bird's eye’ view of society, allowing them to comment on social issues” (1995: 102).

The Wasulu jembe has nevertheless been heavily influenced by the Malinke one, whose traditions run along the Upper Niger River from Faranah, Guinea, in the west to Segu, Mali in the east. These traditions can be observed as far south as Bouake, Côte d’Ivoire, and as far north as Kayes, Mali. Its wide dispersion locally may be due to numu, that is blacksmith, migrations dating from the first millennium CE. The jembe is closely tied to numu traditions, whose tools are necessary for carving the instrument. Numu kòmò societies, who carve drums and masks, and their accompanying duties in society–which include presiding over sensitive and powerful rituals locally–are shrouded in secrecy. It is well-known, nevertheless, that the jembe almost ubiquitously plays a part in their practices.

When a jembe is built, the first step is to carve the goblet-shaped body of the instrument. Then the head is attached using three iron rings, a feature that distinguishes it from other goblet-shaped drums in the region. A water-soaked goatskin is then laid on top of the drum frame. A ring is placed over the hide around the outside of the bowl and the ends of the skin are pulled up over the ring and trimmed. Another ring with small metal loops hanging from it is placed on top of the first. A third ring, also with loops, is then slipped over the lower half of the body and slid up to the bottom of the bowl. Cord–in this case, made of a green nylon material–is then threaded through the loops of the upper and lower rings in an up-and-down zigzag pattern (Charry 2000: 215). The skin is left to dry for a few days, after which the cord is tightened repeatedly. Fetishes called ‘gris gris’–a smeared-over bundle made of bird feathers–are often attached to the jembe in order to confer it with magical powers (Meyer 1993: 88).

Jembe is played with a strap slung over the shoulder, with the instrument facing outwards. A player may place their drums near a fire in order to dry and tighten the skin, raising the pitch, before a performance. Always played with just the hands, the player can produce various sound shadings and tone pitches based on where and how they strike the instrument. (Althea SullyCole, 2022)

References:

Charry, Eric. 2000. Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of West Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Durán, Lucy. 1995. “Birds of Wasulu: Freedom of expression and expressions of freedom in the popular music of Southern Mali.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology 4, no. 1: 101-34

Meyer, Andreas. 1993. “Music and Drums of the Djembefola Famadou Konaté Upper Guinea.” In Drums – the Heartbeat of Africa, edited by Esther A. Dagan. Montreal: Galerie Amrad African Art Publications: 87-88.