Kakaki

The kakaki is a member of the brass (Hornbostel–Sachs 423.121.12). Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the kakaki makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the kakaki belongs to the brass (lip-vibrated aerophones): the player's buzzing lips set the air column vibrating – trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas and the didgeridoo.

More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.

Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.

From Wikipedia

The kakaki is a three- to four-metre-long metal trumpet used in Hausa, Yoruba, and Nupe traditional ceremonial music. Kakaki is the name used in Chad, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Niger, and Nigeria.

The instrument is also known as malakat or mäläkät (መለከት) in Ethiopia and Eritrea.