Listen to the Talking drum
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the Talking drum makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the Talking drum belongs to the struck drums: a stretched membrane (drumhead) is struck with hands or beaters.
More broadly it is one of the membranophones (drums), where sound comes from a vibrating stretched membrane.
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 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 tension cords. It is often played while being held under the arm. The player can change the pitch of the drum by tightening and loosening the cords between their arm and body.
Originating from the 18th century, talking drum players used tones to disseminate messages, such as news of ceremonies and commands, over 4–5-mile (6.4–8.0 km) distances.
Other struck drums
Frequently asked questions
What does the Talking drum sound like?
Listen to 1 recording on this page. As one of the struck drums, its sound comes from the way a stretched membrane (drumhead) is struck with hands or beaters.
What type of instrument is the Talking drum?
It is classified as struck drums (Hornbostel–Sachs 211.242.11).
Sources & credits
- The sound of the talking drum when its been played by Bamidele S. Ajayi – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q1321104 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Talking drum – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by 4toscenethesis – CC BY-SA 4.0