African Music Instruments
African music instruments talk to the heart, the body and the mind. They are at the heart of life and culture, appearing in all African cultural event and ceremonies. They accompany a dance, an alternative medecine ritual, a griot, and so many more of what defines the continent and particularly each one of its tribes and even clans.
20 African Music Instruments
Song arrangement is getting so complex and instrumentation so international that it is most of the time difficult to recognise how much Africa has influenced popular music through its rhythms, its styles, its instruments. These are 20 African Music Instruments that...
Obaka (Gabon)
Obaka - Description The album "Lambarena: Bach to Africa" which uses various African instruments in harmony or question-response type to marry the work of Bach and African traditional rhythms describes the Obakas as small wooden percussion beams. Obaka - Sound The...
Mvet (Ewondo, Cameroon)
(Ewondo) traditional musical instrument used for a particular genre of music in the Centre, South and East provinces; the music itself too is called mvet.
Gudugudu (Niger)
Description The Gudugudu is a drum traditional found in the Western African region, particularly present Niger and Nigeria. This percussion instrument is intrinsic to traditional performances and typically follows the acoustic lead of the Dundun instrument. Sound...
Bounkam (Burkina Faso)
Description The Bounkam is a wind instrument from West Africa. Sound Listen to a Bounkam solo from Burkina Faso recorded by Stephen Jay and extracted from the album "West nAfrica: Drum Chant & Instrumental Music recording
Djembé (Mali)
The Djembe is an African drum instrument of the Mandingo people that dates back to the 12th century when it was played in the great Mali Empire.It is undoubtedly one of the most known African instruments but also one of the most powerful drums. It is known to be used...
Baka Water drumming (Cameroon)
This article is about the Baka Water drumming from the country of Cameroon. The Baka or Baaka people live in from the central African rainforests, mainly situated in the South East of Cameroon but also in the Congo basin and in Gabon. Expert in forest life, they are...
Dundun (Niger)
Dundun - Description The Dundun is an African drum instrument ... Dundun - Sound Listen to a set of Djerma Dundun drummers from Niger, led by the master drummer Isah Harmani, here recorded by Stephen Jay and extracted from the album "West Africa: Drum Chant &...
Def (aka daf, daff, dafli, dufli, Egypt)
The Egyptian def is a type of def aka daf,daff, dafli, dufli that has a large frame drum covered with goat-skin and no jingles (metal rings) inside and can produce intricate rhythmic patterns and sounds. Other variations or the same instrument can be found in the...