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A Word about Jembes |
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| Jembes have been growing in popularity in recent years. They have large heads
for their size, which makes them easy to play, and produce a dynamic range of
sounds from low basses to sharp slaps. They narrow at the middle, which allows
them to be easily supported by the knees while the player is seated. Traditional
versions are made with few or no metal parts, which is appealing to people who
like a "natural" feel to their instrument. Also, a well-made jembe, with its lacing
pattern and/or carved wood body, is a piece of artwork. Probably developed by the Malinke or Bambara of West Africa over a thousand years ago, the jembe is popular all over the world today. Other than being the most ubiquitous drum in West Africa, it is enjoying increasing popularity in Europe and the Americas. African drumming classes have been springing up all over, centered mainly on learning the jembe. Drumming groups which used to feature congas have moved over to their African cousin. Websites with jembe info abound. Do a query with a search engine using the word "djembe", and see how many hits you get. (By the way, be ready to encounter a lot of French, German, and Swedish). Most often the name of the drum is spelled "djembe". This is the Francophone version of the word which, according to this article by Eric Charry, may not be the spelling preferred by the African people of the region. Even though I like the aesthetics of the extra D, I usually use Mr. Charry's English spelling. |
| There
is some dispute over the origin of Jembes. Most sources agree that their genesis
was among Mande-speaking cultures in the region of Guinea and Mali around the
tributaries of the Senegal and Niger river systems, and migrated to Senegal, Ivory
Coast, and Burkina Faso by the end of the first millenium of the Common Era (A.D.).
Their main purpose was to be a central element in rituals and ceremonies for marriages, coming-of-age, male and female circumcisions, recognition of valiant deeds, and celebrating familial and non-familial relationships, among others. Performances were always accompanied by single or group dancing. This was not something done just for entertainment to a bunch of well-dressed concert-goers who sat quietly and listened, but was an integrated element in the fabric of Mande cultural recognition of life's milestones and cycles. Recently, the occasions for jembe drumming has expanded. Groups of Africans who demonstrated their culture in European venues created music and dance groups called "ensembles" or "ballets". Dancing and drumming were integrated as they had been traditionally, but the rhythms performed were samples from a potpourri of West African cultures. The music was, of course, out of context since it was not associated with the ceremonies with which they belonged. In 1959, an album was released that became a classic of recorded African drumming. Drums of Passion was produced in the United States featuring a Nigerian drummer named Babatunde Olatunji. Although no jembes were used on the album, it paved the way for the dispersion of African drum music into the Western world. In the mid-70s, a Malinke jembe master from Guinea, named Ladji Camara, was recorded with a group of American drummers live in New York. The resulting album was, for all but a few, the introduction of the jembe to the U.S., which had not had close ties to Francophone West Africa and it's culture. Camara would go on to become a drum and African culture instructor in New York. Many African drummers, like Mamady Keita, Famoudou Konate, Adama Drame, and Olatunji, followed in the same pattern -- relocating to Europe or North America and teaching their art. In the '90s, the jembe has spread throughout West African nations, and challenged the conga as the drum-of-choice among Western Percussionists. |
| Traditionally,
jembes are played in a group, accompanied by one-to-three bass drums called dun
duns (or djun djuns, among other spellings). One jembe is usually the
lead, and does the calls for starts, stops, and changes, in addition to improvisational
rhythms over the top of the polyrhymic structure laid down by the accompaning
jembes and dun duns. The dancers also respond to cues by the lead drum. The dun dun is a cylindrical drum, often played slung over one shoulder with a stout stick. The other hand sometimes plays a bell afixed to the drum. In the performance "ballets", three dun duns were frequently strapped together and mounted vertically to be played by a single drummer. |
 | There is a wide range of drums labeled "djembes". While they vary in materials and construction techniques, what they have in common is their shape. |
Traditional JembesThe head is a goat hide, although I've heard that antelope hide works nicely. Goat hide is thinner than the cowhide used in congas. This hide can still have some fur on it, or it may be shaven. |  |
 | Cords are laced and woven into a structure that uses the curvature of the drum body to anchor the head. The weave pattern is part of what gives the drum its beauty. The most popular pattern is called the "Mali weave." Between the rich wood color, and the color of the lacing, striking combinations can be made. The drum is tuned by tightening the cords, and adding extra compexity to the weave. This can be challenging, but many owners enjoy the tinkering involved in the upkeep of a traditional drum. |
Jembes Go High-Tech |
| Remo jembes are made with a synthetic head they call "FiberSkyn". Unlike
animal hide, it doesn't vary much in tone depending on temperature and humitity.
Supposedly, you can even play one in the rain. The body is of a material Remo
calls "Acousticon II", which is made of hardwood fibers soaked and pressed together
in layers along with resin. It is reportedly strong. It also makes for a lighter
instrument than the hollowed-out hardwood of a traditional jembe. These drums are built with tuning keys, much like a kit drum head or conga. This makes the Remo much easier to tune than a jembe with lacing. |  |
| Perhaps to make up for the loss of decoration due to the lack of woven
cords, Remo covers the bodies of their products with a colored cloth, which is
then clear-coated. The cloth usually has a pattern, some designed by such well-known
drummers as Leon Mobley and Paulo Mattiolli. Other established drum companies,
like Latin Percussion and Toca, also make key-tuned jembes, some with lightweight
fiberglass bodies. |
| Even though many players prefer the rope-tension jembe over the modern incarnations by Remo, Toca, and Latin Percussion for their "traditional" qualities, Western versions have some compromises. One is the use of strong, stretch-resistent synthetic rope normally used for rock climbing or sailing. Older jembes in Africa had natural plant fibers or animal gut. In the U.S., constructors make use of sophisticated synthetic line that will not stretch and change the instrument's tuning. This practice has also been adopted by many African makers, who utilize the best materials available to them. |
 | Another divergence from traditional techniques is constructing the body from lathed wooden staves, as in ashikos and Western congas. The carving of tree trunks into drum shells can be difficult and arduous, especially when using hardwoods. By using machines to shape a jembe body, a perfect, symetrical shape can be achieved, with a smoothe interior surface for better resonance. Also, since the pieces are individually rather small, the drum maker can use leftover scrap wood, which allows more efficient use of the exotic tropical (and perhaps, endangered) trees favored for jembes. |
| Some Western jembe makers have also adopted new construction techniques like adding an extra metal ring. Normally, the drum head is held on by two rings which clamp the goat hide at the top, and one smaller ring to anchor the tuning line near the bottom of the bowl. Increasingly, jembe builders have incorporated a third ring at the top to help clamp the head, and decrease the chances of slippage while tightening. Whether one prefers two of three rings seems to be a matter of taste, personal experiences, and dedication to authenticity. |
| A
jembe master, after many years of apprenticeship under a mentor, is known as a
"jembefola". Traditionally members of a class called jali (French: griots)
see this
article, and this
one too, they played a special, inportant role in society, while they
occupied one of the lowest hierarchical positions. Some jembefolas have today become world-renown, and many have dispersed all over the world, passing on their art to eager, Western ethnomusicologists and other jembe-slappers. Many can be heard on tapes and CDs, available in record stores or online. While my personal collection is still quite small, I frequently encounter certain names in my pursuits of jembe-related info, including:
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Links
Here are some good jembe sites I've come across This is the single best jembe site I've come across. It has articles on many aspects of jembes and related drums, including playing techniques, care tips, tuning, classes, drum patterns, and more. I'm a member of their interactive mailing list.
Djembe-L FAQ Contents Page
A nice, all-around jembe info site. Photos showing different ways to wear the jembe were particularly useful. It also provides information on West African music and culture, plus resources for women drummers.Djimbefoland
Eric Charry is a student of West African culture and the jembe. His site not only has info on the instrument, but also how it is used for its traditional purposes. He puts the jembe in perspective, and in its element.A Guide to the Jembe
This site has a specific topic: How to Play the Jembe. Using photos, the author describes and demonstrates hand techniques.The Djembe Primer
The review of Remo hand drums on this page appears to be objective and non-biased..A Remo Hand Drum Review
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