The Ifesowapo Dndn Ensemble performing in Igbo Ora (southwest Nigeria). Credit: Dr Cecilia DurojayeEric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix are both considered to be virtuoso guitarists. They can make their instruments sing. West African drummers who use hourglass-shaped percussion instruments known as dndns, can make their instruments not only sing but also talk. Frontiers in Communication published a new study that shows the high level of acoustic interaction between talking drums and Yorb languages.Dndn drumming, which is a musical-oral tradition, allows skilled drummers to mimic Yorb (a tonal language mostly spoken in southwest Nigeria). Dubbed "talking drums", dndns are musical instruments that can also be used to imitate the three tones of Yorb, which scientists call speech surrogates.The new paper describes how the authors analyzed 30 spoken and sung snippets and compared them with song and drum excerpts. The dndn accurately mimics Yorb vocalizations directly. However, the fidelity drops when drums are used only for music or less direct communication like song. Scientists also identified four ways that the talking drum can connect music and languagerhythm: singing, drum talking, and drum talking direct.Music and speech: New understandingsThe acoustical analysis also shows how non-western cultures can be used to enrich scientists' understanding of the relationship between speech and music, Dr. Cecilia Durojaye, who is a researcher and musicologist associated with the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University.She said that multicultural findings can be used to understand deeper relationships, the evolution of music and language, and help us to think about deeper connections. The uniqueness of the talking drum is that it can be found in both language camps and music camps. Its existence also reminds us about the thin line between music and speech.Durojaye said that while the Yorb language has a talking drum, speech surrogacy is common in music. Therefore, the research can help scientists better understand the phenomenon.This study compared the timing patterns of recorded drum excerpts with clips of speech and song by professional drummers and Yorb vocalists. To understand the commonalities between these forms of communication, the researchers also analyzed the frequency and intensity of the recorded drum excerpts.Surrogacy for speech purposesDurojaye stated that he had found distinct drumming modes that differ between musical functions, speech surrogacy, and this helps to clarify how the talking drum can be used in specific functional ways related to different types communication.Speech surrogacy has many functions. It can be used to disseminate oral history or recite poetry and proverbs. She noted that musical instruments such as these drums can be used to learn about the history of a culture or form of knowledge dissemination. It also allows one to know aspects of people's beliefs, values, and how they think.Durojaye stated that scientists still don't fully understand the function of these speech surrogate system in terms formal linguistic properties. How does each mode encode tone and syllables, for example? How is information transmitted on a syntactic and semantic level? What about their overlap with musical properties.Durojaye stated that "our study which focuses upon the acoustic characteristics of spoken, sung, and drummed forms represents one of the initial steps towards understanding these diverse structures." We continue to study this instrument, which can enhance our understanding of music, language processing, and especially from a nonwestern perspective.Continue reading Amazonian Bora People mimic the rhythms of their language to communicate over long distances using drumsFurther information: Cecilia Durojaye and co, When Music Speaks, An Acoustic Study Of The Speech Surrogacy for the Nigerian Dndn Speaking Drum, Frontiers of Communication (2021). Cecilia Durojaye and colleagues, When Music Speaks. An Acoustic Study of Speech Surrogacy in the Nigerian Dndn Speaking Drum, (2021). DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.652690
