dùndún

Yoruba dùndún names the hourglass tension drum — a two-headed drum with the heads connected by leather thongs that can be squeezed under the arm to alter the tension and therefore the pitch. The name is onomatopoeic: dùndún replicates the sound of the drum's characteristic tones. The dùndún can produce gliding pitch changes that replicate the tonal patterns of Yoruba speech; skilled players can use it to 'speak' sentences that listeners understand as language.

The dùndún's linguistic function stems from the tonal nature of Yoruba. Yoruba is a tonal language: the same sequence of consonants and vowels can mean different things depending on pitch. A word said on a high tone differs from the same word on a low tone. The dùndún can replicate these pitch relationships by squeezing the thongs — high squeeze produces high tone, released tension produces low tone. A message can be drummed to a listener who understands the drum language.

Dùndún masters (iyá ìlù, 'mother drum' players) underwent years of training. The lead dùndún in an ensemble could transmit messages between villages, coordinate celebrations, announce the arrival of important persons, and comment on public events — essentially performing the functions of a newspaper, telephone, and public announcement system simultaneously. Communication across distances of kilometers was possible before any electronic technology.

The dùndún tradition was carried across the Atlantic in the slave trade to Cuba (where it influenced the batá drum tradition in Santería), Brazil, and the Caribbean. The 'talking drum' also influenced African American music — the blues guitar's sliding pitch effects are sometimes traced to the talking drum's influence, mediated through generations of oral tradition. The drum that spoke a language influenced a music that speaks a different language.