West Africa
SENEGAL
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. It is the western-most country in the continent of Africa. Senegal nearly surrounds The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the Southwest. The capital is Dakar, and the President is Macky Sall. The World Bank (in 2019) shows a record 16.3 million people live in Senegal. Their currency is the West African CFA franc. It takes about 539 cfas to equal $1 dollar US.
The state was formed as part of the independence of French West Africa from French colonial rule. Because of this history, the official language is French. Like other post-colonial African states, the country includes a wide mix of ethnic and linguistic communities, with the largest being the Wolof, Fula, and Serer people, and the Wolof and French languages are the largest languages spoken.
Senegal is a majority Sunni Muslim Country. The climate is typically Sahelian: A semiarid region of North-Central Africa Southof the Sahara Desert. There is a rainy season.
Senegal is a member state of the African Union, the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.
Senegal is classified as a heavily indebted poor country, with a relatively low Human Development Index. Most of the population is on the coast and works in agriculture or other food industries like fishing. Other major industries include mining, tourism and services.
Despite significant economic growth and decades of political stability, Senegal still faces serious development challenges. More than one-third of the population lives below the poverty line, and 75 percent of families suffer from chronic poverty.
INSTRUMENTS
THE BALAFON
The balan (commonly called balafon) is a traditional melodic percussion instrument that can be found throughout West Africa. It goes by several names that include the indigenous term balan. Typically it has between 12 and 21 keys, it is played with mallets, and it is tuned to a scale that long pre-dates Western tuning. Ethnomusicologists often describe two common tuning systems; one being pentatonic (five notes) and the other being septatonic (seven notes).
The balafon is made from a bamboo frame with wooden keys. The wood is kiln-baked to ensure no moisture remains. The keys are then tied to the frame with a single piece of cord on each side, this means that if a key comes loose they all have to be taken off and retied. After the frame is made it resembles a xylophone but then calabash, or gourds, as they are more commonly known in English, are attached underneath to add resonance – these essentially act as amplifiers for the sound.
Each gourd has to be cut and tuned to the keys. A couple of holes are then cut in each gourd to increase the buzz. The holes in the gourds are covered with plastic as opposed to the traditional spider web covering once used.
There is no clear way of dating when the balafon first appeared. We do know that it was used in the music of the great African Empire of Mali going all the way back to the 13th century. The instrument’s purpose was to focus in on the most powerful and healing vibrations (notes) and to then create music that would energize us all.
Here’s a great example of contemporary traditional balafon music being performed by “Neba Solo.” They are from the village of Sikasso, in the country now called Mali, which was once part of The Mali Empire.
THE DJEMBE
The djembe drum is most likely about 400-800 years old. Pronounced JIM BAY or JEM BAY. The djembe is one of West Africa’s best-known instruments. This goblet-shaped drum is traditionally carved from a single piece of African hardwood and topped with an animal skin as a drum head. It is played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. In western understanding, the drum belongs to the membranophone class of instruments in the percussion family.
Some say the name of the djembe came from the Bamana in Mali, who said "Anke dje, anke be" to call their people together, as the saying translates as "everyone gather together in peace." "Dje" means gather and "be" means everyone, which gave the drum used in these calls to order its name. The Bamanakans' mythology tells of the original djembe, which was made of the hide of a giraffe-zebra hybrid called the gebraffe. There are at least a dozen stories of the history of the drum told by many master drummers, who tell these stories and then step back as even they, don't purport to know the real truth.
THE TAMA DRUM
The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody (rhythm and sound) of human speech. It has two drum heads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitch of the drum by squeezing the cords between their arm and body.
Note the drumstick used to play the tama drum has a curved head and a flat striking surface. The drum is played rapidly with fingers and stick.
Massamba Diop played his tama drum in the movie The Black Panther. His drum was heard throughout the movie and was the signature music for T’Challa. Massamba is also playing his Tama in Wakanda Forever.
THE SABAR DRUM
The Sabar, which originated with the Serer people, is a traditional drum from Senegal (also played in the Gambia). It is a very loud drum. A Sabar ensemble is an impressive sound, and the music and dance is often played at a frenetic speed.
Sabar is a family of drums from Senegal West Africa. Traditionally played in an ensemble with different pitched drums, there are three main types; mbeng mbeng (high pitch), touni (medium pitch), and thoil (low pitch). These drums are played with one hand and one stick, tuning is traditional with pegs and cord. The wood is dimba, a hardwood favored for drum making in Senegal. The wood is textured with tooling marks from the carving process, it is treated with a natural oil finish.
