Drums in communication

Developed and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long-distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions.

While the tone and articulation of this type of hourglass-shaped instrument can be finely controlled, it cannot be heard at distances beyond a gathering or market-place, and it is primarily used in ceremonial settings.

[1] Variations in the thickness of the walls give varying tones when struck by the heavy wooden drum sticks.

[3] The Catuquinaru tribe of Brazil reportedly used a drum called the cambarysu to send vibrations through the ground to other cambarysus up to 1.5 km away.

[4] In Africa, New Guinea and tropical areas of America, people have used drum telegraphy for centuries to communicate over long distances.

In these cases, messages can be transmitted as rapid beats at the same speed as speech, as the rhythm and melody both match the equivalent spoken utterance.

By using a proverb or honorary title to create an expanded version of the name of a person, animal, or object, the indistinguishable single beat of an ordinary name can be replaced with a particular rhythmic and melodic motif for each subject.

In practice not all listeners understand all of the stock phrases; the drum language is understood only to the level of each person's immediate concern.