Ewe drumming

Ewe drumming is very diverse and is played in many slightly different ways.

Each ensemble usually has a master drum, an iron bell called a gankogui, and a group of secondary drummers.

The gankogui, also known as a gakpevi, is a bell, or gong instrument played with a wooden stick.

The gankogui is the skeleton, backbone, and foundation of all traditional Ewe music.

The next instrument used in traditional Ewe drumming is called axatse (pronounced ah-hah-chay).

The axatse is a rattle-like instrument made from a hollowed-out gourd covered with a net of seeds or beads.

The "ti's" sound pulses in between the bell strokes, by raising the gourd in an upward motion and striking it with the free hand.

By ending on the beginning of the cycle, the axatse part contributes to the cyclic nature of the overall rhythm.

In some West African drumming ensembles, the master drummer is to play the main theme of the piece and improvise.

It remains under constant control in order to release only the desired frequency of vibration as it strikes the membrane.

In terms of a performance technique, the duration of resonance of a tone is normally controlled by damping the membrane at the periphery with a light but firm touch of the weak hand fingers.

This technique is of prime importance in the articulation of the structure of a drum music or vugbe.

It provides the means of indicating the basic motives, phrases and periods out of which the drum music is made—Ladzekpo (1995: web).

[5]A newer, lesser used master drum is called the agboba (pronounced ag-bo-bah or sometimes bo-bah).

The kaganu is the smallest and highest pitched drum used by the Ewe, but its sound does incorporate some bass as well.

Like all Ewe drums, the kaganu has a drumhead made of antelope or deer skin.

In this view, the role and power of the drum in play embodies the Sub-Saharan concept of combining natural forces of the universe in forming the supernaturals.

In a variety of tonal properties - pitch, timbre, intensity, and intricate rhythms - the drum and the drummer, in mutual cooperation, create patterns of consciousness that give a moment of inspiration to those they touch.

Among the Anlo-Ewe, a legendary metaphor, ela kuku dea 'gbe wu la gbagbe means, "a dead animal cries louder than a live one," to explain the human experience that inspired the origins of the drum.

[6]The ethnomusicologist David Locke states: "Cross-rhythm pervades Ewe drumming.

At the center of a core of rhythmic traditions within which the composer conveys his ideas is the technique of cross rhythm.

The technique of cross rhythm is a simultaneous use of contrasting rhythmic patterns within the same scheme of accents or meter.

In Anlo-Ewe cultural understanding, the technique of cross rhythm is a highly developed systematic interplay of varying rhythmic motions simulating the dynamics of contrasting moments or emotional stress phenomena likely to occur in actual human existence.

As a preventive prescription for extreme uneasiness of mind or self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with impending or anticipated problems, these simulated stress phenomena or cross-rhythmic figures are embodied in the art of dance-drumming as mind-nurturing exercises to modify the expression of the inherent potential of the human thought in meeting the challenges of life.

The premise is that by rightly instituting the mind in coping with these simulated emotional stress phenomena, intrepidity is achieved.

It raises the mind above the troubles, disorders, and emotions the anticipation or sight of great perils strives to excite.

"[9] We have to grasp the fact that if from childhood you are brought up to regard beating 3 against 2 as being just as normal as beating in synchrony, then you develop a two dimensional attitude to rhythm… This bi-podal conception is… part of the African's nature—Jones (1959: 102)[10]Novotney observes: "The 3:2 relationship (and [its] permutations) is the foundation of most typical polyrhythmic textures found in West African musics.

The kadodo bell pattern is an embellishment of three "slow" cross-beats spanning two measures, a type of macro "hemiola."