Keepers of the Talking Drum

Tama Walo - Keepers of the Talking Drum

The Walo Walo are the descendents of the ancient Wolof kingdom of Walo, the delta region of the Senegal river, in northwestern Senegal. According to oral tradition, Walo existed for 625 years before the French colonized it in 1866. Some claim it is the oldest of the five Wolof kingdoms.
Unlike other Wolof, who traditionally play sabar drums, the Walo Walo have specialized in the Senegalese talking drum, or tam (TAH-mah). For as long as anyone knows, Walo Walo drummers have cultivated a unique style of dance music on five tamas and a bass drum called the lambe (LAHMB). According to some Wolof drummers, the Walo Walo may have played the tama for as long as three and a half centuries, though not always with a bass drum.
Cultures in other West African countries play similar drums, but with different styles of music.

The Drums

The tama has a wooden shell which is shaped like an hourglass. Each end is covered with the skin from the belly of an iguana. The skins are laced together with string. The drummer changes the drum's pitch by squeezing the strings with his arm.
The Walo Walo play four types of tama. From largest to smallest, they are the bopp, bal, nder bal, and nder. Traditionally, a troupe has two nder, for a total of five tamas.
The lambe - which is closed at the bottom and covered with a goat skin on top - is also used in sabar. Oral tradition holds that the lambe and tama are older than the other types of sabar drums.
The bal is the principal solo drum. The other drums usually play supporting parts, but they may also take turns soloing.
Each rhythm has four supporting parts, which interlock. Usually, two of the tamas - and sometimes more - play the same part. Each rhythm also has its own dance.

Tama Walo

The members of the troupe Tama Walo all come from Walo, but like a fifth of all Senegalese, they have moved to Dakar. There, they perform for wedding receptions, weddings, child-naming ceremonies, and informal dance parties among the many Walo Walo who have also moved to Dakar.
The troupe consists of the principal soloist, tama player Ousseynou "Papa" Thiam (CHAHM); tama players Mamadou Thiam, Abdoul Rakhmannne Gueye (GAY), Ibrahima Mboup, Abdou Boy Samba, and Diebril Dieye (jee-BREEL JAY); lambe player Seni Mboup; and singers Fanta Fall, Awa Thiam, and Fatou Manganne. Only five of the tama players play at a time.
The drummers in the troupe all come from families that have played the tama professionally for generations.

Drum Talk

The Walo Walo say the tama can talk because its wood and skin used to be alive. Walo Walo drummers use rhythms extensively to represent words. The audience knows by convention what the rhythms represent.
For example, while soloing, a drummer might praise someone in the audience by playing the drum strokes ran dan dan gan dan, ran dan dan gan dan ta xin dan, ran dan gan dan dan to represent the words Lo dé ti xalat (Don't be sad); Fi kofi guénou douleur geunne (Nobody here is better than you); Lo dé ti xalat (Don't be sad). Or for example, listen to the soloist represent English words (borrowed from American recordings) in track 10 at 1:18.
A drummer's solo can consist entirely of such phrases. (from the liner notes)

Recorded in Pikine Tally Icotaff, Senegal, in 1997.

Released by Village Pulse in 1998.

Tracklisting:

1. Ganass [1] {10:15}

2. Bak [1] {2:09}

3. Pithiémé Samba {2:28}

4. Awounalène {4:41}

5. Ganass [2] {5:00}

6. Dagagne {5:44}

7. Bak [2] {2:46}

8. Leumbeul {5:57}

9. Tagoumbar {1:51}

10. Bak [3] {3:43}

(1) or (1) (2) or (2) [links coming back soon, maybe (1/24/2012)]