The Djembe

 
The early original Djembe drum comes to us from Mali, in the West african coast, but it is also widely built & played in other neighbour countries (Senegal, Ivory Coast...).
Djembes were built by members of a special social group,who had an important role in social life, since they also made tools, knives and masks. Each instrument was especially manufactured for one particular drummer. A tree was chosen, and the spirit of the tree was offered cola-nuts, to apologize for the cutting.

Listen to a Djembe solo:

 

The "grios" ethny consists of musicians and singers who were the official keepers of history and tradition (by lack of any written records). Still today, the grios are the ones who know which songs, dances and rhythms should be performed at all social occasions like baptisms, weddings and funerals.
Though, there is no ethnical restrictions in becoming a "djembefola" (djembe player/master). Being a djembefola is not even considered a profession. The drummer of each african village, even if he was a real master, made a living with another job.The djembe has taken its shape from mortars used to pound millet. It has an hour-glass shape and is open on two sides. Most commonly, a goat skin is stretched (really very tight!) over the top. It is played with the hands, with basically 3 major key-sounds.

      "Bass" / "Tone" / "Slap".

Traditionally, Djembe is played at different festivities or rituals. It is almost always combined with singing and dancing. There are also no real "spectators" of Djembe in Africa, as everybody present participates the festivity in some way or another.
The drummers often start playing, in order to announce the start of the festivities and gather the guests. Then, a Grios starts to sing a song, to which everybody answers in chorus. By this time, the musicians have recognized the song and have started to play the corresponding rhythm. The dancers start to dance the basic steps of the rhythm, in a circle. When the griotte stops singing, or the master drummer feels there has been enough singing, the musicians increase the volume and pace of the music.
Taking turns, solo dancers (mainly women) emerge from the crowd and come and dance in front of the djembefola. The djembefola follows their steps and variations on the djembe, and depending on how well they dance and how many variations the dancer knows. Each solo dance takes about half a minute. The pace of the rhythm then decreases again, in waiting of the next dancer.