The djembe is a member of the membranophone musical family. Membranophone is a musical instrument, which generally only produces sound by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. A West African instrument, the djembe is a skin-covered hand drum and meant to be played with bare hands. The main notes are referred to as bass, tone and slap, however, it is possible to achieve a mix of different sounds.
It is a hard instrument to learn, it takes many years of practice and performing in ceremonies and festivals with a master to produce an authentic sound from the djembe. Once this is achieved you can be known as a djembefola – a djembe player.
The body of the djembe is carved from a single piece of a hardwood tree. Whereas the head of the drum is made from goatskin or in rare cases from a zebra, deer, antelope or calfskin.
Originally used as a form of communication (although all music is a form of communication), the djembe drums are considered very spiritual and said to contain three spirits: the spirit of a tree, the spirit of the animal of which the drum-head is made and the spirit of the instrument maker.
Several Western artists have used the djembe as a key instrument in their pieces/songs. The Beatles, Paul Simon, Incubus, Grateful Dead and Peter Gabriel are just a few of these artists incorporating the djembe in their songs.
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