Congolese Drum (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

This single-headed membranophone was collected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its precise ethnic and regional attribution is not known. The drum is approximately 76 cm high and has a tall body with a broad upper section and a pronounced foot. Its wooden surface is richly decorated with polychrome geometric designs in red, green, white, yellow and black.

The membrane is secured with wooden nails around the upper rim and has been treated with a tuning paste applied directly to the skin. Such substances alter the acoustic properties of a drumhead by adding mass and damping part of its vibration. Together with the tension of the membrane and the dimensions of the wooden resonating body, this treatment affects the pitch and timbre of the instrument and can produce a deeper and more controlled tone. The use of tuning paste is documented among several Central African drum traditions.

The form of the drum belongs to the broad family of Central African single-headed goblet and conical drums. Comparable instruments occur among numerous peoples of the Congo Basin, and their forms, construction and decoration vary considerably from region to region. Because the provenance of this particular drum is limited to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, its exact cultural attribution cannot be established solely from its shape and decoration.

Bibliography:
Boone, Olga (1951): Les tambours du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi. 2 vols. Tervuren: Musée du Congo belge, Annales, Nouvelle série in-4°, Sciences de l'Homme, Ethnographie 1.
Brincard, Marie-Thérèse (1989): Sounding Forms – African Musical Instruments.
Dagan, Esther A. (ed.) (1993): Drums – The Heartbeat of Africa. Montréal: Galerie Amrad.
Gansemans, Jos (2008): Collectie van het KMMA: Muziekinstrumenten. Tervuren: Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika.
Maquet, J.-N. (1957): "Note sur les instruments de musique congolais." Sciences de l'Homme, nouvelle série, Tome VI, No. 4.
Meyer, Andreas (1997): Afrikanische Trommeln – West- und Zentralafrika. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz.