I am looking at the HISTORY BEHIND THE DJEMBE
Originally from Mali or Guinea, the jembe dates back to at least 500 A.D. The jembe (or now know, thanks to the French, as Djembe) is found in Senegal, Mali, Sierre Leone, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Burkina Faso, as a sacred drum used in healing ceremonies, rites of passage, ancestral worship, warrior rituals, as well as social dances.
The djembe was named after the materials that are used to make the drum. First, the jembe was carved out of a chunk of the ‘Jem tree’ (a very dense wood found in Mali). Then the drum had a ‘Be’ (goat) skin stretched over the top, thus the name jembe. Traditionally, the djembe is played standing with the drum between the legs and supported with a shoulder harness or knelt over by the player with the drum lying on the floor. It is played with both hands, and sometimes has rattling tongues attached to the rim that jingle as the drum is being played. The variety of sounds that can be obtained by the different ways of beating the djembe covers a broad sonic spectrum. It is used both as a solo and an accompanying instrument.
The djembe is also known as the ‘healing drum’ because of its history as a tool in African healing traditions because of its powers when played by master drummers. African people also call it the magical drum since it has the power to make people dance and to transport people into other worlds when played well
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