Membranophones

The jenbe is a percussion instrument named after its inventor. Its long shape resembles that of a mortar and its upper side is covered with goatskin fixed to the wood with tacks. Since its initial creation up to the present, its form and the materials used to make it have changed considerably. In former times, at every ceremony at which the jenbe was played, a fire was lit to be used by the player to stretch the skin of his instrument when its sound became too low. Nowadays this practice no longer exists.

My father plays the xylophone. In my case, it is because of my curiosity that I became a jenbe player. When I was six years old, I started making jenbes using old tomato cans and the skin of a fish we call "dodo". Some of the song styles associated with the jenbe are the "manda", "dansa", "soli", and "sokoninkun".

The jenbe drum, whose large and small versions are invariably played together, plays a central role in the musical practices of the Malinké, the Khassonké and the sedentary Peul of Wasulun, they use it to play sokoninkun music, relating to the mythical antelope from which agriculture draws its beginnings, music of the nama (hyena) cult, associated with work in the fields, the music of the sigi (buffalo), an animal to which hunters pay homage, jaguawara music (music with the power to make people dance), and the typical music of the jenbe itself.

The centuries-old musical tradition of the Malinké derives its rich diversity from three main instruments whose reputation extends beyond the borders of Mali and Africa: the single-skinned jenbe or "goblet drum", the balanin or "small xylophone" with 15 to 19 bars tuned to a seven-tone scale, and the kora or "bridge-harp" with 21 strings, originally from Casamance. These instruments furthermore determine the musical genres of which they are the mainstay.

The typical music of the jenbe itself is played with three instruments: the jenbe ba or "large jenbe" which the player uses to work out complex rhythms, play solo and give rhythmic support to the dance steps; the jenbe den or "small jenbe" which is used for basic accompaniment; and the dunun, a cylindrical drum used to play the bass notes. Other elements are hand-clapping (by the women) and a chorus with a female lead-singer. This music is generally performed in connection with the harvest (of fonio and millet), Muslim religious celebrations (tabaski and ramadan), and rites of passage (baptisms, circumcisions, weddings and funerals). Each of these occasions has its own particular rhythms, songs and dances.