Rethinking the dynamics of Yorùbá dùndún music resource materials in the context of Claudius Olayemi Olaniyan’s Scholarship

Abstract

Beyond the rhetoric and an intentional tribute to a retired teacher (professor), senior colleague and mentor, Claudius Olayemi Olaniyan, this essay re-examines how Yorùbá dùndún drummers across different generations utilize music resource materials for composition and performance. The article is premised on Cultural Dynamism and relies on data generated from Yorùbá dùndún practitioners using the ethnographic techniques. Drawing on Olaniyan’s scholarly contributions, the ingenuity of dùndún practitioners in adopting oríkì (praise chant/music), òwe (proverbs), ìtàn ìbílẹ/orin àbáláyé (folk history/folk song), àfojúinúwò (imagination) and ìşẹlẹ ojú eré (contextual occurrence) to craft their musical art and their contextual appropriateness was analyzed. Findings showed that there is a decline in performance dexterity, less opportunities for knowledge and skill acquisition on resource materials, as well as lower required discipline level and diligence for distinctiveness in modern dùndún performance. The argument is that a gradual shift from the normative Yorùbá music aesthetic assessment and the challenge of absolute meanings on and at different levels has implications for the promotion of dùndún music making now and in the future.