The impact of Dúndùn drummers on the development of traditional music in South West Nigeria

Abstract

The dúndùn ensemble drummers are the custodians of Yoruba oral repertoire in South West Nigeria. Their skills are transmitted to the younger  generation in simple and articulate style. It is important however, to distinguish between the dúndùn ensemble groups at the king‟s palace, city  square, town hall and the dùndún ensemble groups who perform on the streets and who normally impose themselves on guests at organised social  events in Yoruba land.  The court musicians and their counterparts usually,at the city square or town hall are gainfully employed by the king.  This group of drummers are practitioners who perform mainly for royalties at the palace. The dùndún street drummers, however, are prolific  drummers who perform generally within the circles of the poor, roaming from street to street. They are generally perceived as beggars by those  who do not understand the importance of the group in the society in which they reside. Their performance is sometimes extended to the social   events in the midst of the rich without any invitation. The members of these groups are skilled instrumentalists according to the standard of  measurement of artistic excellence in Yoruba land. Nevertheless, they lack the financial stability and social patronage to form a real dance band that  promotes classical recordings of their works for a wider public consumption. Sociological and analytical methods of data collection used in the study  reveal the societal intolerance of these groups of drummers and the drummers‟ wise resistance of this attitude to their performances. The  findings reveal that the ensemble drummers though do not get enough patronage, are very versatile performers and are promoters of their  traditional musical culture. In conclusion, the status of the drummers does not influence the quality of their performances; rather, they are very  happy people, thoroughly groomed as drummer ensemble whose impact deserves a better recognition and patronage.