Dùndún functional drumming: The syncopation, hemiola, and hocket improvisatory technique in Yoruba land

Abstract

Yoruba drummers are prolific in rhythmic creation and interpretation especially on dùndún ensemble. The mastery on the instrument is dependent on the ability of the drummer to create motives, entertain, educate, or satirize the audience at a performance. The master drummer manipulates his drum based on the available traditional techniques. These techniques are hemiola, syncopation and hocket. Thomas Eliot's (1994) theory of preservation, which sees the product and symbol of a particular civilization as an emissary of the culture it projects, is the theoretical framework for the study. The method of data collection is interviews and non-participatory observation. The objective of the study is to investigate the functions of these ensembles and to reveal the extent of the presence of these three rhythmic techniques in dùndún performance and the variation of their usages in the contemporary dùndún drumming in Yoruba society, South West, Nigeria. The study discovers that hemiola, syncopation and hocket are fundamental in the construction of drum rhythmic patterns and are basically, the essential movement concerning the identified techniques of the layers of the transcribed music and the constituent element of the rhythm. The study concludes that verbal drumming is a patterned and specialized art used in performance to correct some persons in the society whose attitude are bad, commend models in the community whose conducts are good, instruct young drummers and audience on new occurrences in the society, and institute new and dynamic drumming skills for future performances in Yoruba land.