STUDIES IN BATç (SACRED DRUM OF THE YORôBç
HAVANA TO MATANZAS BY BILL SUMMERS
Copyright © 2002 by Bill Summers, Published by Bill Summers All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by section 107 or 108 of the 1976 of the United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Request for permission or any other information should be addressed to Bill Summers 7729 Jeannette St N.O., La. 70118, Permission Dept.,
[email protected] Table of Contents Bat‡....................................................................................................................................Page 3 Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. Page 4 Introduction........................................................................................................................ Page 6 Bat‡ & Dndœn Igi or Shell .............................................................................................. Page 23 Design of the Dndœn and Bat‡ ........................................................................................ Page 24 Origin of Dndœn and Bat‡. ............................................................................................. Page 26 The Bat‡ Family of Drums ...............................................................................................Page 27 The Dndœn Family of Drums...................................................................................................28 Dimensions of the Bat‡ of Havana Cuba ..................................................................................28 Dimensions 1 set of Bat‡ from Matanzas Cuba.........................................................................28 Dimensions of the Dndœn .......................................................................................................29 Tones of the Bat‡ ......................................................................................................................35 Glossary....................................................................................................................................30 Okonkolo Exercises...................................................................................................................36 Itotele Excercises ......................................................................................................................38 Iya Excercises ...........................................................................................................................40 ElŽgb‡ (Havana).......................................................................................................................42 ñgœn (Havana)..........................................................................................................................49
ñsh—˜s“ (Havana)......................................................................................................................52 Obal˜k• (Havana) .....................................................................................................................57 Erinl• (Havana) .........................................................................................................................60 Iyakota (Havana).......................................................................................................................64 BabalœaiyŽ (Havana) .................................................................................................................66 ñs‡ny“n (Havana)......................................................................................................................70 Osun (Havana) ..........................................................................................................................77 Obˆt‡l‡ (Havana) ......................................................................................................................81 Dada (Havana) ..........................................................................................................................88 ñge (Havana) ............................................................................................................................91 Aganj (Havana) .......................................................................................................................94 Orœnm“lˆ (Havana)....................................................................................................................99 ñr“sˆ Oko (Havana) ................................................................................................................102 íbedji (Havana) .......................................................................................................................105 Shango (Havana......................................................................................................................108 YŽwˆ (Havana) .......................................................................................................................120 Oya (Havana)..........................................................................................................................123 Yemoja (Havana) ...................................................................................................................128 ñbˆ (Havana).........................................................................................................................152 Oshun (Havana) ......................................................................................................................157 Odœdw‡ (Havana) .................................................................................................................160 LATOPKA (Matanzas) ...........................................................................................................163 ElŽgb‡ (Matanzas)...................................................................................................................169
ñgœn (Matanzas).....................................................................................................................173 Erinl• (Matanzas)....................................................................................................................177 ñsh—˜s“ (Matanzas) ................................................................................................................181 BabalœaiyŽ (Matanzas)............................................................................................................193 Aganj (Matanzas) ..................................................................................................................197 Shango (Matanzas)..................................................................................................................202 Obˆt‡l‡ (Matanzas) .................................................................................................................219 ñbˆ (Matanzas) ......................................................................................................................225 YŽwˆ (Matanzas) ....................................................................................................................235 Oya (Matanzas) ......................................................................................................................238 Yemoja (Matanzas) ................................................................................................................244 Oshun (Matanzas) ...................................................................................................................259 Orœnm“lˆ (Matanzas)..............................................................................................................262 Bibliography ...........................................................................................................................265
Bat‡
Bat‡ are described by Fernando Ortiz as being Òclosed bimembraphones, ambipercussive with clepsidrically formed wooden body.Ó The bat‡ have a long History and are sacred to Shango. Shango was the third Al‡ˆf’n Òowner of the PalaceÓ to rule over ancient Yoruba city of Oyo. The first two Al‡ˆf’ns were Oranmiyan and Ajaka. Shango ruled in the middle of the fifteenth century, before any written accounts of Oyo history. Shango would put fear into his enemyÕs by spitting fire from his mouth. The bat‡ drums are sacred to Shango. There seem to be more rhythms, on this particular drum, for Shango than any other ñr“shˆ The bat‡ are similar to the dndœn family of Yoruba drums in several ways. In Nigeria West Africa, where the Yoruba people are found, there are many families of drums played. Ip•s• drums are connected to and played for Ifa. ígb“n drums are played in honor of Orishanla or Obˆt‡l‡ and others. Ëg•r• drums are associated with Ogun. The bat‡ are drums that accompany masquerades, particularly Egœngœn, and are the official drums of Shango. The dndœn families of drums have no restrictions and are used in many ways and they accompany various religious and social activities. Some of the similarities between the bat‡ and the dndœn, both are bimembraphones meaning they have to membranes attached to each end of the drum. They both adorn a garment of bells called ÒshaworoÓ in Nigeria and ÒchaworoÓ in Cuba, The gœdœgœdœ drum, which is shaped like a bowl and has one head, makes use of two hide straps called a bil‡l‡. The bil‡l‡ is used on bat‡ in Nigeria and Matanzas Cuba where some players convert a shoe sole as a substitute. The gœdœgœdœ usually accompanies the dndœn. The gœdœgœdœ and the bat‡ both apply a sticky substance to the surface of their skin head called ida. In Cuba ida is substituted with a preparation called fardela which was made from bees wax, plaster of Paris, balsam de Peru (tree sap), red fish and other ingredients. Ida, in Nigeria, is made of tree sap and ash.
ñbˆ (Matanzas)
ñbˆ was the first wife of Shango and the daughter of Odœd•w‡ .She is the ñr“shˆ of activity and action. She nurtured and created commercial undertakings. ñbˆ is the mother of invention creating navigation and business. She represents a stable home. ñbˆ taught Shango how to use his sword and Oya the art of the cutlass. There is the story about ñbˆ and Oshun that involves Shango. Oshun, who was one of ShangoÕs women, told ñbˆ if she wanted to truly please Shango that she should cut her ear of and cook it within ShangoÕs favorite food and this would please him forever. Oshun did this evil deed upon the advice of Oya. When Shango saw his yam porridge and realized what ñbˆ had done he was infuriated and banished ñbˆ from the palace.
In Yorb‡ folklore it is said that Ayˆn was the first person to use dndœn or the hour glass drum amongst them. Ayˆn was a resident of Shaworo in Ibˆrib‡land . He taught many Yorb‡ families the art of drumming and for this he was widely respected and after his death he was deified. Another story state that the dndœn were brought first to Ile Ife from heaven. Another tale states that dndœn came to Ile Ife by way of Mecca and others say it originated in Oyo. Salami Ladokun a drummer for the Al‡ˆfin of Oyo says that it was the Al‡ˆfin Atiba who brought the dndœn to Oyo and all the other locations in Yorb‡land. Helen Hause who is mentioned by Akin Euba in his book Yorb‡ Drumming The Dndœn Tradition, feels that from the linguistic analysis of the words associated with the drums and their parts she could trace the entomology that the dndœn originate from the same source as other hourglass drums of West Africa. Her research according to her supports the theory that these drums derived from Asia and were introduced to the Yorb‡ by the Arabs. Hause states ÒThe terminology of the Sudanic languages leaves little room for doubt that (the hour glass drum)entered West Africa not from the east but from the north. Both the drum and its terminology were introduced to the Yorb‡ by the Hausa. There are the Bharahat reliefs of India that date back to the 2nd century B.C..that show an hourglass drum which Curt Sachs claims is Òthe oldest hourglass drumÓ During the middle ages the hourglass drum was present in an area between Cylon and Japan and was imported there from Turkestan in the 4th century A.D.. The hourglass drum can be found in ancient reliefs from Java and are said to have arrived there through Sumatra by way of India in the 8th .century A.D..The curved stick that is used to play the dndœn may also have come from India because of the 2nd Century B.C. reliefs that they are seen in. The bat‡ are in the same family of bimembraphones and Fernando Ortiz explored the same avenues mentioned above and a few additional ones notably Egypt, which also had ambipercussive drums of this nature.. Also these types of drums were found amongst the Sudanese and were called asah. Adolpho Salazar states that the deburka is among the sandwatch drums that are seen in the miniatures made by the monks of Spain in the 9th and 10th century. Whether or not these early hourglass, clepsidrical, ambipercussive bimebraphone were used in the manner they are use by the Yorb‡ of today and the past is yet to be proven. The degree of tonal range and the ability to apply this to the Yorb‡ language is remarkable and stands along as a great development in the world of drumming and music in general.
