Rhythm

PRINCIPLES OF RHYTHM INTEGRATION

IN AFRICAN DRUMMING

WILLIE ANKU

Rhythm in Africa music has been a subject of much interest to ethnomusicologists (see Kauffman 1980). While it would be generally agreed that much has been accomplished in the common effort to explain " exactly what is the Africa treatment of rhythm"(Jones 1959), there is at present no consensus on how this should be done. Each individual has tried to interpret African rhythm from his or her background knowledge of Western music and theory as either a performer or an ethnography (Kauffman 1980).

Of all these studies, the works of David Locke (!982), John Chernoff (1979), A. M. Jones (1954), and James Koetting (1970) are directly relevant to this discussion. Locke and Jones has focused primarily on Ewe dance drumming, Chernoff observed the Dagomba and Ewe, while Koetting worked on Akan drumming, mainly to devise a nation system aimed at interpreting its holistic perception. Locke's background as a performer is reflected in his somewhat precise musical references and an approach that emphasizes descriptive as well as analytical methods. As a social scientist, Chernoff combines his leaning experience with the aesthetics of his acculturative experience in Ghana. His approach descriptive rather than analytical. Jones' transcriptions and theories have generated much discussion over the years. His experience with Tey, a native Ewe master drummer, was limited . He worked in a "foreign" environment where the drum ensemble was not readily available to him. Moreover, the use of his transcription machine with his informant limited his observations to one

1. [For more information on Ewe rhythmic practices, readers re referred to Agawu (1995), which was published after the completion of this article.-Ed.]

WILLIE ANKU is chair of the music department at the University of Ghana, Legon. His research insert is in theory and structural analysis of African traditional music. He was a visiting professor of California State University, San Macros. He is the author of Structural Set Analysis of African Music , vol. 1 and 2 (1992-1993).

BMR Journal

isolated part of the ensemble at a time. As a result, the vertical organization of his material is not adequately dealt with as he could not properly perceive the interrelationship of the whole ensemble. Nevertheless, the expositions of all these scholars growing awareness of the intricacies of African drumming, partly because of their practical experience in African drumming.

The problems apparent in most of these studies stems from a general lack of a holistic approach. As Koetting point out:

[T]o analyze the patterns of a drum ensemble piece individually is to miss the main characteristic of the music, which is the totality of sound produced by the interrelation of the various parts. This is particularly true in viewing the between the master drum and the rest of the ensemble...... What is needed is a comprehensive analysis that can encompass similarities and differences as components of the whole ...... A deeper probe of the music- involving such detail as the precise beginnings of master drum patterns, possible verbal meanings in subgroup or individual supporting patterns, and dance associations- would have to be made before any trustworthy conclusions could be reached. (1970,139)

I endorse the formulation of the problem by Koetting, since it confirms my own experience as a native scholar (Anku 1986; 1988; 1992;1993;1995a;1995b). This study seeks to probe deeper into the internal structures of drumming by taking into account ethnography evidence of " perception norms", which are often missed in analytical observations and in the formulation of theories on rhythm in African drumming.

Musical examples for this study are base on extract from an Akan adowa drumming transcription provided as appendix to this paper. The adowa ensemble (Akan funeral music) is made of the following instrumentation: two boat- shaped bells (dawuro), two hourglass drums (donno), one hand drum (apentemma), one stick drum (petia), and a pair of talking drums (atumpan).

The most significant aspect of "multhirhythm" perception in drumming is that the various composite patterns are heard in integration and not as isolated units. While in most other forms of music we have become accustomed to the tune concept (melody, voice leading) as distinct from harmonic and other accompanying elements (Seeger 1966), there appears to be no such clearly defined or comparable tune concept in drumming. It should be noted that even though some instruments tend to stand out loud and distinct (for instance, the adowa bell_dawuro_is the highest pitched, while the master drum_atumpan_is the most resonant), they do not in any way represent a melodic concept of the drum ensemble. In many multidrum cultures, however, drumming may simulate melody as the drummers verbalize a random selection of successive sound patterns, using nonsense syllables to represent what emerges from the sound palette, typical of the entire ensemble. What is usually verbalized is not played by any one particular instrument but is a result of the integration.

Evidence of this demonstrated by Okyrema Asante, celebrated Akan master drummer, who is able to perform alone an entire popular band drumming types such as asiko or adowa, which is intended for a full drum ensemble (in a manner similar to the jazz drum technique). Even though this manner of performance is not typical in Akan drumming , the drummer is able to do so not by playing a succession of predetermined isolated patterns as traditional prescribed but by performing what he perceives as the expectancies of the integration. One of the plates published in African Rhythm and African Sensibility features of Gideon Folie Alorwoyie, an Anlo master drummer, performing in a similar manner (Chernoff 1979, 172). Such example demonstrate the ultimate presence and recognition of emergent and resultant rhythms as legitimate conceptual and perceptual phenomenon in African drumming.

The emergent rhythm may be defined as a random and aesthetic selection of a continuum of "peak of prominence" of sound patterns, from a palette of integrated rhythms. The resultant rhythm, however, is a more definite outcome of the integration, conceived monolithically (such as resultant between two bell rhythms in Akan adowa or between two aburukwa support drums in Akan kete drumming). The intrinsic perception of time synchronization of the various composite parts of the ensemble is to a great extent embedded in the performers' awareness and expectancies of the emergent and resultant rhythms.

The subjective approach adopted in the present study is crucial to understanding the problems in focus. It is a legitimate consideration part because it is acknowledged by the various African traditions and because their musical reference are ultimately expressed from individual or group perception. The norms of rhythm perception of a people, therefore, should provide a premise for such analytical discussion of procedures of rhythm, especially when examining music communicated entirely by oral tradition.

The intensity factor in drumming, for instance, should not be overlooked in the discussion of drumming procedures. In a particular performance, for example, one may observe the peculiar use of certain popular rhythms, or the enactment of certain popular movements in dance, or the significant use of certain rhythmic phrases in vogue, as for example in Akan or in Ewe drumming (see Exs 1 and 2). Such utterances, which are either chanted, sounded on drum, or sounded by any other means available

Call- and- response and hocket techniques are common in African music. They are not limited to vocal music but permeate all forms of performance practices. As with emergent and resultant rhythms, the performers' ability to maintain the overall organization of the piece rests in part on their perception of the various relationships of call-and-response and hocket patterns. these techniques find their highest expression in drumming. Call-and-response structures are easily recognizable between rhythmic phrases of wider structural spans, while shorter units interact in hocket fashion.

Call and response techniques are essentially a learned behavior deeply rooted in oral traditions of African peoples. Chorus responses of all kinds may be observed between a teacher and his students, between a priest and congregation of worshipers, chorus responses to ordinary greetings, and at sociopolitical gatherings_all of which form an integral part of day-to-day behavior. It is, ultimately, a compositional device found to facilitate communal music participation.

Specific Analytical Considerations

There are two important analytical perspectives under focus: (a) the drummer's " internal" holistic perspective and (b) the "external" holistic perspective.

The "Internal" Holistic Perspective

The main considerations in understanding the internal holistic perspective are the descriptions of how the performers find their cues and maintain their relationship with other composite parts of the ensemble: in other words, how the performer perceives his entries. One may distinguish between the primary and secondary relationships.

Primary relationships are those that depend directly on the time line (for instance, donno and bell, apentemma and atumpan and bell). Each performer perceives the time line in integration with his assigned pattern as a way to facilitate the cue entry process. Since there are no external concepts of timing gestures, such as those of the conductor in the Western orchestra, this built-in device is crucial one.

Secondary relationships, on the other hand, refer to instances when the performer establish multiple integration with patterns other then the time line. At certain intensity levels, the relationship between petia support drum and atumpan, or peti and apentemma, becomes so strong that one or both performers will momentarily disassociate from the time line (without loosing the flow of the basic timing relationship of the piece) to indulge in some sort of dialogue, with one usually serving as a pacemaker for the other.

These kinds of momentary shirts in focus occur frequently throughout the piece. They may also arise because certain rhythms integrate more easily than others, or because they help to facilitate timing perception more easily. That is, there is a constant search for a pacemaker, thus, an easily integrated rhythm. As the relationships during the piece unfold in intensity and complexity, there is often a need to make frequent reference to the time line for confirmation of entries. This is especially important at changes in pattern orientation and with the introduction of complex staggered rhythms such as those referred to by the Akan as akita (literally," to hold back").

Traditionally, an Akan drummer may make ironic reference to his pacemaker as his dawuro (bell): Wo na woye me dawuro, "literally, "you are my bell." This is because the pacemaker provides the same referential roles as the time line even though he may be playing on a composite instrument other than the bell.

At the high of intensity, the perception of the holistic composition becomes inseparable into composites rhythms. The performer no longer feels his rhythms as composites but as part of the monolith. It is the desire of every performer to sustain this perceptual unity, arising from the integration, for as long as possible.

One may also observe how each instrument relates within the holistic configuration of the ensemble from the internal perceptive. In adowa drumming one may easily observe a dual distribution of instruments on the basis of assigned rhythm patterns. There are two bells and two donno parts, the apentemma and apetia rhythms related closely, while, at the same time, petia provides interesting rhythmic interchanges with the atumpan. The same is true between the low and high pitch relationships of the atumpan drum pair.

The two bell pattern have an interlocking relationship. Traditionally, one of the two bells is referred to as the interlocking bell., ntwamu. This interlocking effect confirms the close association between the rhythms of these two parts. Together they produce the resultant shown in example 4. The second bell pattern easily integrates in the following relationship, as the two patterns share the same rhythmic motive at a certain point (see Ex 5). To maintain the timing relationships correctly between the two instruments, the perception of the resultant along with the individual bell pattern is a helpful guide (see Ex. 6 ).

Similarly, the donno rhythms are perceived in integration with the regulative beat of the time line serving as their main point of reference. The "male" donno externalized the beat for the ensemble, which also defines the dancer's basic walking steps. Together, they produce the resultant shown in example 7. Both patterns interlock and are beat perceived as a monolithic rhythm. The donno resultant is heard in adjacent relationship to that produced by the bells (Ex. 8.). This adjacent relationship between the bells and the donno drums in turn produces another resultant rhythm, which Akans verbalize as shown in Example 9. Kyankyena kyankyena are nonsense syllables;

Example 4. Resultant of bell patterns in adowa drumming

Example 5. Shared rhythmic motive in adowa bell patterns

Example 6 . Individual bell pattern with perceived resultant bell pattern

Example 7. Resultant of donno rhythms in adowa drumming

Example 8. Donno and bell resultant rhythms

Example 9. Verbalized resultant from the adjacent donno and bell resultants

Example 10. Bells, donno, and resultant verbalized rhythms

opanin didi oyi ayiwa means " if the elder eats all the food, he must as well wash his own dish." The bells, donno, and resultant, verbalized rhythm combine as shown in Example 10.

The apentenmma and petia play various patterns that correspond to theme changes played by the master drummer. These themes in turn define structural relationships with the time span (see Example 11). In themes and variation A, B, and C (To me ku me, Adampom, and Otwe bedi nprem), the overlapping give rise to the perception illustrated in Example 12. One this relationship is established, one can enter a number of possible secondary relationships, such as with the male donno, which provides a steady referent (see Ex. 13).

Example 11. Themes used by the master drummer in adowa drumming in relation to the time line

Example 12. Perception of the overlapping bell and petia rhythms with the To me ku me, Adampom, and Otwe bedi nprem themes

Example 13. Relationship between the male donno and apentumma

It is extremely difficult to sustain the off- beat character of the hand-drum rhythms without a pacemaker. Together with petia, they produce different resultants in each of the theme changes mentioned above. For instance, the resultant that emerges in To me ku me from the integration is shown in Example 14. in Adampom and Nsupa themes, a different resultant is head (see Ex. 15)

Example 14. Resultant of the apentemma and petia rhythms with the To me ku me master drum theme

Example 15. Resultant of the apentemma and petia rhythms with the Adampom and Nsupa master drum themes

Like apentemma, petia patterns change in response to the various theme changes of the master drum. In Adampom, the pattern is in adjacent relationship to the time-line pattern whil in Otwe be di nprem, it overlaps (see Ex 16). In it secondary relationships, petia combines especially well with the donno group, apentemma, and with atumpan. The donna Improved the strong beats with the petia" off-beat" patterns in Adampom. Together with the apentemma they produce definite resultants in each theme relationship, while providing response rhythms that interchange with the master drum (see Ex 17).

Example 16. Relationship of petia rhythmic patterns with the time-line pattern

a. Adampon master drum theme

b. Otwe be di norem master drum theme

Example 17. Response rhythms of the petia with the atumpan

a. To me ku me master drum theme

b. Adampon master drum theme

The master drummer's theme and variations are presented as a succession of patterns that establish various orientations with the regulative beat. The other performers look to him as a driving force behind their changing perceptions, while they in turn provide the main ingredients of the background ostinato along which many possible integration's are established with each theme orientation.

In its primary relationship, the atumpan's To me ku me theme is heard in interlocking relationship with the time line. Both patterns are in the same orientation to the regulative beat (see EX. 18).

Example 18. Orientation of the To me ku me drum theme with the time-line

The Adampom theme overlaps with the time-line pattern (see Ex19 ). In identifying its entry cue, the bell pattern is head in integration with the Adampom theme as shown in Example 20. The pattern for the Otwe bedi nprem theme would be perceived as a complement to the time-line pattern (see Es. 21).

Example 19. Orientation of Adampon master drum theme with the line

Example 20. Entry cue of the bell pattern with Adampon theme

Example 21. Orientation of the Otwe bedi nprem theme with the time-line

Example 22. Perception of the Otwe bedi nprem/bell pattern relationship

The Yenhu no nso theme is an overlapping relationship (see Ex 23) and would be perceived as indicated in Example 24.

Example 25 shows how Nsupa overlaps with the time- line. It would perceived as indicated in Example 26.

Example 23. orientation of the Yenhu no nso theme with the time-line. It would be perceived as indicated in example 26.

Example 23. Orientation of the Yenhu no nso theme with the time line