Editorial Reviews and
DVD Information about
African Drums: The Talking Drums of Techiman
Product Description
Many African people speak tonal languages whose tonal patterns can be imitated by drums. This means the drums can "speak" and communicate over long distances. Among the most famous of these people are the Akan-speaking peoples of Ghana, including the Asante, Fanti, and Bono people of the kingdom of Techiman. This DVD video shows the drum ensemble of the Bono people of Techiman in the royal palace at the funeral of the late Omanhene, in February, 2004. The drummers play a series of seven songs, which are repeated by both the senior, elder drummers, and by their young apprentices. Narration by the Akan scholar Kofi Sakyi, who explains what each song means. This is real African drumming in village context in Africa, not the "made-up" stylized and romanticized inventions of Hollywood, so if you want to see how real Africans play the drums, and hear real drum music, this is the video for you.
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Customer Reviews for
African Drums: The Talking Drums of Techiman
Talking Drums DVD requires some preparatory research
The footage is no-frills and very down-to-earth. There are only one or two camera angles which focus either on the drummers performing or the occasional dancer. It is quite clearly an excellent example of its subject, but comes with little explanation (there is no accompanying booklet in the DVD case) so a good deal of your own research is needed if you're planning to use it in the high-school classroom. One more problem with the DVD is the chapters don't quite line up with the presenter's explanation, so some rewinding is required if skipping through chapters. This is not a DVD for the uninitiated, but truely a great resource if used as part of a larger investigation into African drumming.African Drums: The Talking Drums of Techiman
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