African Kpanlogo Drums

From the tribes of Ghana, West Africa, the traditional Kpanlogo drum is associated with Kpanlogo music and dance of the Ga and Ewe tribes. The Kpanlogo is a member of the membranophone, or drum-head covered shell, or vibrating stretched membrane, family of musical instruments.

The Kpanlogo ensemble consists of a variety of percussion instruments including the Kpanlogo Drum in multiple sizes, the Djembe, and dunun drums, along with shekeres (shakers), metal chimes. and X.

The Kpanlogo drum head is usually made from antelope skin rawhide, but may also be made of cow, or less often, goatskin. Shaved antelope and cow skin heads sound nearly identical, and provide for a thick, strong drumming surface. The skin is tightened and tuned through the use of six wooden pegs. Through vigorous playing, tonal pitch may drop slightly. The tuning pegs allow for easy correction through simple tapping of the pegs with a rubber, wood, or leather (NEVER metal!) mallet until the desired pitch is achieved.

The appearance of the Kpanlogo drum is very similar to that of the Conga drum. The Kpanlogo shell is carved from a single piece of wood, such as the sustainably harvested Tweneboa, or schwenoha wood. Each drum has detailed symbols, or adinkra, carved into the sides. Adinkra are visual representations of social, religious, and moral attitudes and beliefs, and add a unique beauty to each drum.

By: Elisa Thorp

The Kpanlogo

The Kpanlogo,commonly called the ‘palgo’ drum, became very popular in the 1950’s in Ghana, especially among individuals in their teens and 20’s. Because of Ayindisa’s expert drum maker Dagando and his 20+ years of experience in hand … one size fits all shirts have color schemes that suit the laid back individual looking for a peaceful, relaxing, but most importantly comfortable time.

Rebirth of Ghana music 

When he felt ready for his first production, a friend led him to the Allan Family, a group specialising in kpanlogo, gome and other styles of Ga recreational music. He has since then created recording opportunities for many … I’m even considering the option of buying airtime on some stations solely for Ga music.” Jaham Productions and the other big-time music producers in the system face similar problems in relation to piracy, payola and the fluctuating sales patterns.

Smart Boys by Mustapha Tettey Addy MP3 Downloads

This time reknown Masterdrummer Mustapha Tettey Addy and his Obonu Drummers blend the songs of their childhood with the Highlife, Kpanlogo and Gome rhythms of their home country Ghana to build the foundation for the AFRICAN WAY OF ROCK’N ROLL ! … To purchase the album in protected WMA format, please download any track of the album, play it in Windows Media Player and choose “Buy Album” in the license acquisition window. 

Technorati Tags: buy, cowbell, dance, discount, djembe, drum tribes, dunun, find, ghana, kpanlogo, membranophone, metal chimes, music, palgo, purchase, shakers, shekeres, shopping, west africa

Percussion is one of the ancient musical instruments used by early human civilizations. These instruments are widely used not only for musical purposes but also as a symbol of cultural and religious values. Before shopping for percussion instruments it is always advisable to understand them properly.

All percussion instruments fall under two broad groups tuned and untuned. Shakers and hand drums that produce undefined pitches belong to untuned category where as marimbas, steel pans, and xylophone that creates defined tonal ranges falls under tuned category. Today a variety of percussion instruments are available in the market.

It is widely believed that the percussion instruments are originated from African continent symbolizing their ancient culture. Djembe is one of the earliest versions of percussions. It is basically a large goblet-shaped drum carved of wood and fitted with animal skin. This instrument is played using bare hands and sometimes with sticks. Djembe is gaining popularity among western music lovers recently.

The thumb piano is a melodic percussion musical instrument having a carved wooden body and flattened nails or similar metals as keys. Tama or talking drum is tied with vertical strings across the body to produce changed pitches. It is believed to talk with skilled players while playing with curved stick.

Udu is a pot shaped percussion instrument made of clay with narrow mouth and a hole in the side. This instrument is played by beating the clay surface in one hand and moving the other hand on the hole and mouth producing magnificent sound effects. Gadam is a similar type of clay instrument widely used in Indian subcontinent while performing carnatic classical music.

Congas are the widely used Afro Cuban originated percussion musical instrument. Originally congas were made of wood staves and calfskin heads. Synthetic and fiberglass shells are used in modern congas which results in louder volume projection. Congas are normally associated with other two types of drums named tumba and quinto. Usually these three instruments come as a set and are kept in conga gig bags or cases for better performance.

Bongos are another kind of small hand drums originated from Cuba and are played in sitting position keeping the instrument between the legs. Timbales were originally iron vessels used in transporting sugarcanes. Steel or brass is used in modern timbales to produce powerful cutting tone which is suitable for any music styles like rock, Latin and fusion.

The xylophone is a kind of tuned percussion instrument made of wooden bars of various lengths with vibrating tubes below them with piano like keyboards.

Wooden, rubber or plastic headed mallets are used to play such instruments. Xylophones are used in variety of music styles including ethnic, jazz and classical.

By: Leon Groom -

May 18: African Percussion Workshop 

May 18: African Percussion Workshop with Russell Shumsky. This workshop is uniquely crafted for the Carnival Band and will be held at the Strathcona Community Centre on May 18th, from 7:30 - 9:30 pm. All are welcome to this event.

African and Japanese Percussion

ISAKU KAGEYAMA, award-winning taiko drummer, and WINCHESTER NII TETE, acclaimed African percussionist, meet for a conversation using the universal language of music. The duo’s music is deeply rooted in the traditions of Japan and Ghana.

Tony Allen meets Proust

Tony Allen is one of the senior statesmen of African percussion. Revered as a pioneer of Afrobeat with Fela Kuti, Allen has been making music since the 1950s and 24 years after leaving Fela’s band.

West African Dance in Boston

With Live African Percussion. This Uhuru Afrika will be a fundraising event for the non-profit Next Aid for their World AIDS Day initiative. 100% of profit from this event will be donated to Next Aid for their work in South Africa.

Technorati Tags: acient, african, bongo, buy, cd, discount, djembe, drums, mali, mp3, music, musical, percussion, purchase, quality, shop, shopping, traditional, west, wholesale