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,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.
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.
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