STUDIES IN BATç(SACRED DRUM OF THE YORôBç

HAVANA TO MATANZASBY

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 107or 108 of the 1976 of the United States Copyright Act without permission of thecopyright owner is unlawful. Request for permission or any other information should beaddressed to Bill Summers 7729 Jeannette St N.O., La. 70118, Permission Dept.,bilsum@aol.com

Table of Contents

Bat�.................................................................................................................................... Page 3

Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. Page 4

Introduction........................................................................................................................ Page 6

Bat� & D�nd�n Igi or Shell .............................................................................................. Page 23

Design of the D�nd�n and Bat� ........................................................................................ Page 24

Origin of D�nd�n and Bat�. ............................................................................................. Page 26

The Bat� Family of Drums ............................................................................................... Page 27

The D�nd�n Family of Drums...................................................................................................28

Dimensions of the Bat� of Havana Cuba ..................................................................................28

Dimensions 1 set of Bat� from Matanzas Cuba.........................................................................28

Dimensions of the D�nd�n .......................................................................................................29

Tones of the Bat� ......................................................................................................................35

Glossary ....................................................................................................................................30

Okonkolo Exercises...................................................................................................................36

Itotele Excercises ......................................................................................................................38

Iya Excercises ...........................................................................................................................40

El�gb� (Havana).......................................................................................................................42

ñg�n (Havana)..........................................................................................................................49

ñsh��s� (Havana)......................................................................................................................52

Obal�k� (Havana) .................................................................................................... .................57

Erinl� (Havana) .........................................................................................................................60

Iyakota (Havana).......................................................................................................................64

Babal�aiy� (Havana) .................................................................................................................66

ñs�ny�n (Havana)......................................................................................................................70

Osun (Havana) ..........................................................................................................................77

Ob�t�l� (Havana) ......................................................................................................................81

Dada (Havana) ..........................................................................................................................88

ñge (Havana) ............................................................................................................................91

Aganj� (Havana) .......................................................................................................................94

Or�nm�l� (Havana)....................................................................................................................99

ñr�s� Oko (Havana) ................................................................................................................102

íbedji (Havana) .......................................................................................................................105

Shango (Havana ......................................................................................................................108

Y�w� (Havana) .......................................................................................................................120

Oya (Havana) ..........................................................................................................................123

Yemoja (Havana) ...................................................................................................................128

ñb� (Havana) .........................................................................................................................152

Oshun (Havana) ......................................................................................................................157

Od�d�w� (Havana) .................................................................................................................160

LATOPKA (Matanzas) ...........................................................................................................163

El�gb� (Matanzas).............................................................................................................. .....169

ñg�n (Matanzas).....................................................................................................................173

Erinl� (Matanzas) ....................................................................................................................177

ñsh��s� (Matanzas) ................................................................................................................181

Babal�aiy� (Matanzas) ............................................................................................................193

Aganj� (Matanzas) ..................................................................................................................197

Shango (Matanzas)..................................................................................................................202

Ob�t�l� (Matanzas) .................................................................................................................219

ñb� (Matanzas) ......................................................................................................................225

Y�w� (Matanzas) ....................................................................................................................235

Oya (Matanzas) ......................................................................................................................238

Yemoja (Matanzas) ................................................................................................................244

Oshun (Matanzas) ...................................................................................................................259

Or�nm�l� (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 Historyand are sacred to Shango. Shango was the third Al��f�n Òowner of the PalaceÓ to ruleover ancient Yoruba city of Oyo. The first two Al��f�ns were Oranmiyan and Ajaka.Shango ruled in the middle of the fifteenth century, before any written accounts of Oyohistory. 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, forShango than any other ñr�sh�

The bat� are similar to the d�nd�n family of Yoruba drums in several ways. InNigeria West Africa, where the Yoruba people are found, there are many families ofdrums played. Ip�s� drums are connected to and played for Ifa. ígb�n drums are playedin honor of Orishanla or Ob�t�l� and others. Ëg�r� drums are associated with Ogun. Thebat� are drums that accompany masquerades, particularly Eg�ng�n, and are the officialdrums of Shango. The d�nd�n families of drums have no restrictions and are used inmany ways and they accompany various religious and social activities.

Some of the similarities between the bat� and the d�nd�n, both arebimembraphones 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 g�d�g�d� drum, which is shaped like a bowl and has one head, makes use of twohide straps called a bil�l�. The bil�l� is used on bat� in Nigeria and Matanzas Cuba wheresome players convert a shoe sole as a substitute. The g�d�g�d� usually accompanies the d�nd�n. The g�d�g�d� and the bat� bothapply a sticky substance to the surface of their skin head called ida. In Cuba ida issubstituted with a preparation called fardela which was made from bees wax, plaster ofParis, balsam de Peru (tree sap), red fish and other ingredients. Ida, in Nigeria, is made oftree sap and ash.

ñb� (Matanzas)

ñb� was the first wife of Shango and the daughter of Od�d�w� .Sheis the ñr�sh� of activity and action. She nurtured and createdcommercial undertakings. ñb� is the mother of invention creatingnavigation and business. She represents a stable home. ñb� taughtShango how to use his sword and Oya the art of the cutlass. There isthe story about ñb� and Oshun that involves Shango. Oshun, whowas one of ShangoÕs women, told ñb� if she wanted to truly pleaseShango that she should cut her ear of and cook it within ShangoÕsfavorite food and this would please him forever. Oshun did this evildeed upon the advice of Oya. When Shango saw his yam porridgeand realized what ñb� had done he was infuriated and banishedñb� from the palace.

In Yor�b� folklore it is said that Ay�n was the first person to use d�nd�n or the hourglass drum amongst them. Ay�n was a resident of Shaworo in Ib�rib�land . He taughtmany Yor�b� families the art of drumming and for this he was widely respected and afterhis death he was deified. Another story state that the d�nd�n were brought first to Ile Ifefrom heaven. Another tale states that d�nd�n came to Ile Ife by way of Mecca and otherssay it originated in Oyo.Salami Ladokun a drummer for the Al��fin of Oyo says that it was the Al��fin Atiba whobrought the d�nd�n to Oyo and all the other locations in Yor�b�land.

Helen Hause who is mentioned by Akin Euba in his book Yor�b� Drumming TheD�nd�n Tradition, feels that from the linguistic analysis of the words associated with thedrums and their parts she could trace the entomology that the d�nd�n originate from thesame source as other hourglass drums of West Africa. Her research according to hersupports the theory that these drums derived from Asia and were introduced to theYor�b� by the Arabs. Hause states ÒThe terminology of the Sudanic languages leaveslittle room for doubt that (the hour glass drum)entered West Africa not from the east butfrom the north. Both the drum and its terminology were introduced to the Yor�b� by theHausa.

There are the Bharahat reliefs of India that date back to the 2nd century B.C..thatshow an hourglass drum which Curt Sachs claims is Òthe oldest hourglass drumÓ Duringthe middle ages the hourglass drum was present in an area between Cylon and Japan andwas imported there from Turkestan in the 4th century A.D.. The hourglass drum can befound in ancient reliefs from Java and are said to have arrived there through Sumatra byway of India in the 8th .century A.D..The curved stick that is used to play the d�nd�n mayalso 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 exploredthe same avenues mentioned above and a few additional ones notably Egypt, which alsohad ambipercussive drums of this nature.. Also these types of drums were found amongstthe Sudanese and were called asah. Adolpho Salazar states that the deburka is among thesandwatch 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 Yor�b� of today and the past is yet to beproven. The degree of tonal range and the ability to apply this to the Yor�b� language isremarkable and stands along as a great development in the world of drumming and musicin general.