H ^•ETTf^^ff*EFJ " 90. •*»} NOTES ON MEMBRANOPHONES OF THE ANLO-EWE by N. Flagbedzl* . Various writers since the 19th century have taken different lines of approach in their descriptions of mem- branophones found In Africa, south of the Sahara. Wachsmann for instance, adopts the method of fastening the membrane to the resonator as a 1,1 ne of classification, leaving the characteristics of the latter, tuning and general use of the instrument as a whole as of secondary consideration. Kirby* was concerned to describe the murumbu, moropa etc. and to show the ceremonial use to which they were put. More recently, Professor Nketia .also did the same, going beyond other works of this genre In pointing" out the social Impli- cations of the music for the community as well. From the constructional point of view, the sources mentioned above reveal that resonators are most commonly hollowed out of felled tree trunk. But there Is yet another method of construction found among the Anlo-Ewe briefly referred to by A.M. Jones^ In his chapter on the Anlo-Ewe instruments of the orchestra which dwells mainly on tuning, playing technique and various types of 'beat1. The present article describes the method in detail and offers it in agreement with Jones as yet another interesting example of cultural adaptation. The material was collected during a field trip to A_fi_fe In the Volta Region to observe the annual religious rite and record the music, of the war-god Nylgbla in February, 1972. My Informant is Kobla Dogbe, a master carpenter who specializes in this method of membranophone construction. His workshop can be seen at the Accra-Denu road-side at Akatsi.about a 100 miles from Accra. He and two others stationed at Oenu and Ada road junction respect- ively learnt their trade from Lawrence Nutakor at Abor who is old and no longer makes the instrument. This is not to Imply though that this other make of membranophones is the only one found among the Anlo-Ewe. In fact, Atsu Kpeli at Mr. N. Flagbedzi Is a Tutor in Music.In the School of Music and Drama, Legon. 91. 1- Nyekonakpoe, about four miles off Adrakpo a few miles beyond AkatsI In the Anio district carves the examples below: A^avatrama Ffg. I 92. There are different sizes of this other make of mem- branophones which Is generally referred to as yubabia. Atslmey.u, sogo, kaga and kId I (Fig. 2) constitute the standard full ensemble (I.e. apart from Idlophones). At times, kloboto may be added; atslme^u may be doubled for musical dialogue during performance or alternate with sogo as In the newer ageshe dance; again, It may be replaced by boba as In Kenka recreational and by sogo in older agbadza ensembles. ;There are two other sizes identified by their ensemble names: blskete and kpanlogo. Like Its carved counterpart, b!6kete is double skinned with both skins sound skins. With regard to kpanlogo, ft is not yet evident how the term of Ga origin came to be used for the instrument. *f1 Atsimewu Sogo Kogap Kid! Boba Kloboto Blekete Fig. 2 93. A table of measurement Is provided below. If one compares It with the diagrams In Fig. 2 above, It will be seen that the entUstopped resonator has a bulgy stem; the open, a relatively slimmer and taller stem; that the stopped end of kldl Is wider compared with the head; and that where both ends are diametrically unLform as In boba, there Is only partial closure of the foot. Blekete"*fiTan exception, being an Anlo version of an Importation from Northern Ghana along with the medicine cult of that name. Table of Measurement Type Height Diameter of Head Diameter of Stem Diameter of Foot End-Type Metal Band No. of Pegs AtsIrnevu 189 cm 26 cm 53 cm 23 cm Unstopped 32.5 stopped Unstopped stopped Unstopped Unstopped 5 + 5 4+ 3 3 + 3 3 + 2 4 + 4 2 + 2 Sogo Koga-r) Kidi 67 56 53 Mini-etslmevu 127 Kloboto Boba Blekete Kpan logo Minl-kagap 40 79 43 75 36 26 18 20.5 2 35 Zk 43 26 20 18 45 23 34 45 28 53 34 34 20.5 ry, 15 26 2*.5 23.5 43 26 18 15 10 7 9 15 9 8 7 haIf-stopped 4 + 4 Double skin 1 + 3 Unstopped Unstopped 4 + 4 2 + 2 Height, size of stem, total or partial closure or non-closure therefore constitute the requisite variables that make for varying basic qualities of timbre and pitch. Thickness of the resonator as a variable does not enter Into consideration as It does with regard to the hollowed-out resonator; since as wilt appear below,.the odum staves used ar« all of the same thickness. "~~ * To make the Instrument one first of all measures out a 12-foot long odum board using a wooden stave cut to size. The size of the stave determines the number of pieces obtainable from one odum board. Usually, as in the diagram below, one end Is wider than the other; the middle, wider still. Hence the differences in dia- meter of both ends and the stem of the finished product. One kldi stave for example was 3.5 cm., 3.8 cm., 2.7 cm. wide at (a), (b) and (c); and thirty-six staves were cut from one board. At the yubabla stage (I.e. the stage at which the individual pieces are fastened together), the staves are arranged side by side between two concentric Iron hoops Of different diameter, very much like those found on wine-casks; the hoops are held a few feet above the ground with the other end of each stave resting firmly on the ground. The inner hoop Is then removed after as many larger ones of various sizes are added as are necessary at the outside and hammered Into position to knit the staves more closely together. This way one half-end of all the staves used.are close-knit, all the other half- ends remaining stuck out. To knit the other half-ends, a rough and ready method was used. A rope was tied round a tree trunk near-by, and looped round the staves. On pulling the rope fast, the staves were forced together. More Iron- hoops of suitable size are added, ringed round the staves to keep them close-knit as before. ..«* 95. With the resonator complete, peg holes are bored. The distance between pegs depends on the size of; the instrument and on the number of pegs necessary to ensure an evenness of tension. Boba with a skin-end surface diameter of 43 cm. has 15 pegs; kloboto with 18, has 7. The distance between the pegs and the rim is governed by the distance between the iron-hoop nearest the rim and the other immediately below It, the position of the hoops being themselves controlled by the adjustment the staves need to become close-knit. That :s to say, the maker uses partly his discretion as to where to bore the peg-holes. The pegs are cut and shaped from akpafIa which grows wild In the few groves In the area, and are notched to keep the tension twine In place. The next and final stage of y.ustst combines two operations: fixing the membrane on the head and tuning. There does not seem to be any word in Ewe for tuning as a gerund. One speaks of the result rather than of the operation* Itself. For example, the expression yua gbe cfom loo means the drum sounds very well indeed; again, yua yua o ft nyuie o .' impl le$ also that It sounds out of tune One also often hears onomatopoeic modifiers 1 Ike toptonto or dIpdlt)dIT) used for acceptable high-pitch, and gbogbJ5gbd — — — for unacceptable low-pitch sounds, To fix the skin on the head, an adzoka hoop large enough to fit the rim of the resonator (s placed on the rim with a much wider skin spread between it and the rim. The skin Is then laced to the hoop and knotted round the peg in six vertical thongs that show a combined pattern of W and X. Compare with Jones's illustration with patterns of Y. The X pattern strengthens the first. The skin Is then trimmed close to the adzoka hoop and the pegs are driven In evenly to rough tune the Instrument. Fine tuning may be done the same way, although quite often a few gentle downward strokes on the adzoka hoop near the rim Is all that Is necessary to raise the pitch. This method of constructing the resonator would seem to have originated after the Anlo-Ewe settled where he now occupies, where the relative absence of forests and hence of suitable tre.es for making the instrument must have forced him to use wine, rum or gin casks imported by 96. the Dutch or Dane as a resonator instead of carving one. That he knew of tthe older hoilowlng-out method and used it, is attested by the fact that agbipyu recognized as one of the oldest instruments associated with chiefship and war was and is stilt made this way; secondly, until recently and in only very few cases in which yubabla Is used, the at'sImeyu of Yeve cult ensembles is always a carved instrument; and more confirmatory perhaps of my submission,, is the fact that both makes of boba and kacfan (see Figs. I and 2) co-exist in the tradition. There is an older tradition now being superceded by a newer. In Togo and among the northern Ewe speaking people, the carved type is still the rule: yubabla then would seem to an example of a particularly Anio- Ewe adaptation to environmental influence. Composition of the ensembles of the various dances show that there is some degree of specialization In the assignment of performance role. Atsimeyu, sogo, boba, and kpanlogo generally have a wider range of rhythmic patterns to select from for use on any given occasion, and they are normally assigned by the tradition the role of improvising within the" limits imposed by the musical type. The other instruments play a supportive role. Kid I is Indispensable in all ensembles, less so Is kaga though both and in conjunction with ktoboto and klobozi or totodzj support with rhythmic ground or permutation of grounds. In addition to specific performance role different- iation, there Is also distribution in terms of occasions of use. Agbloy.u for Instance is always a part of stool regalia and is used in heraldry and in leading warriors to war. A set of two membranophones with ivory resonator forms part of Nylgbta ritual equipment and are used only as such. < * *" If* 2. 97. REFERENCES Trowel!, M.: Tribal Crafts of Uganda, OUP, 1953. Wachsmann, K.P. Klrby, P.R.: The Musical Instruments of the Native Races of S. Africa, 2nd edition, 1965. 3. Nketta, J.H.: Drumming In Akan Communities, 1963. k. Jon.es, A.M.: Studies In African Music, Vol.1, 1959.