The dùndún as a literary instrument rather than a technical curiosity: oríkì and proverbs delivered on the drum, what the drummer composes from, and how drummed, sung and spoken text relate in one performance.
Machine na im translate dis page and no person don check am. The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, the meanings and the citations dey exactly as the original. Everything else fit wrong.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Yoruba talking drum dey deliver text. No be signals, no be moods, no be say e dey try sound like speech, but real Yoruba sentences wey person fit understand: praise poetry, proverbs, family history, story of past events and instructions, wey dem play for drum and anybody wey dey near and understand di language fit pick wetin e dey talk.
Dem don treat di mechanics for another place. yoruba-drum-language inside 07-arts cover di dùndún and bàtá families, how tension dey match tone, di acoustic measurement wey show say di drum dey follow linguistic tone instead of just trying to sound like am, di syllable-to-stroke technique, di segmental information wey dey lost, di way to clear confusion, and di argument wey still dey on ground about whether bàtá dey encode speech di same way dùndún dey do. Dat file still give four practical examples of drummed text wit how dem dey talk am. Dis file assume say you already know dat one, and come ask di literary question instead: wetin di drum dey talk, and which kind verbal art e dey do when e dey talk am?
Di main literary function of dùndún na oríkì. Musicians wey sabi well-well dey use am give praise poetry to orisha or king , and master drummers dey perform oríkì, family history, proverbs, historical stories and ritual texts by changing spoken language to patterns wey Yoruba listeners dey recognize .
Di social way dis one dey work na di exact same thing wit wetin di rárà singer dey do wey dem describe for file 04. Di respect wey talking drummer dey get from audience depend on how e sabi praise names wey e go use praise di people wey dey present, and drummers wey get dis gift dey collect material things and money . Drummer wey dey gathering dey look di crowd, identify who just enter, and play dia oríkì. Dem dey expect say di person wey dem praise go respond by paying. Na di same business transaction as praise chanting, only say dem dey do am without spoken words, and na dis context most Yoruba people wey dey alive today dey take encounter oríkì pass.
Na why, to treat talking drum as communication technology, even though e correct, dey miss di main thing wey e dey do. E primary work na praise instrument, and di ability to put any kind Yoruba speech inside drum beats na wetin dey make dat praise possible.
Drum poetry no be wetin person dey just freestyle from nowhere, and dem don record di sources. People wey dey play Dùndún dey draw from oríkì (praise chant), ọwe (proverbs), ìtàn ìbílẹ̀ and orin àbáláyé (folk history and folk song), àfojúinúwò (imagination), and ìṣẹlẹ̀ ojú eré (wetin dey happen for di event front of dem) .
Dat list na di same repertoire wey oríkì singer dey use, plus to compose new things based on wetin dey happen right there, and e confirm di point wey Barber make about di whole field: performers dey borrow material from any genre wey dem see, and dem elements wey dem join still dey show clearly say na borrowed things . Di drummer na performer inside dat system, no be technician wey dey outside am.
Na di last two categories dey make di performance live. Àfojúinúwò na di drummer own creative invention, and ìṣẹlẹ̀ ojú eré na wetin e dey talk about wetin dey happen: person wey just arrive, mistake, dancer wey sabi dance well, or fight wey wan start. Drum fit give commentary on event as e dey happen, to everybody wey dey present, while di event still dey go on.
Di drum no be ordinary neutral medium for dis tradition. Àyàn na di òrìṣà of drumming, di drums dey sacred to Àyàn, and according to tradition, no Àyàn drummer dey play without ritual consultation . Di corpus explain di Àyàn lineages and how drumming belong to dem inside yoruba-drum-language.
Di literary consequence of dis na di claim about voice. Wetin Ọláwọlé Fámúlẹ̀'s formulate na say di drummer wey dey action dey turn to Àyàn . Based on dis idea, wetin di drum dey talk no be just di drummer speech wey e change put for another medium; na different speaker altogether. Dis put drum text for di same category wit di Egúngún altered voice wey dem treat for file 03: speech wey get authority because say no be ordinary person dey talk.
Di other argument wey Fámúlẹ̀'s bring na say make dem understand drum speech as di third form of oríkì, wey dey stand side by side wit visual and verbal praise . Person fit carve Yoruba praise, talk am wit mouth, or drum am, and di one wey dem drum no be lesser version pass di one wey dem talk wit mouth.
Di clearest published case where drum text do wetin mouth speech no fit do na when drummer dey address Egúngún. Di masquerade na ara ọ̀run, no be ordinary human being, and bystander no fit give am instruction; but di drum fit address am. Fámúlẹ̀ record dis practice as èdè Àyàn, di language of Àyàn, di special drum language wey drummers dey use communicate wit Egúngún performers . Di main maxim wey e record na say nobody understand di language of Àyàn pass di drummer wey hold gong for hand .
Bó bá ṣe pé èmi ni ìwọ ni, Ǹ bá f'apá jó, f'apá jó.
If I were you, I would dance with my arms, dance with my arms.
Translator: Ọláwọlé Fámúlẹ̀
Yoruba text and English translation as Fámúlẹ̀ publish am; di word-by-word meaning na di compiler own.
Di rhetorical style na taunt wey dem disguise as hypothetical question, and na di standard way to make masquerade perform. Di drummer no dey command am; e dey reason wetin e for do if e dey di masquerade shoe, wey dey leave di masquerade authority intact while e still dey make am act. Di repetition of f'apá jó dey serve as emphasis and, for di drum, to clear confusion, di redundancy principle wey dem describe inside yoruba-drum-language. Make you note say for drum, dis text na pure tone-and-rhythm pattern, and person wey dey hear am dey pick di words from di tone pattern plus wetin dey happen around.
Bó bá burú tán, Ìwọ nìkan ni ó kù.
If it all goes wrong, you are the only one left.
Translator: Ìpilẹ̀ṣẹ̀ editorial translation, wey dem never review
Yoruba text as Fámúlẹ̀ publish am, wey im English rendering be "If you act foolishly, you are the only one facing legal consequences" ; the word-for-word gloss and the more direct idiomatic rendering na the compiler bring dem.
Fámúlẹ̀'s English add "act foolishly" and "legal consequences", wey none of dem dey inside the Yoruba, wey only talk say if things spoil na you be the person wey remain. The published translation state the meaning how person wey dey listen for context go take understand am, and the compiler version keep the ellipsis. Dem give the two because the gap between dem na exactly wetin this corpus want make readers notice: the Yoruba simple and e depend on situation, and English translation dey usually try fill in the reasoning. Na drum text wey dey warn masquerade say na only am go carry the consequences of wetin e do, wey be serious thing to talk give person wey claim say e be ancestor, and dem fit talk am because na Àyàn dey talk am.
Fámúlẹ̀ still document one message wey dey ginger action wey dem direct give the masquerade Aláwọ̀palà, wey dey ask why e never attack with im sword, and this one show say drum dey direct the special movement of particular masquerade .
For actual performance, these things no be separate event. Three kinds of relationship dey happen regular-regular.
Alternation. Drum go play text, and person wey dey sing or chant go answer am, or vice versa. Because drum dey give tone without segment and human voice dey give the two, the pairing dey explain itself: the line wey dem sing dey effectively give the reading of the one wey drum beat. Listener wey miss the drum text go get am from the response.
Simultaneity. Drum dey play praise for one person while the singer dey praise another person, or while dancer dey perform. Plenty texts dey run at the same time, wey dem direct give different people for the same space. This na normal thing, no be exception for Yoruba event, and e no get anything like am for ordinary literary reading.
Substitution. Drum dey talk wetin human voice no go talk. The masquerade texts wey dey up there na the clearest example, and that same freedom dey work for society: drummer fit play proverb against person wey go be insult if na voice talk am, and the chance to deny am dey real because na only rhythm e play.
The fourth worked example for this corpus inside yoruba-drum-language, the bàtá texts wey Jacob publish and wey dem play give dancers, show another relationship: drum text as instruction give dancer body, where the dancer understand the text and answer with movement instead of words.
Three reasons, stated plainly.
The texts na real texts. Dem be fixed sequence with fixed tone pattern, wey person fit quote, recognize, and share. Proverb wey drum beat na the same proverb. This na entextualisation, for the way dem describe am inside yoruba-oral-genre-system, wey reach the limit: the text still survive even when dem commot every consonant and vowel, wey be the strongest proof say e exist as object wey stand on im own outside any single time wey person talk am.
Dem dey judge the composition. Dem dey evaluate drummer based on how much oríkì e get, how im playing fit the occasion, how e take respond to wetin dey happen, and im own creativity, wey be the same criteria wey dem dey use judge chanter .
Na audience dey complete am. Drum text no complete at all by design, since the segmental information no just dey, and na the listener dey bring am from context and wetin e know before. Barber argument about how obscurity dey ginger exegesis stand for very literal way here: drum no fit talk the words, so na the person wey dey hear must talk am.
What Yorùbá is as a language, which languages it is related to, how its dialects vary across Yorùbáland, and how many people speak it today.
What oríkì are, the different kinds, who performs them and why, and how they carry history that written records do not.
How proverbs behave when they are embedded in chanted and sung genres rather than used in conversation, and why a quoted proverb changes what a performance is doing.
The chanted poetry of the Egúngún masquerade, its lengthened-vowel vocal signature, the altered voice that marks it as the speech of the dead, and its descent into the Aláàrìnjò travelling theatre.
How Yoruba oral artists are trained, which genres are open to whom, how gender divides the field, how performers are paid, and the named artists the scholarship documents.
Oríkì delivered on the talking drum rather than the voice, with the patron deity of drumming's own praise text and a documented case of drummed praise used to warn a rival.