THE ATUMPAN DRUM IN ASANTE: A STUDY OF THEIR ART AND TECHNOLOGY. (VOLUMES I AND II) (GHANA)

The atumpan, a pair of single-headed, goblet-shaped membranophones with a sound modifier, are the major talking drums of the Asante in Ghana. The instrument is studied in terms of its details of construction, parts and variations, social context and distribution, historical development, and finally selected examples of the speech mode of its music, each with the emphasis on art and technology. The need for this type of research is founded not only in the lack of available literature but also the fact that the continuity or traditional drumming and drum carving in Asante is presently threatened. The approach in this study focuses on etic documentation of the instrument and emic concepts of the craftsmen and drummers.;Volume Two contains the Appendix, Glossary and Bibliography. The Appendix includes interviews, questionnaire, construction details, measurements and tests, selected drums at Manhyia Palace, oral history, summary chart of the atumpan's historical development, tuning, drumstick measuremens, and musical transcriptions. A sound cassette tape of musical examples accompanies the dissertation.;Chapter II presents the instrument, giving sufficient terminology for the reproduction of a specific drum and its accessories. A minimum criteria of the atumpan shows how the drums are distinctive in Africa. Chapter III looks at the distribution of these drums in and around Ghana, their social context in Asante, and their role as art object in traditional and modern-day Ghanaian society. In Chapter IV, the historical development of the atumpan's technology since the neolithic in Ghana is proposed, drawing on the recent strides made in archaeology, ethnology, African history, and geography. Finally in Chapter V, the music is considered with particular reference to norms of tuning, musical acoustics, positions and preferences, and lastly musical analysis of selected pieces from the speech mode of drumming. To accurately notate the music's free rhythm, a real-time system was devised based on microprocessor technology. This revealed new information regarding sticking, rhythm, and loudness in atumpan music.