THE PROCESS OF EFFECTIVE DRUMMING

THE PROCESS OF EFFECTIVE DRUMMING

Introduction

There are five basic elements of the process of drumming just as five good stages of the effective communication process can also be identified. These are discussed below:

The Drummer or Source Conceives an Idea

This is the first stage of drumming which involves the initiation of an idea by the drummer, aludundun or alubata (dundun or bata drummer) as the case may be hence, the equivalent of this stage in general communication is called the ideation stage by communication scholars. the drummer initiates the idea of welcoming some people to a given occasion or ceremony, passing vital messages to those in the neighbourhood, greeting the king who is just coming from his bedroom, reciting the oriki of important people or places or reminding subjects of the supremacy of the monarch within a kingdom. Whichever be the case, the conception of a good idea makes or marks the beginning of effective drumming. The drummer selects the appropriate channels.

The Drumbeat Channel or Medium

The second stage of drumming has to do with the choice of ideal means of disseminating the drummer’s message, that is, the specific talking drum that will be used to pass the intended message. The drummer can choose the use of very eloquent dundun talking drum, which is believed to be more comprehensible than others especially when he does not want the listener to have much difficulties in interpreting his message. The drummer can use the bata talking drum if his intended audience or listeners are also experts in bata drumming.

The Drummer’s Idea is Coded into Drumbeat Messages or Sound

This third stage of drumming process has to do with the choice of appropriate language or style of drumbeats with which the intended message will be coded. For example, straightforward drum language can be used which virtually everybody who understands the tonal language imitated by the talking drum can easily comprehend.

Similar expressions that listeners or audience are already familiar with can also be used to achieve the same easy-to-comprehend drumming.

The Drummer’s Audience or Receivers Decode the Drumbeat Message

This fourth stage of communication has to do with the interpretation of the communicator’s coded drumbeat messages by his or her audience or listeners. The audience expected to decipher the drumbeat message may be a single person such as the king being welcome back to his palace from a trip by palace talking drummers. The audience can be important dignitaries or eminent personalities at an important occasion. Whichever be the case, there will be effective drumming if both the drummer and the audience understand the code of the drumbeat so that the latter easily deciphers and understands the message.

The Audience/Receivers Send a Feedback

This is the final stage of the process of drumming, which is basically about the response of the listener to the drummer’s message sent via the talking drum.

Such a response, according to Ngozi (2001:2), “can be positive, negative, limited, zero, verbal or non-verbal”.

This means response to the drummer’s message can be the positive that is expected or the negative that is no expected. The response can be partial which represents the limited feedback or there may be no response at all, which is the zero feedback. Also, the response can be verbal if it is via the use of words or speech sounds and may be non-verbal if it does not use words or speech at all. For example, a man whose oriki (praise poem) is played by a drummer may just smile, wave, stand and dance or send money to the drummer.