Making Tracks
Ossi Raippalinna photo Rio Gandara 1 Large

Ossi Raippalinna

percussion, electronics, voice | Finland

Artist profile: https://makingtracksmusic.org/...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ossiraippalinna/

Ossi’s story

Ossi is a Finnish percussionist, producer, researcher, educator, and drum-maker. He makes high-quality congas and djembe drums from sustainable Finnish wood, and even set up an online platform in 2018, providing tutorials with master drummers.

As part of his master’s studies at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he did numerous field trips to Senegal, Mali, Scotland, and Cuba with which he enriched his understanding of the interplay between rhythm and melody in percussion tradition. Ossi’s repertoire includes the drum kit, keyboard, electronics, tama ('talking drum'), djembe, bodhran, sabar, bugarabu and congas.

Ossi’s world of percussion instruments

What is tama?

Tama, also known as 'talking drum' is an ancient instrument that originated in East and West Africa, Melanesia, and Southeast Asia and was used as a means of communication between people. It is shaped like an hourglass and its speech can be arranged in such a way as to mimic the tone of voice and the core of human speech. It has two drum heads, which are connected by the leather tension cords, allowing the player to modulate the pitch of the drum by tightening the cords between the arm and body.

What is djembe?

As one of the most versatile and widespread percussion instruments on the planet, it's said to have been invented in the 12th century by the Mandinka people in what is now Mali, West Africa. It has been a part of ritualistic life in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and other neighboring West African countries. Its 'goblet-shaped' body is carved and hollowed out of a single piece of tree trunk. In Mandinka culture, it was traditionally made from Lenge trees, which held great spiritual importance. The head of the drum is made from goat skin, providing the instrument with piercing high-pitched tone and 'slap' sounds. Three main sounds can be played on a djembe: bass, tone, and slap.

Listening treats for introduction to West African djembe music

Suggested documentary

  • Djembefola, following Mamady Keita as he returns to his native Guine


Bodhrán - An Ancient Irish Drum

Although the bodhrán’s origins are wrapped up in the veil of mystery, frame drums as such have existed in many cultures across the world since 3000 BC. Many interesting theories and myths about the instrument’s history you can read in our literature section. Today the bodhrán is described as the "heartbeat of Irish music”, and its contemporary popularity is largely owed to Irish musician and composer Seán Ó Riada who added it to the lineup of his iconic ensemble Ceoltóirí Chualann.

The bodhrán is a single-headed, frame drum that usually rests on the musician’s knee and is played holding the cross-piece on the open back of the instrument with one hand as the skin is struck with a short double-ended stick also known as a 'tipped' or a 'bone'.

Sabar

The sabar is a traditional drum from Senegal that is also played in Gambia, and associated with Wolof and Serer people. It is traditionally carved out of reddish mango wood and mahogany, covered with goatskin, and circled with pegs. Its name doesn’t refer only to the instrument but also to the music played on it, the dance that accompanies it, and gathering to dance. While there are solo parts, the accompanying parts for the dance are called the talmbat, the touli, and the m’balax (pronounced m-BAH-lakh). The m’balax has given its name to a Senegalese style of Afropop emerging from the group étoile de Dakar.

Bougarabou

A bougarabou is a set of drums that are commonly used in West Africa. They are single-headed, mostly covered with cow’s skin, and have elongated 'goblet' or roughly conical shape. They are commonly played in sets of three to four. In the last generations (since the 1940s) they have been played in multiple drum setups. Originally, the drum came from the Jola (Jóola) people in the south of Senegal, the Casamance and the Gambia, the Jóola Buluf, the Jóola Fogny, and the Jóola Kalunai. It is a common tradition for players to also wear a series of metal bracelets called Siwangas in Buluf and Fogny dialects that enrich the sound.

Congas

The congas refer to a single-headed variety of drums that originated in Africa but later became known through Cuban music in the 1930s, when Latin music gained popularity across the USA. They are usually played in sets of one, two, or more drums, and they were traditionally made from wooden olive barrels. Modern congas are commonly made of a variety of woods, or one or two-piece fiberglass shell.

Interesting facts

  • tama drums were banned during the slave trade because they were being used by the slaves to communicate over long distances in a code unknown to their enslavers

  • tama’s messages, including news and commands were disseminated over a four-five mile radius between ethic groups and villages.

  • varieties of 'talking drum' such as dùndún pressure drums of the Yoruba and the atumpan and fontomfrom of the Asante (Ashanti) were used to send messages up to 20 miles (32 km)

  • the term 'djembe' originates from the Bambara saying “Anke djé, anke bé” which translates to “everyone gather together in peace”

  • the djembe is said to consist of three spirits: the spirit of the tree from which it was made, the spirit of the animal whose skin covers the head, and the spirit of the drum-maker

  • a master djembe player is called a djembefola

  • the name bodhrán may be derived from the Irish word bodhar meaning "deaf" and "dull-sounding"

  • in Cuba, the conga drum is referred to as tumbadoras and the conga drummer is referred to as a conguero

If you like these instruments, you might like


Sources


Watch the film Growing Into Music (2012) by Making Tracks advisory board member Lucy Durán, which explores how children in diverse cultures from different parts of the world acquire musical skills and knowledge.

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