Central and coastal regions of Ghana
Fante (Akan)

Wood, goat skin, leather, black leather tubing, cloth
Late 20th Century
Length: 25.75 in, Width: 9 in
Membranophone – Struck (Directly) – Double-headed

‘Talking drum’ from the Fante (Akan) people of central and coastal regions of Ghana, called dondo (donno).   I personally collected this dondo from a Ghana music troupe, who were performing in Kansas City, Missouri in the 1980’s.   I and my daughter Jaclyn, spent a week learning from them while they were visiting and touring in the USA. The skin heads are held on by tucking and rolling the rim of the leather heads over an unseen leather rope, and then secured with the perpendicular tightening strings that are strung  parallel to the body of the drum to be used when playing. The strings are made of leather rope and the bent stick is covered with black leather tubing.

The double-headed hourglass drum from west Africa is made from a single block of wood.  It is played with a curved stick and held under the armpit. The arm presses on strings which, by stretching the skins, modulate the sound.  This drum is called by several different names by the various west African ethnic groups.  Some of the names are listed below:

Serer, Wolof, and Mandinka: tama, tamma, tamafola
Yoruba: gangan or dundun
Dagomba: lunga
Akan (Fante, Twi, Baule) : dondo, odondo, donno
Dagbani, Gurunsi, Moore: lunna
Hausa: kalungu, kalangu, dan kar’bi
Bambara, Bozo, Dyula: tamanin
Songhai: doodo
Fulani:  mbaggu, baggel