... important, with many musical parts or rhythms interweaving with each other. Call-and-response is very popular. The chorus repeats a fixed refrain in alternation with a lead singer, who then has more freedom to improvise. This makes the music conversational. Pitch in African music is largely determined by the tuning of the drums. Talking drums are part of a family of hourglass shaped pressure drums these include "gan gan" (the smallest member of this drum family) or "dun dun" (the largest of the talking drums.) The drum heads at either end of the drum's wooden body are made from hide, fish-skin or other membranes which are wrapped around a wooden hoop. Leather cords run the length of the drum's body and are wrapped around both hoops; when you squeeze these cords under your arm, the drum heads tighten, changing the instrument's pitch. Talking drums are used to send messages, using a ...

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