Talk:Dunun

Merge Proposal

It looks like we have two articles on the same subject. I can work on merging them if nobody opposes the merge. Spaceriqui 16:04, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Nomenclature

"Some of the most often used names are konkoni, kenkeni, sangban, dununba, djeli-dun, etc."

I don't think there is room for the term "etc" in an encyclopaedia article.

The article should probably be more precise and state that kenkeni, sangban, and dundunba are the Malinke names for the small, medium, and large drum, respectively. If the term "konkoni" is mentioned, it should probably be stated that this is the Bamana term for a sangban-sized dundun, but with a goat skin instead of a cow skin.

The term "djeli-dun" should not be mentioned without explanation.

The term "djun-djun" is a western invented word. No such word exists in the Malinke (or any other West-African language). The drum is simply not known by this term in its origin countries. It's mention here should be removed because that only serves to reinforce a misnomer that will be endlessly copied.

MichiHenning (talk) 00:28, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Introduction

The mention of the gungon in the intro seems irrelevant. Certainly, the mention of the snare on a gungon is irrelevant and should be removed. What should be mention is not what a dundun is not, but what it actually is, namely a cylindrical drum with a skin at both ends.

The measurements given are useless because don't mention whether they refer to length, width, radius, circumference, or diameter. Range of both length and diameter should be stated for each drum instead.

It's useless to say that "Basing on the size, construction technique and tuning, there are different names for each type of dundun" without stating what the names are for each size. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MichiHenning (talk • contribs) 00:32, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Techniques

Dunduns are normally not played with mallets, but with sticks, most commonly straight, but also curved or with a small head attached to the side (the latter two in Mali).

The name of the bell (ken ken) should be mentioned.

With ballet style, the sangban is most often played carried on a strap, so the mention of floor and stand is incomplete. Also, in Mali, dunduns of any size are most often played during performances by carrying them with a strap.

Saying that the floor standing dunduns "allow a more complex arrangement for the dance" is complete nonsense. Three dunduns played by three people sound far more complex and rich than three dunduns played by a single player. For one, ballet dunduns lose the bells; second, ballet dunduns permit at most two notes simultaneously, whereas separately played dunduns permit three notes simultaneously (counting skin only). Counting bells, separate dunduns permit up to six notes simultaneously, so they have many more chord combinations than ballet dunduns. MichiHenning (talk) 00:37, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Style

The article extensively uses passive language. This makes the text hard to read. Use of passive speech should be replace with active speech. MichiHenning (talk) 00:38, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Sound sample

The sound sample does not have bells but uses ballet style and, as best as I can tell, plays a rhythm that is not traditional. It would be better to have separate samples for each dunun, played traditionally with a bell. Add a fourth sample that illustrates how the three sound together, which also makes for a nice example of polyrhythm. Pick a traditional rhythm, such as Moribayassa, Toro, or similar. (Binary is probably better than ternary for an uninformed western listener.) It would be good to use a rhythm where all three drums play both mutes and open strokes, so the full range of sounds is illustrated. Add a fifth sample with a ballet pattern for the same rhythm, which will illustrate how some of the richness is lost when playing ballet style.MichiHenning (talk) 03:13, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Strange quote at the bottom?

I'm trying to figure out where the quote at the end of the references comes from or what it's doing there. Is it actually from a reference? It sounds like a personal plea, not an encyclopedia article. Gus andrews (talk) 04:11, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

The quote in the reference is a transcript of the relevant section from the video, at 36:50 and 44:40, so it is actually from the reference. --MichiHenning (talk) 06:22, 5 February 2013 (UTC)