User:Adwabour/sandbox

THE FROMTOMFROM DRUM Drums often carry with them sacred importance in African traditional setting. Different types of drums and different ways of drumming is played at different times depending on the event such as births, marriages, deaths and warrior rituals. The use of drumming in Africa can be traced back to hundreds of years ago. The concept of the drum they say is probably as old as intelligent man, and it's still a popular form of communication and music today. Drum has been part of human life for a very long time. Drums first appeared, however, in excavation from the Neolithic Era. The oldest recorded drum is from 6000 BC. Mesopotamian ruins contain small cylindrical drums that are as old as 3000 BC. Egyptian tombs have yielded small drums used for ceremonies. Several caves in Peru contain wall markings depicting drums in various aspects of societal life. It is strongly suspected that Indian drums from the Middle East are as old as 5000 BC. An Adowa drum is a type of drum which originated in the central Ashanti region of Ghana, and come in different sizes that produce different sounds. The largest Adowa drum is the Fontomfrom drum, which makes a big bassy sound that can be heard from far away, while the Atumpan drum makes a mid-range sound which serves as the tomb and the Apentema produces a sound similar to a conga drum. All Adowa drums have heads made of cow skin of varying thickness. These drums are typically played with either hands or sticks. Their use varies depending on the ceremony, but they are most often used at community and regional events. In ancient Ashanti kingdom drums are venerated, and also given entities and gender. It is not uncommon for the people of the Ashanti kingdom to refer to drums as male, and give them sacred names. Women in the ancient days must treat drums with the same respect that they would give the male body, and in some rare historical cases, women were killed simply for touching these instruments. Among the drums considered to be male drums is the Fromtomfrom drum. It is considered to be male because of its nature; that is the strong voice, the stature and strength of the drum.

In the Ashanti kingdom, music is simply an interpretation of everyday life in sound, drums were used as speech. Simply a pattern of beats played in a certain way could communicate vast amounts of information.The Fromtomfrom is part of the Adowa drum set that carries with it a very important message and significance. It is mostly played in the Adowa drum set especially for the musical purposes which is mostly for social gathering in occasions that bring merry making and happiness such as royal marriage ceremony and birth ceremony. Drums were not always used for music ,the Fromtomfrom can be played alone. When one hears the sound of Fromtomfrom alone, that means trouble most at times. It is mostly heard alone when it is not for musical purpose but for communication purposes mostly communicating of and to the people the dead, warrior rituals or sudden misfortune which needs immediate attention. It is also used for calling meetings in the Ashanti kingdom some years ago, where there weren’t much communicating instruments such as phones, radio set, and television stations. The Fromtomfrom drum because of its bassy and strong sound is used to communicate such meetings. THE PREPARATION OF THE FROMTOMFROM DRUM	 A drum is a membranophone, or an instrument that is played by beating on a stretched membrane. It consists of a body, or a hollowed-out piece, a membrane, or a piece of animal skin or synthetic material placed over the top, tuning pegs, or pegs placed into the sides of the membrane to tighten or release the pressure on the membrane (and affect the sound), and the striking object, usually a stick of some sort. While most people may think that a sound is produced in the body of the drum, sound is actually produced by the membrane and its vibration. Sound can be changed by the amount of tension in the membrane, or by how tightly it is stretched over the body of the drum. The oldest drums were probably hollowed sections of tree trunks, with a piece of animal skin over the top. Gourds are other hollow vegetables and fruits are also prime candidates for early drums. Today, drums can be made of everything from plastic to basic metal, and some even exist in iron, bronze and steel. But the fromtomfrom drum is made in a special way from the other drums. The Fromtomfrom is made from the trunk of mostly the Tweneboa tree. A hole is chiseled out in the trunk to create a vacuum to enable extensive vibration from a thick tied cow skin by special strings and pegs to hold it firmly to the wood. The bark of the wood is axed out. The wood carvers carefully carve out stamps and trim it to desirable size with the Adinkra symbols mostly on them. It is then polished and painted to show its extensive royal and extravagant look. The Fromtomfrom drum is covered with thick cow skin to enhance its vibrating power. Due to its thickness, it cannot be played with the mere hand but it is played with a carefully crafted stick molded in a correct-like shape. The Fromtomfrom drum is the biggest drum among the Adowa drum set. It is taller than all the other drums in the Adowa drum set. It is galvanized with Shea batter and coconut oil to prevent petrifying. The drum is left in the sun to further harden the cow skin to make it firmer and stronger. Since the Fromtomfrom drum is a pair drum, a resting peg is made for them to rest on and also for the Okyirema- the drummer to be able to play the drum with comfort. The size and height of the drum gives it the ability to create a loud and bassy sound.

reference;chris brower(2012) "Drum used in African Culture", available at: http:// www.ehow.com/list_7237891_drums-used-african -cultures.html.(accessed on 31 october 2012) essortment(2010)"the history of the Drum" available at : http: essortment.com/history -drum-21063.html