Mali Kan

An Introduction to West African Music and Culture from the Masters of of Malian music: Traditional Djembe and Bonkolo Drumming, Kora, Guitar. Brought to you by international musician Rusty Eklund
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Instrument Diversity
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The variety of traditional instrumentation, their on-going usage, and the integration of western instruments into the Modern Malian ensemble have created a doorway to a world-renowned art form and it's arrival on the world music scene.
 
Most ethnic groups possess their own unique instruments, each with an established repertoire of music, songs, and dances.
 
The pictures you will see on this page represent about one-third of the instruments regularly present in Malian society.
 
Drums and Percussion
 
 
Jenbe (Djembe)
Arguably the most popular instrument from Malian culture, the jenbe has gained worlwide prominence. It is a goblet-shaped drum with a goat, antelope, or even cowskin head, affixed by a system of steel rings and ropes. Traditionally the skin would be sewn or pegged to the drum.
 
The jenbe is most often played by the Maraka, Maninka, and Bamana ethnic groups in southern and western Mali.
 
 
Mahamadou Traore was one of the most respected jenbefolla in the Bamako celebration scene. Twice voted as one of the best drummers at the Bienal, a bi-yearly traditional music festival in Mali, Madou supported his entire family through his jenbe playing.
 
 
 
 
 
There are basically five distinct styles of Jenbe playing one sees in Mali.  
  • As a light accompaniment drum in ensembles led by the n'tama and dunuba.
  • In the village ensemble, often played by one jenbefolla and one konkoni
  • In the urban centers as an ensemble for celebrations
  • Modern arrangements of traditional music by the National Ballet and other large troupes
  • Within the modern instrumental ensemble
 
 
Dunun
The family of dunun drums are characterized by their cylindrical shape, covered on both ends by either goat or cowskin, often affixed by a sewing method, or sometimes using rings similar to jenbe construction. They are struck by a mallet and often accompanied by a bell played with the opposite hand. They are called dununba (ba=big), konkoni (smallest), and sometimes sangban and kenkeni.
 
 
 
 
 
Bonkolo
The most prominent drum of the Bamana, Bozo, and Somono ethnic groups. The ensemble typically consists of one or more bonkolo accompanists, one bonkolo soloist, one gangan (small dunun), and one chun/kununfa (except for the Somono). The bonkolo is played with one free hand and a thin bamboo stick in the other. It is most prominent throught the Segou region.
 
 
 
Kunanfa (Bara, Chune - large, bowl-shaped, bass hand drum)
 
 
 
N'Tamani (small talking/tension drum with jenbe-l, and dununba-r behind)
 
The family of various sized N'taman drums are hourglass shaped shells, covered on both ends with goat or lizard skin, affixed by a very intricate sewing method, and squeezed under the arm in order to change the pitch of the drum when struck by the hand or a small tamarin-wood mallet.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fileh - Calabash drum played with the fist and fingers, also often with rings or sticks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nanga (bell suspended from fingers, struck with a thumb ring, here being played in the jeli dununba/kassonkeh dunun style)
 
Karenyan (metal scraper/bell played to accompany hunters, jeli, and singers)
 
Gi Dunun (water drum struck with mallets)
 
Koro Koro (log drum)
 
Gita (Calabash bowl shaker)
 
  
Strings and Melodic Instruments
 
Kora (21-string harp played by the Maninka Jeli)
 
N'goni (4 to 7-string lute played throughout Mali by the Jeli and other ethnic groups)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kamel N'goni ("Young man's harp" - Popular version of the doson n'goni, a larger lute-harp played by the hunters)
 
 
Bolon - One of the oldest  of the Mande instruments, a three-string bass hunters'-harp that once accompanied the procession of kings
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Soku ("Horse tail" - A calabash and horse-hair violin mostly played in the North of Mali)
 
 
 
 
Bala (C Major diatonic Jeli bala)
(At least five unique balas exist in Mali: 1) the Jeli bala [including numerous tunings], 2) the Bobo pentatonic bala, 3) the Mianka/Senufo pentatonic bala, 4)a larger Bamana bala made to dance upon,  5) Pentatonic bala to accompany Wassalou music, each group producing a unique repertoire of music, tuning of the instrument, and styles of playing)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Guitar - Many Malian musicians are well know worldwide for their guitar playing: Ali Farka Toure, Boubacar Traore, Djeli Madyy Tounkara, Lobi Traore, and Habib Koite. And many ethnic groups or regions have well-known styles as well: Wassalou, Maninka Jeli, Songrai, and the Tuareg desert blues. The guitar has become such a widely utilized instrument, fully integrated into their traditional repertoires, that one accepts the guitar as a full-fledged member of their traditional instrumentation.