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Interesting Information About Bata Drums

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Bata Drums

Bata drums are one of the membranophone musical instruments family from West African. Bata drums have double-headed with a shape like that of an hourglass. The two sides of the bata drums are of different sizes because one end is larger compared to the other end.

Bata drums have great historical and special religious value in African and Cuban traditions and cultures. Although the drum was introduced to Cuban through the African slave trade in the 19th century.

Bata drums are also part of the music of the African diaspora religion known as Candomblé in Brazil.

Bata drums are known for their capability to encode and imitate Yoruba and related dialects. The drum have been part of Yoruba culture for years and keep on playing a significant role in different social and religious events.

 Origin Of Bata Drums

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In actual fact, there is no written record concerning the origin of the batá drum. Normally, this was the case of many histories of the Africans. Also, it is the same difficulty experienced in the history of African Music and culture and that of Yoruba culture and music. 

This is so because majorly the people depend on oral ways of keeping the records of their events. This could be traced to a lack of proper literary tradition back then. In the same vein, there are different stories around the origin of the batá drum. But the most acceptable one is related to sango (Yoruba god of thunder).

There are different narratives about the origin of the Bata drum in Yoruba land. However, the one that is related to sango will be discussed. History has it that the bata drum was created as the musical instrument for sango to carry out his ritual. 

Sango is known as a powerful warrior and Alaafin, a king, in the old Oyo Empire during his life. Sango die and became a deity and a bata drum is normally used to communicate with him.

Also, there is another account of the origin of the bata drum as described by Darius Thieme (1960). The account pointed out that the bata drum was made right away after the reign of sango in order to mark his reign. He further acknowledged the common notion that sango normally used a bata drum to attract lighting when performing his ritual.

In addition, he viewed that the usage of the bata drum began in Oyo Alaafin, a Yoruba region in Nigeria, and thereafter spread to other regions and towns of the Yorubas. And the bata drum later spread to other parts of the world like Cuba, and Brazil through Atlantic slave trades.

Construction Of Bata Drums

Before the bata drum is played, it goes through different making processes. There are different ways of making bata (it is made in kinds). A typical bata drum will have a hollow wood shell or body.

Also, with a goatskin fasten with the aid of wire-work over the top of the hollow wood. The bata drum is basically made from a wooden shell (known as “Igi Ilu” in Yoruba).

The shell is covered with leather with the support of thick brooms (“Egi ilu” in Yoruba). In addition, the wire-work (also known as “Osan” in Yoruba) is used to tighten the membrane and decorate the drum. The black substance placed on the drum surface (known as “Iro”), drumstick made from leather (known as “Bilala”) and cowries.

These materials mentioned above constitute what we call the bata drum. However, there are two methods of constructing bata drums. One is the traditional Yoruba bata and that of the one played in Cuba.

The Yoruba bata drums from the southern part of Nigeria are assembled without metal parts. The Cuban version of the bata drum is typical with the metal parts. Our discussion here will focus on the Yoruba version of the bata drum. Because bata drum actually originates from Yoruba land.

The Wooden Shell Of Bata Drums

Bata drum Shell - Interesting Information About The Bata Drum

In particular, the bata drum has a hollow wooden shell with two drum heads of unequal sides. Typically, one side is bigger than the other. The bata’s wood shell is usually made from different types of solid wood logs that are durable and strong.

The specific trees that bata drums are made from are “omo tree” (the pear tree) and “Apa tree” (mahogany). Also, Iroko tree, and the “Ara tree” and some other durable trees. These trees mentioned are strong and durable for the making of bata wooden shells.

In addition, the drums made from them are considered to have the best sound. Also, they are known as woods with the ability to perform and able to talk very well.

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Note that you cannot use any wood to make a bata drum. Because there is some wood you would use to make the drum that would break when they fall.

Nevertheless, the Omo tree is the best for making the drum because it can withstand harsh conditions like excess sun or rainfall more.

The making of the drum starts from carving and sun drying of the wood frame. Traditionally, the wooden frame for a bata drum is locally processed with local tools. It is majorly hand-carved and well dry in the sun before using it to make the drum. Those trees mentioned above are wood types that have been used for bata drum and known to last very well.

Leather Placement

After the wooden shell for the bata drum has been sun-dried properly. The next thing is to prepare it for leather placement to make a vibrating head of the drum. The leather is a membrane that is usually goatskin and known as the head.

The bata drum head leather is the major part of the drum that vibrates and gives the drum its tone. The leather covers both ends of a wooden shell or frame of bata drum. The bata drum has two piles of leathers. The first pile is majorly for the tone of the bata drum. And the second pile is used to prevent the one that gives bata its tone.

The leather placement starts with the use of a strap known as “egi ilu”. The “egi ilu” helps in holding the membrane which is an animal hide firm to the wooden frame.

The strap (egi ilu) is usually made from a small bunch of thick brooms that Yoruba people call “agba”. The agba is one particular creeper-like thick broom that is usually found in the bush. It is a very soft material that you can fold or straighten easily.

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The “agba” will be folded around the edge of the drum wooden shell to form the proper shape and size of the smaller and bigger edge of the wooden shell.

After the proper size has been realized, a strong thread is used to properly fasten the creeper together. Thereafter, the tight strap will be covered with pieces of cloth just to put it safely and beautify it.

Afterward, a wet leather from goatskin will be spread on top of the strap to cover the wooden shell head. There is a need for this wet leather to dry before we can go further.

So, we would wait for the leather to dry. When the wet leather has dried, another skin will be placed on top of the main surface skin at the edge that would prevent it from getting damaged by sweat.

Bata Drums Wirework (Osan In Yoruba)

Interesting Information About The Bata Drum

Bata drums wire work is known as “osan”. Specifically, “osan” is made from thick leathers and antelope leather is commonly used. 

Cowhide is also a good material used in making the wire-work for the tension straps of the drum. The wire-work helps to fix both the drum head’s leather and the “Egi Ilu” in place and tension the surface of the drum head. It also helps to beautify the drum by wrapping it around the wooden shell artistically and may colour it as well.

Having placed the leather properly on the head and allowed it to dry, we will start the wire work with antelope leather. To prepare the wire work, antelope leather is made into tiny leather and soaked into water for one or two days. It is left for that long to soften it properly.

When the leather has softened very well, it will be stretched and made to expand on fixed nodes where it would be sundry for almost three days. For that three days inside the sun, the antelope leather must have dried very well.

After it the leather has dried, we would harvest and shave the hair on it for neatness. Thereafter, the leather would be waved around the drum head from the top to the bottom.

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When done with the weaving the remaining antelope leather will be wrapped around the drum. During the wrapping of the leather around the drum shell, space would be left for the belt (known as “oja” in Yoruba) that will be used to carry the drum.

After that, we would continue with the wrapping of the leather around the drum and continue till we get to the next belt on the upper side and stop.

Tuning Of The Drums

Interesting Information About The Bata Drum

The “ida” or “Iro” is the black substance that is usually spotted on the surface of the leather on the drum head of bata drums. The main purpose of “ida” is to tune and vary the tone of the drum on different faces. The main bata drum will have “ida” on its bigger face.

With the three tied bata drum known as “omele ako”, only the face that normally produced the highest tone is not having “ida”. The other two faces with a deep tone usually have it.

Ida is used on the surface of the bata drums when the wire-work has been done. The Ida is made from the milk of the rubber tree. The process is done by putting the milk inside a container and added a small portion of palm oil to it.

The mixture in the container is then heated together with fire. During the heating process, the substance will rise, solidify, and become a hard black substance. The hard substance that is formed is known as “ida”.

When the “ida” has formed, you will cut the one you need and pound it very well until it’s softer. You then applied the soft “ida” on the surface of the drum with a bigger membrane as desired.

Without “Ida” on the surface of the drum head, the tone or sound of the bata drum would not be well-tuned or absolutely clear. However, when you applied “ida” on the surface of the drum head the drum will sound very well. Also, it will vibrate normally as it should.

In particular, “ida” is applied on some surfaces of the bata drums in order to lower the tone. Also, it is used to fine-tune the pitch of the drum.

Playing of Bata Drums

Interesting Information About The Bata Drum

Different tones can be produced by hitting different parts of the surface of the bata drum skin membrane. The bata drums is played by hitting the surface of the drum head with an open palm or stiff leather strap known as “bilala”.

“Bilala” is the thick leather strap that the drummer (called “alubàtá” or “oni bata” in Yoruba) normally uses to play the drum. However, the flexible plastics materials or rubber have been used in place of thick leather as “bilala”.

The “bilala” is used to play the smaller side of the drum that also has a smaller membrane.  Hitting this side with the “bilala” generates the highest pitch on the drum.

Note that the smaller membrane of the bata drum does not have the black substance called “ida” stuck on it. On the other hand, the bigger side that has “ida” stuck on it is played by hitting it with an open palm. You hit the membrane with a free surface on the bigger drum head to get the middle pitch tone.

And when you hit the area where “ida” is stuck you will get a lower pitch tone. The combination of all these tones in standard variation constitutes playing of the bata drums.

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For performance, bata drums are usually played in ensembles like western music orchestra sections. In the bata ensemble, the size and tone of the drum have pitch significance that determines its musical function in the ensemble.

The major drums that constitute the bata ensemble of Yoruba people are the mother drum (Iya ilu), subordinate female drum (omele abo), subordinate male drum (omele ako), and Child drum (kudi).

You can click and read the bata drums ensemble to have more insight into the function of each drum in the ensemble.


At Phamox Music, we go all out for exactness and honesty. For this purpose, if by any means you found any possible glitch, be it factual, editorial or something that we need to update, kindly contact us.


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