Aburukuwa

Aburukuwa

Akan drums played at an annual fair at Cape Coast, Ghana.
Percussion instrument
Other names	Abrukwa
Classification	Membranophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	211
Developed	Ghana

The Aburukuwa (also known as the Abrukwa) is an open drum of the Akan people and the Asante people of Ghana. It is a high-pitched talking drum used by the Akan people, ^[1] bottle-shaped with its skin is held on by pegs. It is usually played with curved sticks. Its sound resembles the birdsong of a bird of the same name.

The Aburukuwa is the smallest of the three drums used by the Asante people during rituals and ceremonies. The Aburukuwa and its sister drums, the Kwadum and the Apentemma, were typically covered by red and black felt to represent death and blood. Although the drums have become associated with funerals and ancestor worship, they were also used during wartime.^[2]

See also

• Akan Drum

References

1. Nketia, J. H. Kwabena (1974). The Music of Africa (First ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. p. 254. ISBN 0393021777.
2. Rovi, Arwulf. "Asante Kete Drumming: Music of Ghana". Answers.com. Retrieved September 26, 2011.

External links

• Video showing a pair of Aburukuwa drums being played.
• The Instruments of Ho-Asogli
• Village Rainbows: Words from Africa - the "Home of All Mankind" Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine - Containing photos of Aburukuwa and its sister drums.
• "Asante Kete Drumming: Music from Ghana" - Examples of Asante drumming.