THE IMPACT OF DÚNDÙN DRUMMERS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

The dúndùn ensemble drummers are the custodians of Yoruba oral repertoire in South West
Nigeria. Their skills are transmitted to the younger generation in simple and articulate style.
It is important however, to distinguish between the dúndùn ensemble groups at the king’s
palace, city square, town hall and the dùndún ensemble groups who perform on the streets
and who normally impose themselves on guests at organised social events in Yoruba land.
The court musicians and their counterparts usually,at the city square or town hall are
gainfully employed by the king. This group of drummers are practitioners who perform
mainly for royalties at the palace. The dùndún street drummers, however, are prolific
drummers who perform generally within the circles of the poor, roaming from street to street.
They are generally perceived as beggars by those who do not understand the importance of
the group in the society in which they reside. Their performance is sometimes extended to the
social events in the midst of the rich without any invitation. The members of these groups are
skilled instrumentalists according to the standard of measurement of artistic excellence in
Yoruba land. Nevertheless, they lack the financial stability and social patronage to form a
real dance band that promotes classical recordings of their works for a wider public
consumption. Sociological and analytical methods of data collection used in the study reveal
the societal intolerance of these groups of drummers and the drummers’ wise resistance of
this attitude to their performances. The findings reveal that the ensemble drummers though
do not get enough patronage, are very versatile performers and are promoters of their
traditional musical culture. In conclusion, the status of the drummers does not influence the
quality of their performances; rather, they are very happy people, thoroughly groomed as
drummer ensemble whose impact deserves a better recognition and patronage.