pot drum, udu

Pot drum (udu) system used by the Igbo people of Nigeria, described by Damm (2003). The instrument itself is a clay pot with two apertures; it emits “two varied tones when the player alternately strikes the open side hole and the top end hole (the mouth of the pot) with the palms of the hands” (Damm 2003:29).  The language is tonal, with phonemic H and L register tones and derived rising and falling contour tones (Ezenwafor 2014:662).The surrogate system involves “playing the rhythms of speech with corresponding tonal relationships available on the instrument” (Damm 2003:30). The udu is typically played by women. Content includes communication within the village, including addressing other women by name.

Ezenwafor, C. I. (2014). Contour tones in Igbo:’where they come from’. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(4), 661.,Damm, R. J. (2003, December). Do you udu? Percussive Notes.