Traditional Drum Music of Benin



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Among the animistic Fon people of Benin, drum ensembles accompany religious and social events such as birth celebrations, funeral rituals, and ancestor worship. An ancient tradition, drumming is used to praise kings and sacred deities. Musicians on skin drums can simulate or “talk” the praise-names of their subjects by reproducing the inflection of the language. This percussion example, played on a sacred drum called dan hun, meaning “Dan’s drum,” honors the vodun (voodoo) serpent deity, Dan.

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Benin; Animism; African Religions

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