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Where in Africa are slit drums used to transmit messages?
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African music
Man playing traditional mangolongondo instrument, Malawi.
In Africa, slit drums are used to transmit messages in West Africa and the Congo basin.12
While the term "talking drum" is often associated with membranophones—specifically in the region known as the Bend in western Africa—slit drums are also utilized as signaling instruments in various locations due to their significant carrying power and resonance. By carefully thinning the flanks of the hollowed log to produce distinct pitches, these instruments can reproduce the inflections of human speech to convey information.3451