This is a recording of Tiriba and Yankadi traditional West African drum rhythm.
It incorporates the slower Yankadi rhythm with the more lively upbeat rhythm of Tiriba. The patterns are played at a fast tempo along with solo phrases to create a intense trance-like rhythm.
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Tiriba is a rhythm of the Landouma people of western coastal Guinea. There are three stages of history to Tiriba. Tiriba was the name of a man.
At first the rhythm was a mask dance. Tiriba would go around and visit different villages after the harvest time with drummers to play and dance. When Tiriba died, the rhythm and dance lived on and were named after him. Over time, the context of the dance has changed.
Tiriba (the rhythm and dance) became a dance for girls after their initiation. Their mothers would organize a party and the young women would dance to show gratitude to their mothers and confirm that they were now women.
They would come together with their mothers to honor them. Today, Tiriba is a general dance of celebration played at all kinds of occasions.
Traditionally, there were no dunduns (sangban, kenkeni, or dununba) played on Tiriba. However in this recording there is an ensemble of dunduns and solo djembe's.
It is a traditional seduction dance for young women and has most often been played as young women and men demonstrated their dance moves for one another. Those young people would come to another town or village and show the people there what they could do. Throughout history, how one moved one’s body told a lot about future potential and worth. This seduction dance would have been a significant part of life in the past. These days, the yankadi rhythm is played for a variety of occasions, but still seems to call listeners to move seductively.
Yankadi is a slow portion of a larger meal. The faster part that generally accompanies the yankadi rhythm is called the makru. Some say the origins of the yankadi lay with Burkina Faso composers.
Yankadi can be said to mean “it is good here” and was played to let people know good places to settle. Over time, possibly as people began to have more permanent settlements, the rhythm took on a more personal usage. The young people of Lower Guinea would have been used to young women using the yankadi rhythm to entice and flirt with young men they admired.
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Traditional instruments used in this recording include:
2 x Dununba
2 x Sangba
2 x Kenkeni
6 x Bells
4 x Djembe
4 x Solo Djembe
Recorded by : Khong Audio Lab
