Talking Drum Back in 1999 I visited Nigeria, West Africa. One of the many souvenirs I picked up was a talking drum. This is an hourglass-shaped drum known as a Dundun or Gangan by the Yoruba people. Squeezing the leather cords, that connect the two drumheads, can change the pitch of the drum. This enables the instrument to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. The pitch can be changed during a single beat, producing a warbling note. Volume,…