Playing The Moutya Drum – Zwe Tanbour Moutya

There is no moutya without the moutya drum

“Moutya is a  dance rooted in the flames of the past… Moutya back then was not just a dance, after a hard days of work labouring in the plantations or fishing out at sea the Moutya was the perfect playing field to let go of the pressures of a harsh life, entertain oneself, sing, lament and socialize. Moutya was a creative tool for survival; for voicing the stories that the masters tried hard to silence. A tool of emancipation from slavery; even if it was just for a Sunday night or a Saturday afternoon.” Alexandria Faure

Moutya Ancien/Otentik versus Moutya Modern

In this post, when we refer to moutya we refer to the ‘Moutya Ancien’ or ‘Moutya Otentik’ and not the ‘Moutya Modern’. Briefly, the difference between the two is that the Moutya Ancien/Otentik is the original moutya that was held in the open, around a fire, away from the crowd, had three drums made with animal skin and no other instrument and where the songs were composed in situ. It was not a pre-organised get together but spontaneous.

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On the other hand, the moutya modern has, apart from the drum (made with synthetic membrane,) has other drums like the djembe, triangle, and the songs are pre-composed and commonly known. We will discuss the difference between the two in more detail in future posts.

Origin of the Moutya Drum- Lorizin Tanbour Moutya

The exact origin of tanbour moutya, as well as the precise time of its introduction to Seychelles, have not been established to date, although it is widely accepted that the practice of moutya was introduced during the period of slavery.

If you wish to read more about the moutya, these posts below will be of great help. Please click on the link.

• THE MOUTYA AND THE ‘SEGA ANCIEN’
• THE EVOLUTION OF THE SEGA ANCIEN
• THE MOUTYA IN SEYCHELLES- A BRIEF HISTORY
• THE MOUTYA DRUM- TANBOUR MOUTYA -HOW IT WAS MADE

 Creole Terms Specific to the Moutya Drum (for a right-handed person)

I feel that it would be helpful at the beginning of this post to explain some of the local creole terms associated with the drumming techniques of the moutya. Unfortunately, there is no standardisation of these terms, and some people may have a different interpretation:

• Bas – low pitch sound.
• Bate– To strike (Fr. Bater)
• Bater-the striker or drummer
• Denote – performs on the baby drum meaning to accentuate certain keystrokes
• Fwete– to make short beats (Fr. fouetter- meaning to whip). The fwet (noun) is made with the fingers hitting close to the edge or rim of the drum. It is a slamming action to produce the sharp sound. Usually made with the first three fingers fo the left hand.
• Kalote -To slap with all fingers close together- (Fr. calotte)
• Konpozer– This is the lead drummer and the person who is composing the songs (Fr. composeur ).
• Marto (Fr. marteau) hitting the membrane with the middle or ring finger as if you are using a miniature hammer. It is worth noting here that the contact is made with the tip of the finger and not with the nail. Hitting the membrane with your nail will create weakness in the membrane that will ultimately result is a possible tear.
• Met laganm – to set the rhythm of the drums (Fr. La gamme – meaning musical scale”). In Creole it refers to ‘set the mood’.
• Pile – to produce the deep base sound of the drum (Fr. piler- meaning to compact). It is the lowest tone the drum can produce and is achieved by hitting  towards the centre of the drum. Also known as ‘doum’ in the music world. The best sound is achieved by striking the drum with the side of the thumb using a downward motion.
• Sofe– (Fr. chauffer) means to heat or warm , sof sa tanbour—means to heat the drum to keep it taut.
• Tambourye– the person playing the drum (Fr. Tambour -meaning drum). The tambourye, especially the lead tambourye, can at times take on the role of the konpozer or singer composer.
• Tak-a rimstroke achieved by hitting the edge of the membrane close to the rim in order to make a sharp clear sound. The tak stroke is played by both the left and right hand using the pad of either the index, middle or ring finger, or all of three fingers together.
• Talon– (Fr. talon, meaning heel). This is a striking technique whereby the drummer uses the inner palm of the hand to hit the external rim of the drum, giving a flat sound.
• Toufe– (Fr. étouffer) This means to smoother, to stop a resonance, producing a ‘dry’ sound. This is done by slightly cupping the hand and  placing the full hand close to the centre of the drum.
• Vannen-(Fr. Vanner) Literally translated, vannen means to winnow. In days gone by, rice had to be winnowed before cooking in order to remove impurities. I guess that the word has been used as a drumming technique because the winnowing movement is close to that used when hand drumming. Vannen is the basic beat of the moutya that is usually played by the lead drummer on the ‘mother’ drum or, in the absence of the ‘mother’ drum, on any other drum.  The fingers of the player are usually slightly apart and the the drum is struck using an upward movement.

The Playing Position of the Drummers

As discussed in previous posts, the tanbour moutya is a circular frame drum and because it is too large for hand-held playing, it is played by being held vertically rested on the thigh of the drummer.  There are three possible positions to hold the drum:

The standing Position

If the drummer is standing, he raises his thigh by placing his foot on a bench, a tree trunk or another object, so that his thigh is found almost at right angles to his body.

Kneeling

The musician kneels with his right knee on the ground and the left knee raised with the thigh horizontal serving as support for the drum.

Seated

Some moutya drummers find it uncomfortable to play the drum while standing up or kneeling and may decide to sit on a chair, on a log or even on a rock. The sitting position facilitates another playing grip commonly referred to as “Lap style.” The seated player holds the drum vertically on the left thigh with the left hand resting on top.

Holding the drum (a right-handed person)

Whatever the playing position a drummer chooses, the drum is always held in the  same way. It is placed on the left thigh of the drummer with its widest part to be in line with the centre of the body. If it is too far to the left, the right hand will have to reach out too far creating muscle tension. Furthermore, it will obstruct the movement of the left arm restricting the movement of the fingers. If, on the other hand, it is too far to the right the reverse will happen.

The drum is also kept a few centimeters away from the body, which should be in an upright position, to give maximum resonance and allowing both arms to be in a relaxed position.

The left wrist (if the musician is right-handed) rests on the frame of the upper most part of the drum and looks like you are holding a gun. The middle, ring and little finger rests on the drum with the index finger facing out and the thumb pointing up. This ensures that the drum is stable while leaving the hand free to make short beats termed fwet (whip), with the little finger, the ring finger and sometimes the middle finger. The short beats are made on the edge of the drum.

Sometimes a scarf is worn around left wrist to avoid the bruising of the wrist as well as stopping any sweat from dripping on to the drum. If any sweat drops on the drum it will be absorbed by the natural membrane and expand and consequently giving a dull sound.

The right arm is held in a L-position with the shoulder relaxed and most movement of the lower arm done from the elbow. This allows the right hand to move freely and to consequently produce different types of strikes.

The Three Drummers and their Drums

Although the moutya can be performed by using only one drum , it was traditionally performed with  three drums all of varying sizes producing three varying sounds. The first drum, which was the largest, was called, manman, the mother, and was approximately 45 cm in diameter; the second one which was of medium size was called papa, the father, and was approximately 40 cm in diameter; and the smallest one was called piti, meaning child, and was approximately 38 cm in diameter.

The Roles of the Three Drums and the Three Drummers

The three drums play in homo-rhythm, meaning that they play the same rhythm throughout, but it is articulated differently in that they produce various sound dynamics, depending on the role of each one.

The mother drum is played by the lead drummer who also has other roles. He initiates the singing as well as being the composer. He indicates the time to start and plays the basic beat, commonly called vannen.  He plays the drum using the complete right hand to hit the membrane (palm and fingers slightly apart from each other). He uses the fingers of his right hand to hit the edge of the drum and then the palm of the whole hand for the low strike-vannen.

The drummer playing the ‘father’ drum has a slight variation to his technique: it is rather his fingers that hit the skin of the drum. Its role here is to support the basic rhythm, emphasizing the low strikes.

Because the ‘child ‘ drum produces a  more acute and clear sound it is used by the drummer to  punctuate the rhythm accentuating some strikes, especially at the end of the sung phrases or during the most intense moments. It adds some ‘bite’ in the unfolding pieces. This drumming technique is locally known as denote (playing a musical note) or dekoke.

Listen to some moutya drumming by clicking on this link :

Have a close look at the hand movements of the three drummers. You will see that the drumming techniques are different.

Factors Influencing the Sounds Produced by a Moutya Drum

Although all these instruments are cylindrical frame drums with a membrane, their organological characteristics vary, whether in relation the physical characteristics or size of the drum and its rim, the type of skin used, the methods of striking on the drum’s membrane, the presence or not of jingles, the position of play, or the tension on the skin/membrane.

The physical Characteristics  of the drum

The physical characteristics of the drum itself have a direct impact on the pitch and timbre of the sounds produced. Pitch is a way of talking about how “high” or “low” a sound is. When you hit a large drum, it makes a fuller sound with lower pitch as compared to a smaller drum that will produce a sharper and higher sound. Hitting a drum applies pressure to the drum. Drums with larger heads (drum surfaces) take longer to wobble back and forth, creating slower vibrations producing a lower pitch.

The type of skin used

There are different types of skin that were used as membrane for the drum.  These included:

• The cattle hides. They were and are still not that readily available. It was not the preferred skin because it produces a dull sound with minimal resonance.
• The Tiger shark’s rumen or pans. The belly of the tiger shark was carefully cut open and the whole stomach or rumen was removed, cleaned and filled with sand and hung. The weight of the sand would slowly stretch the rumen and after about three days, the rumen was cut open and cleaned and stretched flat out on a board to dry. This skin is thin with a sharper sound. It was a preferred skin but not easy to access and prepare.
• The skin of the manta ray or dyabdemer (Fr. Diable de mer).  To ensure that no damage was done to the skin the ray was harpooned on its head and the skin carefully removed , stretched out for a few days and then rubbed with sand and lime using a coconut brush  to remove all the tiny scales and other rough spots. Thin skin also produces a sharp sound and was highly sought out but was not easy to access and prepare.
• The most popular skin was and still is the goat skin.  Goat was and is still quite plentiful on the islands. Therefore the goat skin was easily accessible and produces a lively sound that is full of resonance

The striking Method

There are six basic sounds that are obtained from the moutya drum and they are all obtained by how they are struck. These are:

Fwete– to make short beats (Fr. fouetter- meaning to whip). The fwet (noun) is made with the fingers hitting close to the edge. It is a slamming action to produce the sharp sound. Usually made with the first three fingers fo the left hand.

Kalote -To slap in an upward motion with all fingers close together- (Fr. calotte)

Pile – to produce the deep base sound of the drum(Fr. piler meaning to compact). It is the lowest tone the drum can produce and is achieved by hitting towards the centre of the drum. Also known as ‘doum’ in the music world. The best sound is achieved by striking the drum with the side of the thumb using a downward motion.

Tak-a rimstroke achieved by hitting edge of the membrane close to the rim in order to make a sharp clear sound.

Toufe– This means to smother, to stop a resonance (usually done by placing the full hand on the drum)

Vannen– the basic beat of the moutya-usually played by the lead drummer on the ‘mother’ drum.

The force of attack

If you hit a drum hard the membrane oscillates deeper and makes big vibrations and a loud sound. Conversely, if you hit a drum softly the membranes wobbles less and the vibrations are smaller and the sound is therefore not as loud.

Strike Zone

The usual striking zone for a moutya drum is about a hand-width from the center of the membrane produces a rich, resounding tone –pile. The nearer you strike to the rim the brighter the sound becomes.

The tension on the membrane

How tight the membrane is on the frame has an impact on pitch of the drum. If the membrane is tight the drum makes a high note, if it is slack it makes a low or dead note. Most moutya drums in Seychelles tend to go slack when not in use. Why is this and how does the drummer fix this problem?

The Seychelles experience very high humidity year round and the natural skin when treated tends to absorb moisture from the air which expands the skin and makes the drum sound go flat. In other words, it sometimes becomes so loose that when it is struck with the hand there is no resonance to the sound. It is dull and lifeless.

In this case the drum has to be warmed up and dried out.

This is the main reason why the moutya drum made with natural skin membrane was/is warmed/heated up before use. The heating evaporates the moisture from the skin and consequently tightens it, thereby increasing its tension and give it back its resonance.    The warming is not required for artificial synthetic membrane.

The jingles

The jingles were not part of the traditional moutya drum. They are a later addition and is now very common in the newer drums. They collide when the drum is struck and enrich the sound by providing a steady rhythm.

What’s Next?

In the next post on the topic, we will discuss the preparation of the moutya including a snippet of my own personal involvement in this task.

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  Sources

• Jean-Claude-Pascal (“Zan-Klod-Paskal”) (Anthropologist/Political Scientist)
• Virtual Seychelles
• The Seychelles  Nation Newspaper
• Marie-Christine Parent– Le Moutya à l’épreuve de la Modernité Seychelloise-Pratiquer un genre musical emblématique dans les Seychelles d’aujourd’hui (Océan Indien)
• Personal experiences on Praslin Island and surrounding islands- Jean-Paul Barallon