Contextual Associations

The sabaro is a single-head membranophone of the Mandinka, who are descendants of the Mande peoples of western Africa. The Mandinka now reside primarily in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. The sabaro is one of three drums used almost exclusively in the Mandinka tangtango ensemble (see Tantango Ensemble of the Mandinka from Gambia) to enliven life-cycle rituals and agricultural and recreational events. Unlike for some Mandinka instruments (kora, kontingo, and balo), there are no caste restrictions on who may play tantango drums. Drumming, however, is restricted only to men; women are disallowed from even touching the instrument due to notions of physical purity.

Description

The sabaro is a single-skin open conical drum hewn from a single log of red mahogany (kembo). The head is made from goatskin (baa) or small bush antelope (minango) that is both pegged and laced to the instrument’s upper body. Five sharply tapered, carved wooden pegs protrude approximately one third of the way down the instrument’s body. The laces serve to snug the head to the body as well as greatly facilitate the tension adjustment of the drumhead. To this end, the laces are woven through vertical slits in the skin (direct lacing) just below the lip of the drum and are tied under each thick peg, acting as tension studs. Normally made from twisted strips of antelope hide the laces on this instrument are, instead, synthetic (perhaps nylon) webbing. Nylon twine is looped several times around the head in two locations providing extra snuggling. This sabaro is smoothly finished and coated in a deep red, tacky lacquer. Its slender stick beater,carved from a mangrove root due to that materials resilience, tapers to a blunt point at one end and has decorative notches carved near the other end.

Player - Instrument Interface and Sound Production

The lead drum of the tantango ensemble, the sabaro is played by a standing musician with the drum hung over his shoulder with a strap. It is struck using an empty left-hand and a stick in right-hand. The minimal vocabulary necessary to play the drums consists of two different hand strokes (an open bounced, kun, and damped stroke, ba) and two different stick strokes (a bounce, din, and press da). From these, a collage of sounds may be generated.

Origins/History/Evolution

For Charry, “there is little historical documentation to support speculation on the age of various Mandinka drums.” And, while drum practices in the region are mentioned in writing as far back 1068, it remains unclear which drums are being described and who is playing them until the written records of the 20^th century.
 

Bibliographic Citations

Charry, Eric. 2000. Mande Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Knight, Roderic. 1984. "Music in Africa: The Manding Contexts." In Performance Practice: Ethnomusicological Perspectives, ed. Gerard Behague, pp. 53-90. Westport: Greenwood Press.