Ngoma Drum (Swahili Coast)
The ngoma is the wooden drum of the Swahili coast of Tanzania and Kenya, built as a barrel or goblet with a hide head and played in the ensembles that accompany weddings, dances, and life-cycle rites. In Swahili the word ngoma covers drum, dance, and festivity together, and the drumming groups of the coast keep a repertory of named rhythms passed down through families. Ngoma also reaches into the spirit world: in the ceremonies of the pepo, the capricious spirits of the coast, drumming summons the spirits so that they may be spoken to and soothed, and drummers are chosen for their knowledge of