View source for Gbedu

{{Short description|Type of drum used in traditional Yoruba music}}
'''Gbedu''' literally means "big drum" and is a percussion instrument traditionally used in ceremonial [[Yoruba music]] in [[Nigeria]] and [[Benin]].<ref name=proverbs>{{cite book
|title=Yoruba proverbs
|author=Oyekan Owomoyela
|publisher=University of Nebraska Press
|year=2005
|ISBN=0-8032-3576-3}}</ref>
More recently, the word has come to be used to describe forms of Nigerian [[Afrobeats]] music.<ref name=hiphop>{{cite web
|url=http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2009/nigerianhiphop.pdf
|title=Language Alternation Strategies in Nigerian Hip Hop and Rap Texts
|author=Maduabuchi Agbo
|publisher=Language in India
|date=1 February 2009
|page=35
|accessdate=2010-01-30}}</ref>
==Tradition==
The Gbedu drum is traditionally used on state occasions or during ceremonies of [[Ogboni]], the ancient [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] secret society.<ref name=proverbs/>
The Gbedu, also called Ogido, is one of the four major drums in traditional Yoruba drum sets; the other major drums are the Dundun/Gangan or [[talking drum]], the [[Batá drum]] and the [[Sakara drum]].
Each drum comprises drums of different sizes, usually referred to as "children" of the mother drum (iya ilu). The mother drum, being whichever is the biggest in a set and playing the lead role while other drums play in support.<ref name=kayinsola>{{cite web
|url=http://www.kanyinsola.com/Talking%20drums.html
|title=The Yoruba Talking Drums
|publisher=Dabi Debo Kanyinsola
|accessdate=2010-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026075800/http://www.kanyinsola.com/Talking%20drums.html
|archive-date=26 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The Gbedu backing drums are each played by a drummer using both his open palm and a stick.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.lagbaja.com/drums/ogido.php
|title=Ogido ensemble
|publisher= Motherlan' Music Lagos
|accessdate=2010-01-30}}</ref>
Among the Yoruba, the Gbedu drum signifies royalty.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Culture and customs of Nigeria
|author=Toyin Falola
|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group
|year=2001
|ISBN=0-313-31338-5
|page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00falo/page/165 165]
|url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00falo/page/165
}}</ref>
The largest of the Yoruba drums, it is played during important functions.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, Volumes 5-6
|publisher=Manchester Geographical Society
|date=1889
|page=291}}</ref>
In ceremonies such the rite of Isagun, the [[Oba (ruler)|Oba]] might dance to the music of the drum.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Africa's Ogun: old world and new
|author=Sandra T. Barnes
|publisher=Indiana University Press
|year=1997
|ISBN=0-253-21083-6
|page=111}}</ref>
If anyone else used the drum they were arrested for sedition.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Laws and Customs of the Yoruba People
|publisher=George Routledge
|year=1924
|author=A.K. Ajisafe
|page=22}}</ref>
In early times it was considered that the large and ornately carved drum had a protecting spirit, that of the slave who was sacrificed when it was made.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 9
|author=James Hastings
|publisher=Kessinger Publishing
|year=2003
|ISBN=0-7661-3680-9
|page=93}}</ref>
The drum is covered in carvings representing animals, birds and the phallus. When sacrifices were made at ceremonies where the drum was used, some of the blood was sprinkled on the carvings, along with palm wine, egg yolks and the feathers of sacrificed chickens.<ref>{{cite book
|page=84
|title=Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa
|author=A. B. Ellis
|author-link=A. B. Ellis
|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC
|year=2008
|ISBN=0-554-39143-0}}</ref>
The carved face of the iya ilu might include an image of [[Olokun]], goddess of the sea, considered the "face of worship".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.clarku.edu/~jborgatt/ld_exhibit.htm
|title=Art of Music
|publisher=Clark University
|accessdate=2010-01-30}}</ref>
It is recorded that during the last days of the [[Oyo Empire]], when the [[Fulani]] had captured [[Ilorin]] and become masters of  Oyo, Sita, Emir of Ilorin required the Alaafin of Oyo [[Oluewu]] to visit him and pay homage. Oluewu had the Gbedu drum beaten before him as he travelled. When Sita asked about the drum and was told it was played only in the presence of a king, he became angry, saying that there could only be one king, himself, and ordered the Gbedu drum to be taken away.<ref>{{cite book
|title=The history of the Yorubas: from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate
|author=Samuel Johnson
|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul
|year=1966
|page=22}}</ref>
An old Yoruba proverb says "unless the he-goat dies, no one can make a gbedu drum from its skin". The implication is that a person will be able to look out for their own interests while they are alive.
Another proverb says "the hide of a pig cannot be used to make a gbedu drum", meaning that a given material cannot be used for all purposes.
"No thief steals a gbedu drum" is a warning not to attempt the impossible.<ref name=proverbs/>
==Modern usage==
In modern Nigeria, the Gbedu and its relatives continue to be used, but the word has taken new meanings.
[[Fela Kuti]] included the traditional Gbedu drum in his ensemble, with a percussionist pounding out a thunderous rhythm from an eight-foot drum lying on its side.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Fela: the life & times of an African musical icon
|url=https://archive.org/details/felalifetimesofa00veal
|url-access=registration
|author=Michael E. Veal
|publisher=Temple University Press
|year=2000
|ISBN=1-56639-765-0
|page=[https://archive.org/details/felalifetimesofa00veal/page/3 3]}}</ref>
Afrobeat ensembles often include the [[Akuba]], a set of three small Yoruba congas played with sticks that are related to the Gbedu.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://afrofunkforum.blogspot.com/2006/04/lead-congas-in-afrobeat.html
|date=April 21, 2006
|title="Lead Congas" in Afrobeat
|author=David McDavitt
|publisher=The Afrofunk Music Forum
|accessdate=2010-01-30}}</ref>
Afrobeat musician [[Kola Ogunkoya]] uses the term "Afro Gbedu" to describe his style of music, which includes jazz, [[highlife]], [[Jùjú music|Jùjú]], funk and traditional Yoruba music.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.radiopalmwine.com/KOLA_GBEDU_OGUNKOYA/
|title=KOLA GBEDU OGUNKOYA
|publisher=Radio Palm Wine
|accessdate=2010-01-30}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
[[Dele Sosimi]], who played with Fela Kuti in the 1980s, later formed an Afrobeat group named "Gbedu Resurrection".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.africanmusiciansprofiles.com/delesosimi.htm
|title=Dele Sosimi
|publisher=African Musicians Profiles
|accessdate=2010-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919215941/http://www.africanmusiciansprofiles.com/delesosimi.htm
|archive-date=19 September 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The word Gbedu has more recently been used to describe Nigerian Afropop.<ref name=hiphop/>
For many young people, the word now simply means "groove".<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.gbedumagazine.com/PUBLISHER%20NOTE.html
|title=Publisher's Note
|publisher=Gbedu Magazine
|accessdate=2010-01-30
}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
</ref>
==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMP7q9f5yQ YouTube video]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Nigerian musical instruments]]
[[Category:African drums]]