RETHINKING INDIGENOUS MUSICAL DRUM TECHNOLOGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Several scholarships have discussed the importance of drums in the musical productions of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. However, little has been said about the contemporary and modern gadget infusions that are gradually replacing the indigenous musical drum in popular music productions in southwestern Nigeria. The challenge in modern musical equipment’s input to popular music production birthed the extinction of indigenous drum technology, joblessness, alteration of traditional musical sounds, loss of cultural dances, and over-dependence on foreign music. Therefore, this study rethinks indigenous musical drum technology for a sustainable economic recovery in the area of music business in southwestern Nigeria. Adopted descriptive survey methods inform the study and include interviews, participant observation, and textual analysis. Secondary data were sourced through libraries and the internet. Based on the critical discourse theories, this study analyses factors responsible for the extinction of indigenous musical drums technology in southwestern Nigeria. I argue that the resuscitation of drum technology has the potential to chronicle issues of joblessness, drum cultural reawakening, traditional dance realignments, and the creation of jobs for sustainable economic recovery in southwestern Nigeria.