Secret Bass Dun Duns

Community drum circle in deepest Hertfordshire

Weapons of Massed Emotion used by the Secret Bass organisation

**Dun dun sizes**
Name	Length	Diameter
Kenkeni #1	52 cm = 20.5"	29 cm = 11.5"
Kenkeni #2	50.5 cm = 20"	30.5 cm = 12"
Sangban	57 cm = 22.5"	38 cm = 15"
Dununba	80 cm = 31.5"	47 cm = 18.5"

We now have our own set of dun duns (also called doun douns or djun djuns) which were hand-made for us by a friend in Guinea and shipped over, so now we can fully live up to our name and extend our repertoire down into subsonic frequencies. We have four drums: two kenkeni (the smallest size), one sangban and one (*huge*) dununba.

In some parts of Guinea, each drum is played by one person, allowing for more speed with simpler patterns. We rarely have enough people so often play them in two pairs, usually with one person teaching another, or two separate interlocking dun dun parts. Sometimes one player stands between two pairs, playing all four with forehand and backhand strokes in a ritualistic dance :-)

An ideal dun dun stand is a chair with a cushioned seat and straight back, without arms; the duns can be tied to this with bungee cords. However, since I'm taller than your average bear, a better temporary solution is to use one of those cheap fold-up canvas fishing/camping armchairs, and rest the dun dun across the arms (the arms may need an extra bungee to hold them closer together if the dun dun is not wide enough to span the arms). This cheap chair eventually fell apart, so for a while we used folding wooden garden chairs, although they were still too low for me.

Steve from Vitae recently built us some fabulous X-stands, handmade from trees he'd grown himself :-) You can see them in the photo (left) - ours are the two sets on the left hand side of the picture. One side of the X is extended to allow a kenkeni to be swiftly balanced on top when there's not even time to bungee it together (late for rehearsal again!).

I recently saw some nice modern designs for dun dun stands (pictured right) used by Drumzkool, although I think I prefer traditional X-stands. Check out this inventive design for vertical dun dun stands.

With a bit of practice, I have now found the optimum soft beater for a warm dun dun sound without any sharp thwack attack. For extra power, I also use a large, heavy hardwood stick rounded off at the ends with a file. Screwdrivers make ideal bell sticks. Sadly, one of our babies was wounded :-( but is now fixed :-)