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Black Africa refers to sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the inhabitants are black. Drums are a popular instrument in Black Africa and are also known as the soul of African traditional music.

The functions and uses of drums in Africa are many and varied, in addition to music, or sometimes national, tribal or religious symbols, or used to convey a variety of information, that is, the so-called "talking drum". African drums have their own national characteristics, whether it is the material, shape and playing skills are unique.

Generally speaking, there are dozens of basic drums and hundreds of drums in Africa. Drums, as big as a water tank or as small as a teacup. The shape of the drum body both gyroscopic, conical, column-shaped, square, and a variety of birds and animals, and even human-shaped. Some drums are also painted on a variety of geometric shapes, carved flowers, plants, people and animals, highlighting the characteristics of black culture. Drum skin is also diverse, in addition to commonly used cowhide, antelope skin, but also the use of leopard skin, zebra skin, lizard skin, crocodile skin, and even elephant ears. In the African drum also often add some devices to get some special effects, such as in the drum cavity loaded with some beads or dried plant seeds, or will be metal pieces, shells, colorful beads mounted on the side of the drum, when the drummer hit the drum, it will send out the sound of jingling. Holding the drum in a variety of ways, the drum is placed in the middle of the legs is very common, and sometimes the drum in the armpits, or hanging on the neck, cross-body on the shoulder. Drumming technique is also a lot of people in various parts of the drum with fists, palms beat, and even with the heel of the drum, thus playing a different sound and effect. There are also drum hammers, in the past, once used ivory, human bone made drum hammers. There is also a kind of small stick rubbing with some kind of powder sprayed with the drum skin and the sound of the rubbing drum. In Nigeria, there is a snare drum that is played under the armpit, and the pitch of the drum can change at any time with the amount of pressure the arm puts on the strip of skin on the drum body.

Drums are played as solos, riffs, and ensembles. Solo and repetitive drums have complex and varied rhythms that are staccato and resonant. Collective drumming or a person at the same time hit a number of drums, the drums sound majestic, like a million horses galloping, majestic and exciting. In the life of Africans, dance is indispensable, and dance is inseparable from the drum. In the Swahili language in East Africa, "drum" and "dance" is the same word. In Togo's song and dance activities, when to play music, when to dance, and even the rhythm of the fast and slow, the melody of the conduct are subject to the command of the drum. Mauritania's female drummers are dancing while drumming, they sometimes use their fingers to flick the drum skin, such as clouds and water, and then pounded, such as the river rushing. They beat the drum on the one hand, and beat their arms and legs with both hands in turn, making various gestures, which is very touching. Another example is in Burundi, where 10 male dancers came on the stage while beating the drum on their heads, forming a semicircle, and then the actors each took down the drum and put it in front of them. Another drum is placed in the circle, and the actors take turns to play it. They sometimes jump in the air, sometimes rotating dance, and accompanied by singing, strong rhythm, dense drums, warm carnival scene, very wonderful. Drums are often used as symbols of countries and nations in Africa. Such as in Uganda's national symbol there is a drum, it shows an ancient tradition. Because Uganda became *** and country before, for four kingdoms, each kingdom of the royal family has a set of different sizes of drums, each with a different name and tone. These drums were only used on solemn occasions for royal weddings and funerals, the enthronement of a new king, and when foreign wars were declared. For people belonging to different power levels, the number of drums was regulated. In the former Buganda Kingdom, the huge ceremonial drums, of which the king had 93, and the chiefs of all levels in descending order, had to be replaced with human or animal sacrifices when replacing the drum skins. Such drums were revered as sacred objects.

African drums are also commonly used to convey information and language, drummers with different strengths, different parts of the drum surface, can send out a variety of different sounds, coupled with different rhythms, the formation of a variety of drums, as a signaling language, to transmit a variety of information. In the early morning, evening quieter moments, the drums can reach up to 15 kilometers away, the drummers one after another repeated the drums, so that they can use amazing speed to accurately transmit the "word" - a hundred miles away from the location can be reached within two hours. In the past, when slavers captured blacks, Africans used drumming to inform people to flee quickly so that the slavers would not find anything. Drum language is also often used to call on people to participate in public service, defend against enemies, report fires and so on.

Africans also commonly used to encourage the expression of inconvenient to express things in words, such as Ghana, the Akan people, husbands used to praise their wives on the dance with drums, drums can also be used to announce a person's birth, death and marriage.

In many parts of Africa, every once in a while to hold a selection of drummers rally. In Ghana held a "drum race", the drummers are divided into two groups of drums against each other. First with bright, enthusiastic drums to praise the virtues of the chiefs, achievements, and then with slow, fresh drums recounting ancient myths, legends, and then with the rapid drums to announce the clan's news anecdotes. The complex and varied rhythms of the drums express people's different feelings, sometimes filling them with sadness and anger, sometimes making them laugh, and they hold their breath for fear of missing a single drum beat. The climax of the "Drum Race" is the "Drum Fight". First, one group of drummers asks a question, and the other group must answer with drum beats and ask a rhetorical question, or else they lose. The audience gathers around the drummers to help them think of ways to beat each other.

In short, the most prominent, the most important factor in African music is rhythm, drums are the basis of African music rhythm and expression of the musical language of one of the most important musical instruments, drums in the life of the African people in the important position of any other musical instrument is incomparable.

Africa's various drums, the most commonly used is a kind of medium-sized drum known as the Dam Dam, it is generally placed between the legs with the hands to beat, often with a strong improvisation. In recent years, African drums have also made their way into the realm of professional music composition. Zimbabwean composer Domishani Mallari in Africa in 1990, "Mama Nozipo" is the use of African drums and string quartet together with the performance of new works, by the world-famous Konos Quartet performance, the effect is very good.