Jamaica · Hand-built goatskin membrane drum making

Jamaican Nyabinghi/Akete Drum Making

Akete / Repeater

The building of the three-drum Nyabinghi ensemble — the bass (thunder), funde, and repeater (akete) — central to Rastafari ceremonial drumming, from carved or coopered wooden shells headed with natural goatskin. The drum family descends from Afro-Jamaican Buru and Kumina drumming traditions (themselves rooted in Central African, particularly Bantu/Eastern Congo, percussion practice), codified into its present ceremonial form in the 1950s at Wareika Hill, Kingston, by drummer Count Ossie (born Oswald Williams, 1926), who learned the technique directly from master Buru drummer Brother Job. Genuinely distinct from this archive's other Caribbean sacred-drum records (Garifuna: CRAFT-1831, CRAFT-2030; Cuban batá: CRAFT-2043), reflecting a separate West/Central African lineage and a specifically documented mid-20th-century Jamaican codification.

Risk level: Stable · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft specifically at time of writing

Alternate Names
Rastafarian drum; binghi drum
Geographic Center
Kingston, with Wareika Hill specifically documented as the site where Count Ossie established the drumming tradition's codified modern form; contemporary drum-building workshops are documented operating in Kingston (e.g. off North Street)
Community / Ethnic Group
Rastafari community, with direct technical lineage traced to Afro-Jamaican Buru drummers of the Clarendon hills and Kumina practitioners descended from Central African (Bantu) indentured laborers brought to Jamaica after emancipation
Estimated Origin
The three-drum ensemble's musical and ceremonial codification is specifically dated to the 1950s, credited to Count Ossie (Oswald Williams, b. March 26, 1926, St. Thomas parish), who learned hand-drumming and vocal chanting technique in the Afro-Jamaican Kumina and Buru traditions from a master Buru drummer known as Brother Job, first mastering the funde before becoming a virtuoso on the repeater. The underlying Buru and Kumina drumming traditions themselves are older, with Kumina specifically traced to Central African (Bantu, Eastern Congo-rooted) traditions carried to Jamaica by Central African indentured laborers following emancipation.
Cultural Function
The three drums are the essential ceremonial instruments of Nyabinghi, the ceremonial and musical practice of the Nyahbinghi mansion (order) of Rastafari, played at groundations (ceremonial gatherings involving drumming, chanting, reasoning, and prayer); strict traditional rules govern who may play — only capable Rastafari brethren, with jewelry removed before playing to protect the drumheads
Primary Materials
Wood — most often coconut tree wood historically, with contemporary named builder 'Super' documented using recycled pine pallet wood as well; natural, unprocessed goatskin for the drumhead
Primary Tools
Various cutting, stretching, tightening, and tuning tools and contraptions, documented in a contemporary Kingston workshop but not itemized individually in available sources
Process Overview
A wooden shell — traditionally coconut wood, with contemporary practice also using recycled pine pallet wood — is prepared, and fresh goatskin is dried, cleaned with bleach water, shaved of hair, and stretched over a cylindrical wooden frame before being tensioned and tuned against the shell using metal rings, producing one of the three distinct Nyabinghi drums (bass/thunder, funde, or repeater/akete), each built and tuned to its specific ceremonial role.
Traditional Applications
Ceremonial drums for Nyabinghi groundations (Rastafari ceremonial gatherings)
Contemporary Applications
Continued ceremonial use within Rastafari communities; commercial sale of akete/repeater drums to musicians and collectors internationally (documented via specialty percussion retailers); significant influence on ska, rocksteady, and reggae music more broadly, with Count Ossie's drumming documented as having been recorded alongside The Skatalites and The Wailers from the 1950s–60s onward
Notable Practitioners
Count Ossie (Oswald Williams, 1926–1976), who codified the modern Nyabinghi drumming tradition at Wareika Hill in the 1950s after learning from master Buru drummer Brother Job; a contemporary Kingston drum-builder documented under the trade name 'Super,' working with apprentice Steven Johnson and collaborating drummer Reuel Phillips
Key References
Jamaica Gleaner, 'Crafting to the beat of drums - Supersad content with drum-making business'; Red Bull Music Academy Daily, 'Devotion: Nyabinghi'; Bass Culture (Substack), 'The Heartbeat of Jah: Nyahbinghi and the Sacred Drums of Rastafari'; Grokipedia, 'Nyabinghi rhythm'
Verification Status
Desk-Researched — Needs Practitioner Verification

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