The lunga is a double-headed hourglass shaped tension drum carved from the Shea Butter tree. By squeezing and pulling on the leather cords, the player can change the tension and thus the pitch of the drum. Pitches can vary over an octave and many intervals can be attained. In the hands of an expert, the drum becomes a way of communicating Dagbani, the spoken language of the Dagomba people. Many styles of Ghanaian music are based upon speech, therefore the bond between language and music are so intimate that it is actually possible to tune and play an instrument so that the music it produces is linguistically comprehensible. These drums come in two sizes
- Medium and large.
