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A bougarabou (alternative spelling “Boucarabou”) is a set of commonly used in West Africa. The drums are single headed (cow skin), with an elongated goblet or roughly conical shape, usually placed on a single stand, and most commonly played in sets of three to four.
Until the last few decades the Bougarabou was played only one at a time, usually with one hand and a stick, but in the last generation or two (since the 1940s), possibly influenced from in the western hemisphere, players play multiple drum setups. The drum is originally from the Jola people ( Jóola) people in the south of Senegal, the Casamance and the Gambia, the Jóola Buluf, the Jóola Fogny and the Jóola Kalunai. The Jola call a single drum Búgarabu (the ''a'' is pronounced like in about) or Búgarab. As -ab or -abu represents the article, also Búgaar, the indefinite denotation, is used synonymously in everyday life whereas the Plural Wúgaraw is nearly not used.
The drumset is played by a single drummer, unlike many African tribal situations. The drummer also wears a series of metal bracelets called Siwangas in Buluf and Fogny dialect that contribute to the sound. The audience and the dancers form a circle and clap, often with wooden chunks (size 25–30 cm) of palm peduncles, and sing with the music, but it is unique in that a single drummer traditionally provides the drumming. There are also some groups using a set of three or four drums and some more drums like djembe or other small Jola drums.
They are normally played with only the hands in a standing position. They have a full, deep, rich sound which can be heard for miles and is effective at all dynamic levels. They produce a kind of bass melody in the total rhythm. In other modern drumming situations, they are often used to back up djembes and talking drum in a percussion group.
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