Water Drummers

The Baka people of the Central African rainforests have a keen sense of rhythm. Young children are encouraged to clap along at musical gatherings from the time they are babies. Music is used in rituals, for story telling, as well as for pure enjoyment. One unique form of music making they engage in is water drumming, or liquidi, playing the river. These water drummers are women who stand in water up to their waists, each playing a different rhythmic pattern that combines into a complex syncopated rhythm.