Gumbe (drum)

{{Italic title}}

{{Short description|Musical instrument}}

{{More footnotes|date=December 2017}}

{{Infobox instrument

| name = Gumbe

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| background = percussion

| names = Bench drum

| classification = Frame drum

| hornbostel_sachs = 211.311

| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Directly struck membranophone

}}

The gumbe or bench drum is a frame drum{{cite book |title=Words of Our Mouth, Meditations of Our Heart: Pioneering Musicians of Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, & Dancehall |last=Bilby |first=Kenneth |page=218 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=978-0-8195-7604-0 |chapter=Glossary § gumbe |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeSoCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |via=Google Books |access-date=2017-12-31}} found in French Guiana, Jamaica and Sierra Leone. It is small in size, has a square frame, and one goat-skin drumhead..

The gumbe was introduced in Sierra Leone in 1800 by Jamaican Maroon settlers. The ceremonial maroon music played with the gumbe gradually became a popular Creole music genre in Sierra Leone. It became known as Gumbe music and dance (named after the drum) and still exists today. Over time, it lost its specific association with Maroons and became identified with the broader Creole population of Sierra Leone.