Sound amplifiers are the flat board roots of the rainforest trees to the chimpanzees. Her sound wears a whole kilometer in the jungle. “They are drumming to inform the other members of their group about where they are,” says Vesta Elewerie, behavioral biologist at the University of Vienna.
Drumming follows strict rules
And their percussions follow strict rules, as can be seen when comparing thousands of drum sessions from 11 different chimpanzees groups: the apes drum in rhythms.
“We have found that chimpanzees-like musicians-often drums isochronous. In the case of isochronous rhythms, the tones occur in a row at exactly the same time intervals, such as ticking a watch or the kick drum in electronic music.”
For the researchers, this is an indication that we have an important part of music together with chimpanzees with the feeling of rhythm. “Our results indicate that our ability to drum rhythmically may have existed long before the emergence of humans,” says co-author Cat Hobaiter from the Scottish St Andrew University. “Our study provides part of the puzzle to understand the origins and nature of musicality.”
Like rock legend Carlos Santana (Samba Pa Ti, Oye Como Va) recognized early on: “Music Comes from Africa”.