ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 focussed on the three-piece ensemble that Àyándòkun refers to as the ‘traditional’ bàtá group comprised of the ìyáàdlù, the omele abo and the omele akọ. In this chapter, I discuss a recent innovation within the bàtá ensemble, the omele mẹ́ta, which is now deeply rooted in Yorùbá popular music and is widely regarded as the clearest talker of the bàtá ensemble. I will also describe the talking technology of the dùndún by drawing from the research of Euba (1990) and adding some new findings of my own. hi making comparisons between the three speech surrogate methods — (i) the ìyáàlù bàtá and its assistant the omele abo; (ii) the omele mẹ́ter, and (iii) the dùndún – I will dispel the myth that the bàtá is a ‘stammerer’ that ‘talks with difficulty’.
