What is a bendir, the Moroccan frame drum?

The bendir is one of the oldest and most widespread instruments in Morocco, and once you know its buzz you hear it everywhere. Picture a large round wooden hoop, maybe 40 centimetres across, with a goatskin head stretched over one side. Underneath that skin, the maker strings two or three lengths of gut or nylon — snares — that vibrate against the head. So every note comes with a soft buzzing rattle, like a sustained sizzle following the beat.

You play it held in one hand by a thumb-hole cut in the frame, striking the skin with the fingers and palm of the other hand. Hit the centre and you get a deep boom; hit the rim and you get a sharp crack — and that snare buzz colours both. The sound is warm and earthy rather than sharp, which is why it sits so well under singing. In cold weather players warm the skin over coals or a flame to tighten it and bring up the pitch before they begin.

The bendir is the rhythmic backbone of Amazigh (Berber) village music, of the trance-driven Sufi brotherhoods like the Aissawa and Hamadcha, and of plenty of folk and wedding music besides. In the Middle Atlas you will see whole rows of men playing bendirs in an ahidous, the collective song-and-dance, the drums answering each other. In the Sufi context the steady buzz becomes meditative, carrying chanters into a trance state over a long night.

For travellers, the bendir is everywhere if you listen: a riad welcome, a desert camp around the fire, a village festival, a Sufi night during a religious festival. It is also a lovely, portable instrument to buy and learn a few patterns on. I often tell people it is the perfect entry point to Moroccan rhythm — simple to make a sound, endlessly deep once you start chasing the groove.