Water drums are a category of membranophone characterized by the filling of the drum chamber with some amount of water to create a unique resonant sound. Water drums are used all over the world, but are found most prominently in a ceremonial as well as social role in the Indigenous music of North America, as well as in African music. The drums are most often made from a pot of clay, ceramic, wood or metal, with a small amount of liquid inside and topped with drum head consisting of a stretched membrane, usually of some type of animal hide.
Water drumming, the tambor de agua (Spanish: drum of water), bungo, or liquindi, of African origin, is water, such as a river, which is played by striking the surface directly with one's hands. It is performed by the Baka in Africa, and in South America by the descendants of formerly enslaved people, with strokes comparable to the culoepuya.