The elegant form of the slit drums used by the Mangbetu (and the neighbouring peoples of N.E. Zaïre and adjacent countries) appears to have evolved so that the player can sling the straps that loop through the handles about his shoulders. Cf. an almost identical drum collected by Edkins amongst the Mangbetu in 1954 (Laurenty, 1968, Pl.XVIII, no. 206), another collected among the Lega at Maniema by Tusch in 1912, and another collected among the Uele at Mamvu by Hutereau in 1912 (op. cit. Pl.XVII, nos. 192 and 196)