Some scholars expressed skepticism that the device existed, and that it sent vibrations through the ground rather than the air. The Catuquinaru tribe of Brazil reportedly used a drum called the cambarysu to send vibrations through the ground to other cambarysus up to 1.5 km away. "The talking drums" or "jungle drums" is also a euphemism for gossip – similar to "the grapevine". Under ideal conditions, the sound can be understood at 3 to 7 miles, but interesting messages usually get relayed on by the next village. The drum's lips are hit with sticks, beating out rhythms of high and low notes. For that it would need to be hollowed out more under one lip than under the other. A drum could be tuned to produce a lower note and a higher note. Next, the log would be hollowed out through the slit, leaving lips (wooden ledges) on each side of the opening. A long slit would be cut in one side of the tree trunk. The bigger the log, the louder sound would be made and thus the farther it could be heard. These drums were made out of hollowed logs. Often there are small stands under each end of the drum to keep it off of the ground and let it vibrate more freely. While some were simple utilitarian pieces they could also be highly elaborate works of sculpture while still retaining their function.
Variations in the thickness of the walls would vary the tones when struck by heavy wooden drum sticks. Slit-log drums are common in the drum communication systems of Papua New Guinea, where they are known in Tok Pisin as garamut. Message drums, or more properly slit gongs, with hollow chambers and long, narrow openings that resonate when struck, are larger all-wood instruments hollowed out from a single log. In the 20th century the talking drums have become a part of popular music in West Africa, especially in the music genres of Jùjú (Nigeria) and Mbalax (Senegal).
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