Librarians didn’t even try to shush the drums and bells that pulsed loudly from the first floor of the Bend Public Library on Sunday afternoon.

The hourlong cacophony was a planned performance by Dajaloo, a local drumming group that plays West African rhythms. The name means ”to gather together” in Wolof, a language of Senegal.

Joe Katroscik, of Bend, is a co-founder of the group who spoke about the music and instruments between songs on Sunday.

Each rhythm has a name and a traditional time for performance, such as during the harvest or at the end of the Ramadan holiday, Katroscik said.

The group members each played a slightly different beat.

”But they all lock together,” Katroscik added.

The group mostly used their hands to bang on ”djembes,” or goblet-shaped drums. Some used wooden mallets to strike ”djundjuns,” or cylindrical drums that laid horizontal on wooden stands.

They also played bells and maracas. And Katroscik occasionally played the balaphone, an instrument that looks like a xylophone and sounds like a gentle steel drum.

Traditionally, women do most of the drumming in West African cultures, Katroscik said. In Dajaloo, women do most of the drumming, too. Katroscik was the only male group member on Sunday.

The group has about 12 members, seven of whom performed on Sunday. Some of the members are new to drumming.

Karen Howell, 55, joined the group in November.

”I’ve wanted to play drums my whole life, since I was a little girl,” she said.

Howell, who works at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, said drumming is a great way to relax.

”This is my getaway,” she said. ”I love it.”

Dajaloo members said they strive to be a ”happy medium” between an informal drumming circle and a professional musical troupe.

About 30 spectators gathered in the newly expanded Brooks Room, on the library’s first floor, for the concert. By the end of the show, almost everyone had joined in, either by clapping, shaking maracas or banging on bells.

”We were just here (at the library) and we heard the music so we had to come and see it,” said Robin Ingram, as her 3-year-old daughter, Kaylee, beat on a drum.

The program was sponsored by the Deschutes Public Library, which typically holds one or two public programs each week, said Liz Goodrich, adult programs coordinator.

”It’s fun to try different things,” she said. ”And I love it when people come up to me and say, ‘gosh, this isn’t what we expected.’”