Bembe Conversations

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Bembe Conversations

Postby windhorse » Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:25 pm

I just got my hands on a GREAT book on Bembe!
It's a Mel Bay book written by Arturo Rodriguez, called Bembe Conversations.
It's extremely well written, very easy to figure out, and includes some really nice songs to sing with lyrics, meanings, and where the syllables fit into the bell pattern. There are four different "conversations" including the main one. It's written in easy to read block notation. He plays it with the high conga on the bomba note, instead of the low one, like how we play it. But the CD which comes with the book demonstrates the sound very well.
There is also a historical intro section where much on the lukumi, people of Africa and Cuba, and their instruments are discussed.
My teacher and I both like it very much! I highly recommend this book!
Here's the cheapest place on the internet I found to get this and many other percussion books.
http://supermall.comp-doc.com/cat310/pe ... ms_63.html
This book is almost at the bottom of the long page.
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby Chupacabra » Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:29 pm

I have three of his books: Rumba Guaguanco, Bembe conversations and Traditional AfroCuban Concepts and the first 2 are pretty much what we edged our way into this type of music with. I've also been to a few of his workshops and Arturo is a great teacher. We've had him come to Victoria a few times to give classes.
You can get so much out of his training without even laying your hands on a drum!
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby windhorse » Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:43 pm

Excellent Chupacabra! I was wondering if any,, or how many people his book has affected..
My friend Eric just ordered the one on Guaguanco. I'm excited to see that one too.
Dave
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby Chupacabra » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:33 am

Depending on how long you've been playing, you might find the book "Rumba Guaguanco Conversations" pretty basic. Which is good because I thought I had a handle on the basics until I tried his books out. According to Arturo, this lesson is based on one of the earliest forms of Rumba Guaguanco. "Basic" doesn't necessarily mean easy - I still have a hard time playing some of the parts and staying in clave!
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby windhorse » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:34 am

I went through all the bembe parts and the conversations along with Eric today. It wasn't too difficult, but the handing gets pretty funky in some of the conversations. The tonal changes in the melodies are opening up whole new worlds! The way of playing Caja with left hand open tones, and right hand stick tones that create a double roll is new for me, but also very appealing.
The hard part is learning the songs. I decided to start with Babaluaye since they're my favorite,, but it's a really big bite to chew. I took just that section from the CD and used Sound Forge to cut and paste that clip into about 8 repetitions. It's definitely steepening the learning curve.
An example of how tough they would be "Akomado" It's "BabaluAye 2" in the book.
The first syllable "a" starts on the first double of the bell, "ko" starts right on the 3 in between the double and the fifth strike of bell. "Do" is on the four, then "a" of "asonana koma do youn go lo" is right after the one - not on it. Wicked! :evil:
Anyway,, I love the way the pages are laid out, and I'm learning so much from this book!
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby Chupacabra » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:57 am

So, let's see if I read this right... You have the singing parts on your CD? Hmm... if that's the case maybe I should get on the phone next week and see if I can get the same version you have!
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby windhorse » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:20 am

Yes, track #36 has all the songs written in the book, and the drums do all the variations in that track.
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby TONE74 » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:20 pm

The bembe and guaguanco books sound like something I would like to add to my library.

Question: have any of you guys heard that play along cd thats advertised for 14.00 $ ? if so is it done live or is it one of those electronic or robotic sounding recordings? I really need something like that to practice to. Specially the 6/8 bell to practice columbia. Thanks
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby windhorse » Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:32 pm

TONE74 wrote:The bembe and guaguanco books sound like something I would like to add to my library.
Question: have any of you guys heard that play along cd thats advertised for 14.00 $ ? if so is it done live or is it one of those electronic or robotic sounding recordings? I really need something like that to practice to. Specially the 6/8 bell to practice columbia. Thanks


Do you own a PC or Mac? If PC, have you heard of Percussion Studio? It's a very cheap program made by Henry Kellner that you create a rhythmic tapestry any way you want. I've created several things like you mention where you can make the rhythm by writing it in block form, then export the file and either just play it from the computer, or make a CD that you play on the stereo and work on your stuff.
Here's the website:
http://www.henrykellner.com/PercussionStudio

Obviously, a bunch folks have made educational books for congas that include these kind of practice tracks, and they are very helpful,, but percussion studio is also completely invaluable for just this kind of thing.

Dave
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Re: Bembe Conversations

Postby TONE74 » Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:12 am

Thanks for the link windhorse, I downloaded the program and it seems useful. A lot better than a cd since now I can shut off the instrument that I'm using on it and fill in. Just gotta get the hang of using the program, looks simple to use though. Peace
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