playing standing with straps

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playing standing with straps

Postby rhythmrhyme » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:41 pm

Hello Forum,

I'm wondering if anyone here plays bata standing with straps.

I've been playing a bit recently with my bata hooked into my djembe harness. The drums resonate really well like this and seem to have more projection, well, to be more accurate they Freaking Scream :lol: ! I also find the playing position of my arms to be more natural and relaxed. Because of this my technique seems tighter and more fluid (I'm still very new to bata and this needs to be taken into account).

I see that African styles of bata are often played standing, and even with a stick on the cha cha end. Does this more relaxed open style of playing ever happen in Afro-Cuban styles or are they always kept locked into a spiritual tradition? As I write this I realize that I've seen many progressive forms of bata playing and have seen them used in a couple local performances. I guess generally I'm a bit confused about the "line" that seems to be out there somewhere regarding the spiritual use of the drums and who I'd potentially upset if I used them in the wrong application - or if that's even possible.. :|
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby Thomas Altmann » Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:56 am

RR,

in Cuba, too, there are occasions where batá are played in a stand up position, in ritual as well as in concert perfomance.

In Africa, they use leather thongs for the chachá in some areas (no sticks).

As long as you play unconsecrated drums for non-religious events, you can do with your batá whatever you would do with any other drum.

It is when you start playing specific toques for the orisha on your batá, that religious considerations should enter your mind. I'm not talking about prohibitions or punishment from the gods or anything like that; I'm talking about a natural respect for a religion that people even have died for in the past. You have to find out yourself how far you want to go, or what attitude you take on in this issue. Even before I became sworn to Añá, I had chosen not to play commercials, parties or bar music with the batá. But eventually it is up to you how far you want to go.

So play the rumbitas (Ñongo, Chachálokafún, Iyesá, Rumba Obatala), or just improvise; stand up or lay on your back while playing: Nobody should find a reason to criticize you for that.

A last word: You will get out what you put in.

Regards,

Thomas
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby rhythmrhyme » Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:26 am

Thanks Thomas, I was hoping you would respond.

Sticking with the "rumbitas" should be easy enough for me, there's lots and lots of learning just in the short list you provided. Initially I thought that finding examples of conga playing was difficult, the less known bata drumming is turning out to be even more challenging. That's OK though, I'm up for the challenge. Some things are best kept out of the mainstream.

I guess that the rumbitas are more open form - sort of like rumba...? This style is more my preference. I've spent quite a few hours with the drums already "improvising" (enough for my wife to insist that I stop playing :roll:) which is pretty unusual from her. Probably a combination of me still sucking and not having enough material and the reality that I got drawn in for quite a few hours re-skinning and tuning them. tuning 6 drums set in pairs that harmonize off each other has been an interesting learning experience. I seemed to have settled on a much lower tuning than I initially thought would work - the lighter hardware on the drums makes more sense now. Short story, even if I'm going to improv I need some foundation work to play off of, so rumbitas it will be.

I get the need to respect the history and sacrifices of the art and religion - that's why I posted. To be honest, I wish I could believe it's possible for "god to strike me down" (for real). For now I need to just stick with my innate respect for the traditions and beliefs of others :) . Atheism and the looming abyss has it's own challenges :shock:

Cheers,
RR
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby Thomas Altmann » Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:15 am

Honestly, I was a bit reluctant to respond; at least I did not want to be the first (again), because I know we have other knowledgeable batá players in the forum, and I cannot imagine what should qualify me as the speaker. As a matter of fact, I feel a bit insecure on the batá at the moment, because I never play! I am practicing a lot and work to keep the repertory alive; however, I know exactly that playing the batá is a group affair, and that's what I am missing for years. It's my own fault, though: I don't want to play with anybody. I can teach "anybody", and if can I see that someone has the talent and the dedication, then I might open up the relationship a bit. Just fooling around on the batá with some djembe or conga player has become a thing of the past; it bores me.

The so-called rumbitas are the bread-and-butter toques of any tambor, and at the same time they are the rhythms that find the most widespread application in dance- or jazz bands. They are actually two-bar-, clave-oriented "rhythms", in the same sense as Son or Guaguancó, and most of the Latin dance rhythms. So they are fun to play, also for beginners.

When I accept batá students, I always start teaching the rumbitas for several reasons. They are versatile, they are motivating, they are easy to memorize, and they remain religiously unproblematic. They are not easy to play, however, neither technically nor rhythmically, and they have tons of conversations between the iyá and the itótele! You can easily spend a year on them until they really groove, until the articulation is there, and until all the conversations are in place. By the time I get to the oru seco, I know that the person is ready. Even then, I found that people used to disembark especially after Ageré Ochosi or after Osain.

"Open form" does not really apply to batá drumming. First off, the toques are what they are and what they are supposed to be; there is no reason to re-invent them, period. This is equally true for the rumbitas. On the other hand, however, we can see that nowadays all the toques seem to be opened up, especially in the hands of the Timba/Guarapachangueo generation. Already Fernando Ortíz lamented that "today santería music is often played 'with some rumba touch'", and for Ortíz "today" was in 1956!

I think it's safe to say that Ñongo and Chachálokafún are the most "open" toques batá as far as variations, inventos and conversations are concerned. Ñongo in particular is often abstracted to the degree of (collective) improvisation today; BUT there exists some sort of stylistic and musical framework, a certain territory which is not left. Sometimes passages or conversations from other toques are slipped into Ñongo, but in order to play with these devices, you have to know these other toques first. In a way, Ñongo may well be the most difficult toque of all, because it takes all your musicality, your knowledge of the batá repertory, plus a thorough understanding of general manners in Cuban musical practice.

Even in Rumba, the improvisational space for each part is stylistically limited, although the hardcore rumberos would never sense this limitation as a restriction. You cannot ruin the dance, and you cannot ruin the toque. There is room for innovation, but the freedom is socially negotiated, first and foremost with the participants. By the same token, what you do as a batá player has to be conceived and measured in conjunction with the other drum parts, the song, the dance, and the respective ritual situation.

A Jazz type of improvisation would be far out of batá playing conventions; in fact, it would not work for any Latin music tradition. That said, no one can prevent you from expressing yourself creatively and artistically on any instrument you may choose. It is only when you pretend to play a specific toque, a specific style or type of music, that you must take certain patterns into consideration and better study the material you are about to perform. This will mark the maturing from carefree chatting to literacy.

By the way, even in Jazz you have to stick to chord changes and form and build your solo in a meaningful manner.

Thomas
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby rhythmrhyme » Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:01 pm

Thomas - Thanks for your time and effort with the above post!

I have a pretty solid understanding of the structure and restrictions inherent in rumba playing and probably understate this at times. My lifestyle is such that I usually have an inordinate amount of spare time while conversely not having a lot of international mobility. For the last 6-7 years I've spent a lot of this time preoccupied with the congas, I think it just comes naturally for me. I asked for a drum for my second birthday and have basically been playing ever since. I have moments of wondering if I made the right decision by not going pro, but have come to understand that the uncertainty of making a living in the music scene would be too stressful for me.

I appreciate the links you make between bar structures in Jazz and latin music. Even in what an outsider may hear as the most unstructured and crazy song, there is still an underpinning of structure and tradition. There are times with modern rumba playing where I have a hard time finding this ground, but everything I've seen so far on bata drumming clearly holds true to this underpinning of structure and tradition. Honestly, I think this is better - IMHO, too often rumba's seems to turn into something that only the musicians playing inside the rhythm can understand.

I see that Mike Spiro has some bata sessions on the congamasterclass.com site. I've had an ongoing membership there since it got up and running so I'm going to probably start there. A friend of mine, who is a bit more "bookish" than I, has researched quite a number of bata rhythms and has stacks of transcriptions. I find the translation from transcription to playing especially hard with Bata (compared with congas) - perhaps with some time and practice this will get easier. There is a feel to the rhythms that is lost to me when all I have is a page to learn from.
Last edited by rhythmrhyme on Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby Thomas Altmann » Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:17 pm

Hi rhythmrhyme,

you are welcome. I usually take my time to express my thoughts in detail, because I feel a certain responsibility, especially for people who are about to start something in which I am already deeply involved for some time. And with the batá drum I have a heartfelt relationship. I hope that I did not step over the line of personal respect.

I love Rumba, and for a couple of weeks now, I sit down and practice Rumba again, research styles and techniques etc. In the late eighties I led a percussion group, and before we started to rehearse our material, I habituously opened our meeting with Rumba; - only percussion, because at that time, there was no singer and no dancer in town. I always felt that the more practice you get playing Rumba, the more overall understanding and feeling you gain for Cuban music and Cuban percussion (and perhaps drumming in general). Then there was a long time where all I was after was batá music. Now I realize how much I had missed Rumba. It also contains a lot of healthy clave vitamines :wink:

Before I started to play batá, I had already listened to the recordings that were available until then (1988). So I had the sound and the rhythm flow in my head already. My drums did not want to play anything but that, and I did my best to help them; so that is what made me start transcribing toques. By the time I started to play these toques on the drums, I had already memorized the rhythms. This way I avoided contracting "paperitis". I used the transcriptions only to learn before I would sit down with the drum and the trio, but played what I had in my ears.

Today, we have YouTube. In 1988 I didn't even have a VHS player! And there was no Amira/Cornelius-, no Davalos/Coburg-, and no Carvajal/Skoog book! It was pretty much the same situation as in the USA 20 years earlier, I guess.

I wish you a lot of wonderful moments with the batá drum. Put a fardela on the iyá enú, and look for some nice bells ... :wink:

Thomas
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby niallgregory » Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:52 pm

Thomas has pretty much said it all tbh . One thing i would add is that if you can get a trio going from the get go it will help hugely in learning the rumbitas or any of the toques for that matter . Or even better if you can sit in and learn okonkolo with already established players it will help enormously . Best of luck with it . Niall .
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby rhythmrhyme » Sun May 20, 2012 11:31 pm

Hey Guys,

Is "toque" when used to reference bata variations pronounced the same way that we say "toque" in Canada when referring to a warm winter hat?
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Re: playing standing with straps

Postby vxla » Fri May 25, 2012 3:23 am

rhythmrhyme wrote:Hey Guys,

Is "toque" when used to reference bata variations pronounced the same way that we say "toque" in Canada when referring to a warm winter hat?


"toh-kay"
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