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Hey guy's ,
Anyone know how to approach songs that are not in clave? ( yeye ye yeo aride u ) for example , for Ochun is 13 bars long and played with Yakota. It works because the bata rythem is a 1 bar pattern , but you run into problems if you play it in a bembe setting because it's not in clave with the bell.
I repeat the 1 side ofe bell twice at the end of the song on the thirteenth and first bars to get back in the bell, but I made that up.
How is it really done? Anyone know?
Thanx
Flaco

We spend so much time thinking about how things fit within the binary clave structure that we forget that some rhythms are single-celled; they are just based on tresillo or three-over-two, as in the case of iyankota. I don't recommend artificially forcing songs like "yeye ye yeo aride u" into a two-celled structure like bembe.
-David

Thanks David, I'm getting that from everyone I've asked about it.

Yeah, but you could start a bembe by singing without accompaniment, the Ye ye yeo Adi deu in Razo, then the next part - Afigue de Ma Yeyeo Afigue de Ma.. can be sung over clave, so that could start the bell and drums for bembe. You'd probably normally start with Ellegua, but still a possibility.

Thanx Windhorse.
You know I'm remembering how John Amira did Yakota songs in a bembe setting...
He played a caja part that went like this as the basic over the bell con guiro.

P ts BB O O
I never asked him if there were any parts for the cachimbo and mula.
Anyone know?

But, this is the rythem that he used for all Yakota and Guemilere tunes , and he killed on it!!!!