Current Practice - A new webpage for sharing rhythms

[bongosnotbombs]

Oh, you guys mentioned the use of clave or bell for keeping time. I don't know if that's a technique that I'm familiar with or not... doesn't sound familiar by that description, though perhaps I already use the technique in places. I'm always open to new techniques... where's a good place to start learning about that one?

um wait, your not being sarcastic are you?

[Whopbamboom]

No, I wasn't joking. I was serious. My background is not in Latin jazz, so there are concepts that I may not know about, or if I do use them, I am possibly thinking in a different way. I would like to learn some of the Latin rhythm techniques in order to expand my own repertoire, but I'm not sure where to start the learning process on that.



Edited By Whopbamboom on 1197922304

[bongosnotbombs]

No worries WBB, I guess I've just taken for granted that conguero's know about clave.

[Whopbamboom]

I'm not a conguero (yet). I am a percussionist. I am constantly looking to add to my repertoire and pallet of sounds and skills capabilities.

And I probably DO use several of the Latin techniques, because I listen to music all the time (with a sharp ear, one can learn a lot this way). I just have not had any formal lessons on clave or bell yet.

[windhorse]

I'm not a conguero (yet). I am a percussionist. I am constantly looking to add to my repertoire and pallet of sounds and skills capabilities.

And I probably DO use several of the Latin techniques, because I listen to music all the time (with a sharp ear, one can learn a lot this way). I just have not had any formal lessons on clave or bell yet.

Hey, now I feel better,, I was a little miffed about this thread getting "jacked",, since the debate was only about counting, and not about the rhythms themselves.. Those rhythms and practices are only for a player who has been working on the drums for several years!
I'll be posting a vid, or sound clips within the next month on them to give you and others a better idea, but a few of the guys on the list can certainly play circles around me on this stuff,,, so I do it in all humility and humbleness..

But since you're sincere about learning clave and bell, you should get some lessons.. Clave and Bell alone are GIGANTIC in the percussion realm!!!!!!
I believe that playing bell can create entire universes in your mind and possibly even the world around you!! It's that powerful! (sorry, I got carried away there..) :p

If you don't have a good teacher around, then, I do believe there are a few on the board who would do video conferencing with you on the topic.
If not, heck, I will..

[bongosnotbombs]

Hey, now I feel better,, I was a little miffed about this thread getting "jacked",, since the debate was only about counting, and not about the rhythms themselves.

Sorry Dave. I'd love to hear these rhythms, but I just don't have enough people around me right now to play this to see what it sounds like, but if you like it it must be good!



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1197947780

[Whopbamboom]

I'm not a conguero (yet). I am a percussionist. I am constantly looking to add to my repertoire and pallet of sounds and skills capabilities.

And I probably DO use several of the Latin techniques, because I listen to music all the time (with a sharp ear, one can learn a lot this way). I just have not had any formal lessons on clave or bell yet.

Hey, now I feel better,, I was a little miffed about this thread getting "jacked",, since the debate was only about counting, and not about the rhythms themselves.. Those rhythms and practices are only for a player who has been working on the drums for several years!
I'll be posting a vid, or sound clips within the next month on them to give you and others a better idea, but a few of the guys on the list can certainly play circles around me on this stuff,,, so I do it in all humility and humbleness..

But since you're sincere about learning clave and bell, you should get some lessons.. Clave and Bell alone are GIGANTIC in the percussion realm!!!!!!
I believe that playing bell can create entire universes in your mind and possibly even the world around you!! It's that powerful! (sorry, I got carried away there..) :p

If you don't have a good teacher around, then, I do believe there are a few on the board who would do video conferencing with you on the topic.
If not, heck, I will..

Hi, Windhorse--

I didn't mean to hijack the thread, and I aplogize if I did. I was just trying to make a point that some of the presented notation was written in such a manner that it might not be deciphered accurately... hence, the rhythms may not be duplicated exactly as they were meant to be played.

I personally have been playing drums for several years, so I have no trouble tackling those patterns... as long as the notation can be correctly deciphered (otherwise, I'd probably come up with some interesting variations, which is no problem, either). They shouldn't be too complicated for me, I wouldn't expect.

Audio clips in addition to the notation that was presented would certainly help clear things up, however. OR, standard music notation would also be easy to read with no questions.

As for the formal bell/clave lessons, I probably will attempt to seek out some lessons in 2008 sometime (after the car is bought and the baby is born). Since I already sometimes make use of thinking of rhythmical patterns in combinations of 2's and 3's (or odds and evens, or 2's, 3's, 4's, and +1 or +2), depending on what I'm doing at that moment in time, then I kind of suspect that I may possibly not really have to change much in my thinking to learn clave--- it might be more of a matter of learning some specific patterns. I imagine I'd be able to pick it up fairly quickly. Can't be more difficult than complicated changing meter and/or changing tempo, I wouldn't think-- but undoubtedly a little different. But I will find out for myself when the time comes for the lessons. Who knows what I will find. I hope to learn many new things.

I do appreciate your offer of video conferencing... and it sounds enticing-- but I'm not too high-tech with the computer. I wouldn't know where to start with that!

[windhorse]

(4/4) "Green Acres" Quinto Ride - Realized by Dave L, and notated by me.

count: | 1 e & a 2 e & a | 3 e & a 4 e & a ||

clave: | X - - X - - - X | - - X - X - - - ||

hands: | R L - R L - R - | - - R - L - - - |

quint: | S O - O S - O - | - - S - S - - - |

quint: | O S - S O - S - | - - O - O - - - |

hands: | R L - R L - R - | R L - R L - R - |

quint: | O O - S S - O - | S S - O O - S - |

hands: | R L - R L - R - | - - R - L - - - |

quint: | O O - S S - O - | - - S - S - - - |

I've actually known the ride for about 4 years, but just yesterday decided to write it out to see what it looked like in conjunction with clave. You gotta love that something so retarded as the theme song to Green Acres makes such a cool quinto riff!
Dave



Edited By windhorse on 1203342761

[windhorse]

count: | 1 e & a 2 e & a | 3 e & a 4 e & a ||

clave: | X - - X - - - X | - - X - X - - - ||

hands: | R L - R L - R - | - - R - L - - - |

quint: | S O - O S - O - | - - S - S - - - |

quint: | O S - S O - S - | - - O - O - - - |

hands: | R L - R L - R - | R L - R L - R - |

quint: | O O - S S - O - | S S - O O - S - |

hands: | R L - R L - R - | - - R - L - - - |

quint: | O O - S S - O - | - - S - S - - - |

Sorry, it wasn't exactly written correctly the first time.. I've gone back as of this morning and changed it in the previous post to avoid confusion. The pattern follows Son clave, and not Rumba clave, which is probably even cooler..
Sound samples coming soon!




Edited By windhorse on 1203342925

[Gallichio]

I agree with Whopbamboom. The standards for percussion notation have already been well established. I don't like to have to learn some new notation every time I purchase a new Percussion book. I have not found a new notation system yet that was better than the standard.