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The reason I mention clave as being the only meter, is when played correctly the rumba clave itself is swung, and when you play to the clave you will have the same feel as the clave.

haven't been on this forum for a long long time...nice to be back...hi every one. Loads of great posts on this subject.

just a few thoughts and examples :

Last year I was in L.A. having dinner with my friend who is from the Carribeans and played keys with Salif Keita for many years. We were talking about learning a new genre of western african based music . he said : first learn the stuff, then learn the accent ( as in a language), then play everything late ( really really relaxed). For me this is the closest to the "truth". If you play your 16th notes late they start to get close to the triplet values.

From Netinho, one of the top pandeiro players in Rio de Janeiro. We used to trade conga/ pandeiro lessons. I was trying to understand the Brazilian swing...He was playing the swingyest pandeiro base : " I am trying to play as straight as possible"!!!!! And he was...Took me a few years to understand that one.

From another top multi percussion player in Rio. " Swing is a negotiation between the different players". In other words, there is not one swing. Every one has his own and it varies from time to time. When you play in an ensemble the group will settle for a particular swing which is the combination of everyone's and that too will evolve constantly.

Your swing is your personality.

DO NOT TRY TO SWING. It will always sound forced and wrong. You have to play ( with the right people) and study enough that you will not be able not to swing. When you are on top of things and feel very relaxed it will happen, you won't be able to help it. In the mean time it is best not to worry about it.

Fix is between four and six, but it is not in the middle. It falls there because it has to, not because you deliberately try to put it there.

Hey Tone,

thanks for sharing your experience with us, do you have a YouTube video that demonstrates playing in "fix", whether yourself or someone else?

Thanks!

Hey Tone,

Excellent reply and advice, couldn't agree with you more.
I have recently been playing with a Peruvian Chicha band who do their version of salsa and cumbia which has a very different swing to cuban and colombian. I am only just getting their 'fix', it takes big ears, time and letting it happen by osmosis.

Dice

Thanks VXLA.

You can check this version of Ijexa that I play with my band. You will need some proper headphones or speakers to listen to the Rum ( the bass drum who plays the improvisations) as it is in the low frequencies, too low for regular computer speakers.

The track is Ijexa Gnawa on my band's FaceBook page : https://www.facebook.com/GrupoAlabeMusica
You may hear that I sometimes play as late as possible, but that also fluctuates, sometimes I exaggerate it to make it stand out more...and indeed 16th notes can have a triplet feel!

You can also see us play live on the first video post. There, it is in 12/8 , you will hear that I do the same especially with the duplets and quadruplets...

Hi everybody,

I'd like to refer you to an article that I wrote recently (http://www.jazzpercussion.de/pdfs/art-conga.pdf). While the article deals with the tumbao and some technical aspects in the first place, on pages 7-9, I am addressing the subject briefly. I think it's important to not only feel, but actually practice playing in that hybrid feel, even at the risk of exaggerating or sounding wrong at first. Sooner or later you'll find that in-between zone that clicks with your listening experience. So there is some work involved, probably.

Personally, I found the term "playing in fix" a bit funny. Sounds like my music needs a fix ... But well, as long as it helps ...

(For any comments that refer to my article as such and deviate from this topic, please open a new thread or send a PM. I'm open for criticism and will probably add a few details anyway.)

Greetings,

Thomas