Thomas Altmann wrote: ... In closing, I like to quote Airto in the Modern Drummer magazine from August 1983:
"Even congas, I don't play that well. I know how to play them - I get the sound - but I never really got into the congas because Patato Valdez and Mongo Santameria are still alive [1983] and they are the real thing. In order for me to play the congas, I have to play just congas, because you use both of your hands. The way I ike to play percussion is to play two or three different sounds at the same time. I also lose the touch for the small instruments - the very sensitive things that I have to play. When you are a conga player, you are a conga player. You aren't kidding about it."
Thomas Altmann wrote: Singers really should stay away from our stuff unless they have been educated accordingly. There are other ways for singers to have some fun. If they have extra capacities, that's fine; but they have to co-operate with the rest of the percussion section then.
An especially nice variant is singers who snatch instruments from our table and scatter them over the stage, so when we need them at a specific point, they are no longer there!
rhythmrhyme wrote:sweet rant Barry!
Something about drums leads people to think they can just bash away on them. I think they're ignorant to how much they actually cost and how personal something becomes to a musician after they spend a couple thousand hours engaged with it...
CongaTick wrote:Incredible how few musicians practice the use of those two flappy things on either side of their heads. My daily practice focus has always been about LISTENING, LISTENING, and LISTENING and knowing when to LAY OUT.
(Barry:) Listening to the drummer and/or other percussionists who are playing in order to complement what they are doing without stepping on their playing or worse, conflicting with it.
Thomas Altmann wrote:somehow strange to communicate with you in English (not German), but that's the deal, period.
Thomas Altmann wrote:What Airto tried to say (and I agree) is that there are percussionists who incorporate congas, and then there are congueros, which requires a very special craft. [...] I can tell that's a different ballgame! My whole body balance adapted to this specialization.
In Anlo-Ewe cultural understanding, the technique of cross rhythm is a highly developed systematic interplay of varying rhythmic motions simulating the dynamics of contrasting moments or emotional stress phenomena likely to occur in actual human existence.
As a preventive prescription for extreme uneasiness of mind or self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with impending or anticipated problems, these simulated stress phenomena or cross-rhythmic figures are embodied in the art of dance-drumming as mind-nurturing exercises to modify the expression of the inherent potential of the human thought in meeting the challenges of life. The premise is that by rightly instituting the mind in coping with these simulated emotional stress phenomena, intrepidity is achieved.
Intrepidness, or resolute fearlessness, in Anlo-Ewe view, is an extraordinary strength of mind. It raises the mind above the troubles, disorders and emotions which the anticipation or sight of great perils is calculated to excite. It is by this strength that ordinary people become heroes, by maintaining themselves in a tranquil state of mind and preserving the free use of their reason under most surprising and terrible circumstances.
In the cultural understanding, the technique of polyrhythm simply asserts the highly unpredictable occurrences of obstacles in human life. They occur without a warning. It reinforces the need for the development of a strong and productive purpose built on a foundation of adequate preparation for life.
These real-life meanings of cross rhythmic techniques were repeatedly driven home to me as I grew up gradually in a traditional Anlo-Ewe community. In this community, dance drumming is an integral part of the life of everyone from the moment of birth. A training in dance drumming is an essential part of the larger comprehensive preparation of every child for a productive and fulfilled participation in adult life. In this community, artistic elements are not abstract phenomena. They assume real-life characters. A main beat scheme represents a strong purpose in life and a secondary beat scheme represents an obstacle. Tension created by the customary ordering of these characters conveys a number of ideas simultaneously.
As a child going through this normal routines of Anlo-Ewe upbringing, my lack of subtleties in performing new sophisticated rhythmic contrasts were frequently criticized as lack of a strong sense of purpose capable of regulating the dynamics of contrasting obstacles in life. Blocking off a beat scheme to ease the hostility between opposing beat schemes of unfamiliar rhythmic contrast was often severely punished as my avoidance of the real challenges of life. A rare guidance in the proper management of opposing beat schemes of a rhythmic contrast was usually in form of a large dose of philosophy such as: to solve a problem, you must convert obstacles into stepping stones.
During these formative years, organized community rehearsals were my greatest relief. On such rare occasions, the interactive totality of a dance drumming would be re-synthesized from scratch in a more relaxed practice environment. These rehearsals were customarily aimed at encouraging the development of a greater understanding of the structural components, their interrelationships and most importantly, their performance. For us the younger generation, these practice sessions were essential head start in our assimilation into the cultural tradition of the community.
Spirited aural demonstration, earnest imitation and assimilation were the norm of this exchange of idiom. An experienced elder would lead the community by extracting major component parts from the whole, aurally demonstrating how they sounded and fit together, and when appropriate, he would explain the meanings or ideas that they were intended to convey. The community would follow in earnest assimilation until a discernable confidence in their ability to perform was achieved.
During my professional career as a master drummer and scholar of African dance drumming with the Ghana National Dance Ensemble and the University of Ghana's Institute of African Studies, I have had the privilege of participating in several elaborate research and study residencies in many cultures across the sub-sahara. In these residencies of intense participation in dance drumming very much different from my own ethnic origin, I have had the rare opportunity of comparing my Anlo-Ewe experiences as remarkably similar with the shared concepts of these other sub-saharan cultures. The surface structures or sound-products among all these ethnic groups were indeed very diverse but the undercurrent principles demonstrated profound homogeneity.
The concept of perceiving artistic elements as real-life characters is the most visible characteristic of this sub-saharan cultural homogeneity. This attitude is also the premise for idiomatic discourse or verbal interchange of ideas. It is the single most important factor that integrates the dance drumming as well as its component elements with the everyday world as a functional coherent phenomenon.
Thomas Altmann wrote:I wonder whether Manolo played the entire concert with Ahmad Jamal. I know Ahmad's work from around 1960 pretty well, and the trio with Vernell Fournier and Israel Crosby still is one of my favorite groups. But this band was all about SPACE, and I'm not sure whether an additional percussionist would serve the music well for this purpose.
I think I have an idea what you mean. There are players who beat the congas in order to produce sounds. And there is a different kind of player (conguero ?) who makes you feel him as a person (or even as if he is connected/anchored to something more truthful).
In a TV documentation was said something similar regarding guitarists: Eric Clapton is a guitar player, Jimi Hendrix was something rather different.
Are they ready for their best concert ever - or do they just deliver a service?
What are the preconditions for feelings of togetherness in our societies - provoked by music?
Thomas Altmann wrote:Referring to Barry's post, this shows the amount and quality of mind-body involvement, of "total awareness" that any musician goes into when entering the creative process. The average person just doesn't have any idea of this; people think it's all about fun. And it is, or it can be, rather. Personally, I tend to speak of joy rather than of fun. Even musicians in big band sections or classical orchestras have to follow the chart, watch the conductor, master the instrument, listen to the section - especially the section leaders, and adapt to their intonation, the timbre, the articulation, dynamics and rhythmic interpretation, while ear-controlling the ensemble, everything at the same time: You can't do that unless you open up and relax and let your intuition do as much as possible. Making music can be for fun, but it can also become a "path".
In improvised music, musicians must be able to react on the spot. While much emphasis has rightfully been placed on listening, it is also crucial to be able to switch from the receptive to the productive/active mode. On congas, the drummer is well equipped to keep time and rectify tempo problems in the ensemble, much as a kit drummer has. The conga player can even help the kit drummer (or timbalero) to keep the time, because these guys have still many other things to care about. (On the other hand, I once tried to hold back a drummer's pushing-forward with a shaker, which didn't really work out.)
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests