Greetings from South America

[ABAKUA]

Some cool info on Candombe for those not too familiar with this style can be found here:

http://www.candombe.com/html_eng/whatis.html

http://www.candombe.com/

http://toquecandombe.tripod.com/intro_en.htm

Some old pics I found on the site:







I will try to take some digital photos of my old photo prints from when I played in the llamadas and post them on here 2moro.

Its an indescribable feeling.... you are surrounded by drummers, you look back and you see rows and rows of drummers...
Suddenly its time, you here 3-2 clave being played by the drummers stick on the side of the drum, this sound is multiplied by dozens and dozens of other drummers, your legs tremble as you hear the sound of clave wood on wood.....suddenly the Piano drum comes in with the typical entrada, its responded to by another series of Piano drums playing a similar entrada chop, the ground beneath you shakes from the depth and low pitch/tone of the Piano...suddenly the Chico drums come in, followed by the Repique... All h e l l breaks loose, you are in the thick of it, playing, and marching forward, as you pass the crowds lined up in the streets, they bring glasses filled with wine to your lips as you do not stop playing, you take a few gulps as you march and play.. and continue, a beautiful feeling.
At times you see a shot of blood shoot up into the air infront of you, its adrummer whos hand or finger has cut open from the drumming.. NO-ONE STOPS! If you slow down or stop, even for a few seconds, the drummer behind you will whack you on the shoulder with his stick.. No place for sissy boys in this sport.

[Diceman]

Thanks Brother,
You put my mind at rest.
Thanks also for the links I will look at those, and I love the picture of the dog watching the drummers-what was he thinking??
By the way, I got hold of a copy of the Angamania video--whoaaah

sabor
Diceman

[congastu]

Hello to all ! been away on tour quite a bit and havent posted for some time, but just got really excited when i saw this thread as ive been playing candombe loads over the last year and its great to see this fantastic style receiving more attention.
Since 2003, Candombe Destesur have been coming to liverpool to perform for our international street festival and last year, their leader "pepe" martinez stayed for about six months doing masterclasses and playing in various outfits with the guys over here. As a result, a lot of people in the north of england got into candombe and last year me and pepe also went to italy where we worked with gilson silveira to combine it with brazilian candomble rhythms. [a lot of you guys will have seen gilson on congaplace, hes a really nice bloke- great teacher and fantastic all round percussionist, check out his solo album if you can]
there are two main styles of candombe- "cuareim", which is played at a slower tempo, and "ansina", which is faster and more intense [ but as abakua noted, full of camaraderie].
candombe is based on 3-2 son clave, but the chico is the heartbeat of the band. It is important to know that the chico is always OUT of the beat with the left hand striking hard on the "e" and the right hand playing, with stick, slightly softer on "ana". Sometimes it feels as if the chico is playing on the beat, especially at faster tempos, and even one uruguayan comparsa famously made this mistake, but this is never the case.
The piano provides the bass with the basic pattern [which can be sung as "el toque del tambour"] making one open tone on the bombo beat. An important feature of the piano, however, is the "resongo" where one drum will play a variation over a half or full bar and other pianos answer it.
The repique gives the calls in and throughout will alternate between solo phrases and "madera" [the clave played on the side of the drum]. Repique phrases, like those on the repinique are often played with a feel somewhere between 4/4 and triplets, which you cant really notate.
hopefully, Candombe Destesur will be returning to the uk this summer- Ill keep all drummers this side of the water posted!
Peace and Love
Stu

[mco]

Diceman,
I know what that dog was thinking.....mmmm, look at all that rawhide!!!
mco

[Diceman]

:D

[congastu]

heres some pics of rehearsals for the turin street festival, sept 05, where we combined candombe with samba styles. in this one im stuck between gilson and eddie "the cuica" sherwood, both of whom can gab for country....

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... L_2005.jpg

[congastu]

rehearsing candombe using samba instrumentation. pepe, in the yellow top, led this with help from gilson. hopefully pepes gonna be back with candombe destesur this summer.. hes one of the best young percussionists ive met and a top bloke, we were like brothers when he stayed over here, but right now its hard to make a living in uruguay doing music

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... L_2005.jpg

[congastu]

practising parading. the repiniques are playing the repique line, surdos play piano, tambourims and caixas keep the madera going and im on a lightweight conga for the chico [we didnt have any proper chicos, and i didnt fancy strapping on a full scale model to march with!]
no pictures for the festival itself, unfortunately, but one of the most enjoyable trips ive ever done. our hosts, simone and paranza del geco were brilliant and it was a great opportunity to work with gilson. im still in contact and will possibly be bringing him over to do masterclasses in the uk this year

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... L_2005.jpg