A friend of mine invited me out to drum at the Lake Claire Community Land Trust last night. Neither of us had been there in quite some time, so it was high time we attended! It’s usually just thunder drumming, though there were certainly times of coalescence in the rhythms. The weather was perfect for… Continue reading A Night of Drumming
Tag: drumming
Rewarding Effort
Today was one of the toughest yet at Bonnaroo in the Build-a-Drum tent. I didn’t get as early a start as yesterday so I was stirred awake by the massive heat building up in my tent at around 8:30. Not much time spent at camp and we were all off to the tent to start… Continue reading Rewarding Effort
A Drum Circle Arrangement of “Galang”
I’m imagining some possible scenarios where I could lead a drum circle into a sort of performance. Most facilitated drum circles enter into spontaneous or random rhythms and are then led to compose the music. I would really like to lead people (sometimes naively) into known songs. There’s an extra sense of excitement when you… Continue reading A Drum Circle Arrangement of “Galang”
Monday Night Drumming
Last night marks the first time I’ve been able to use the fancy new field recorder to do some real recording. Although there were only two of us to play, and I was certainly a bit out of sorts, we were able to pull off some interesting bits that rendered pretty well on the H2. … Continue reading Monday Night Drumming
Beating the Goat at Midnight
I call it Thunderhead, though I have yet to unleash upon it to confirm its namesake. It was midnight this Sunday morning when I finally got to beat the old goat skin into the night air. I played some variations on Saidi and Masmoudi to get a feel for the resonance and response on this new drum.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Frequency is probably a term more commonly associated with 80’s synth-pop artists and electrical sound engineers. However, it’s not to be underestimated or underutilized as a viable word in other situations. I worked with one of the more difficult teaching challenges in my experience yesterday at my drum circle. A gentleman joined us with a… Continue reading What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Costume Parade on Peachtree St.
Wake-up, coffee, parade, lunch. The morning just flew by, but being a drummer in the parade was a blast! We all took a part in it; Fox dancing, Jeff as PeeWee Herman, and Amanda as Ms. Yvonne. I was able to work with the crowd more this year and give out some nods and smiles… Continue reading Costume Parade on Peachtree St.
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
I broke out of my comfort zone in two big ways this weekend; both involving drumming. When it comes to personal challenges, those involving my creative efforts are the most difficult to engage. A failure at something coming from creativity is a personal one, to me. However, I don’t feel that I lost in either… Continue reading Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
Raquy Danziger Workshop
Saturday I took a workshop with Raquy Danziger of Raquy and the Cavemen. She’s touring for her latest album release, “Naked.” I’ve been looking forward to this workshop since before it was actually being offered with her busy touring schedule. Perseverance paid off and the schedule was finally updated to include Atlanta as a stop… Continue reading Raquy Danziger Workshop
Easter Weekend
Spring hit northeast Georgia with a bang this year. The kind of bang where everything gets very uncomfortably hot just before a good week’s worth of freezing temperatures. Saturday morning, it was 31° F. Last week, I think we saw days in the mid-80’s. But comfort aside, the cooler weather will preserve the brightly colored,… Continue reading Easter Weekend