bell perception

[bkidd]

In ternary rhythms, it is quite common to play a "shuffle" bell pattern where two strikes are played successively with a space for the third subdivision. Assuming strict adherence to an underlying grid with three subdivisions for each beat, this gives three possible relationships to the beat -- (A. jumping off, B. floating between, or C. landing on).

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A.
1..2..3..4..
**.**.**.**.
B.
1..2..3..4..
.**.**.**.**
C.
1..2..3..4..
*.**.**.**.*


Although the muscle mechanics for these three options should be identical, I've noticed that my perception of each is totally different, which actually seems to effect how I play. Also, having the beat anchor one of the hits seems to make a huge difference as I have no problem playing options A. and C., but still struggle to play B. for long lengths or at varying tempos (especially higher tempos).

What are other people's experience with playing these shuffles? Do people use different strategies for playing each or does the mechanics work itself out with hours and hours of practice?

Thanks,
-Brian

[djembefeeling]

Hi Brian,

yes, I have notived the same problems when I started to play these patterns and notice the same phenomenon as a problem for almost all my students. This is one of the typical things that distinguish our learning and perception outside of Africa from native african players, it seems.

But it helps if you practice those patterns with nonequidistant pulses. pattern A is dominant in the dja-family, so it should be played broader. If you play pattern B and C as pairs in the dununba-family, they are played more largo as well. So, if you play all the pairs large with a diminished space for the third, i.e. empty space, you are forced to focus on the feeling of the pairs more than on the place within the frame of beats. This provides you with some autonomy.

best, jürgen

[bkidd]

Hi Jürgen,

Interesting. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try stretching the space between the hits a little and see how it works.

In the cases of A or C, the pulse is the reference so it makes sense to wait slightly on the second hit (A) and play the first hit a little early (C). In the floating bell (case B), I assume you push them equally toward the pulse, or maybe adjust depending on the rhythm?

Thanks!
-Brian

[michi]

Virtually everyone has a problem playing the off-beat shuffle bell initially. Typically, people "hang onto the beat" too much and end up playing the bell cramped, with the two strokes too close to each other.

To play it in a relaxed way, I found it helped me to focus on bringing the first bell strike closer to the pulse. Before that, the two strikes tended to follow the down-beat too late, resulting in the cramped, compressed feel.

In general, when I'm struggling with a difficult dundun pattern, I follow the advice to "play the bell, not the skin". When my attention stays with the bell, and I concentrate on simply playing the bell pattern nice and relaxed, the skin tends to sort itself out automatically. In contrast, when I focus on the skin, the bell tends to wobble.

Initially, I had a really hard time perceiving the shuffle bell as off-beat. Before long, I found that my perception "slipped" and I started to feel the bell "on the wrong side" (typically as pattern C), even when the actual bell strikes were in the correct place. This still happens to me sometimes, depending on how familiar I am with a rhythm, and what the other drums are playing.

I've learned to accept when that happens now. Instead of fighting the "wrong perception" (which usually only serves to throw me out), I just go with the flow and accept that, for the moment, I'm feeling things on the wrong side. Eventually, after a few minutes (or hours) of playing, I find that my perception shifts, and I start to feel things on the "right" side without straining.

For me, the best place to be in terms of perception is when I find this zone where I don't feel any down-beat at all, in the sense that my perception just floats inside the rhythm, feeling all the pulses simultaneously, without singling out any single one of them as "special". That's when my playing really starts to groove and go really relaxed and effortless. As I'm getting more experienced, I can enter that zone more easily.

As usual, things work best when I relax. But relaxing is just about impossible when I'm still at the point where I'm learning something. It's only after I've mastered it that I can relax or, more accurately, the better I get, the more relaxed I get—the two go hand in hand.

Cheers,

Michi.

[bkidd]

Thanks for the suggestions and sharing your experience. Your summary reminds me of a quote from Yaya Diallo -- “The Minianka appreciate a musician who has internalized his skills to the point that he can relax while playing.”

Best,
-Brian

[Waraba]

Yeah, counting = death

[James]

I am working on B for years now

I'm quite ok, if I have a down beat reference, haven't internalised it yet.

So I still get into trouble during enchauffements where the sangban and dundunba are going mad, and there isn't a djembe playing either something I can feel like ttssssttssss, or an accompaniment.

I have found moments of connection where I don't need to focus so much and this has come to me (I believe) though hearing the bell melody between all 3 dununs and where I am relative to that, rather than relative to the beat.

The only way I managed to make any progress on this is was to hear the bell as:

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.**.**
instead of:
.**


in other words double the sentence I was repeating. If that makes any sense?

[Afoba]

hi James!
In short: change the thing you're referring to more often (talking about ternary pieces):
1) melody (music of sangban and dundunba)
2) x.x.x.x.x.x.
3) x..x..x..x..

you already saw that a 3pulse understanding .** is very hard to deal with.
Now you try the 6pulse length .**.** (that's my second point in a way).
By playing along the melody, you will get an .**.**.**.** length, but it will be easier. The x..x..x..x..
feeling is quite dangerous. It easily produces a breath**breath**breath**breath** effect. At the same time you need it to know where you are, referring to the downbeat, but that's not all!

Greetings, Daniel

[bkidd]

Afoba wrote:
At the same time you need it to know where you are, referring to the downbeat, but that's not all!

This is exactly what I have trouble with. I've been trying to move toward using the melody, but lose the downbeat if the melody doesn't play on it. The breath**breath**breath**breath** pattern isn't stable so that leads to other problems. I know it's all about practice. Thanks for the suggestions to help guide my practice.

Best,
-Brian

[Afoba]

hi Brian,
that's what I mean: change the focus from time to time. if it was that easy to bring melody and downbeat together from the start in every situation, we would not be talking about it here. So loose the downbeat while focusing the melody, ok. some minutes later try to play it "with" the downbeat", than again with the x.x.x.x.x.x. (this is the key system for many patterns). More and more it will become one (or at least much closer) - without you following the whole process exactly with your thoughts!
ko an ben

[michi]

It's amazing how much of this really is in the mind and perception of the player.

Of the three shuffle bells, most people find C the easiest to play. (That's the one where the second stroke lands on the beat.) A is considerably more difficult for most people. (That's the one where the first stroke is on the beat.) And B (with both strokes off-beat) is killer material for many.

That's despite the fact that the motion is the exact same one in all three cases, so this is not a mechanical skill issue.

When I was struggling with B, I found that I could play it perfectly if I allowed myself to feel it as C, but made a mess of it when I tried to feel it as B.

It's all in the mind… Consult your clinical psychologist of choice for further insights relating to early childhood trauma, repressed memories, and existentialism…

Michi.

[djembefeeling]

And B (with both strokes off-beat) is killer material for many.

In my experience, most students struggle the most with A. My theory is that we kind of learned something like B and C in our own culture, so we can draw on this experience. You can always feel C as a binary shuffle, something we all experienced early in childhood -- easy thing. B is harder, but most of us can draw on at least a little familiarity with waltz (some students, though a minority, feel best in B, even better than in C). Whenever students find it hard, I have them to imagine it as a waltz, and it usually gets better immediately. but A? There is nothing in our own culture to draw on. Especially stretching the space between the hits on A is a killer.

[michi]

Interesting to hear you say that your experience differs. Everyone seems to agree that C is easiest, but that's the first time I've come across as A being harder than B. Certainly, among our students, B is what completely kills them, while A is perceived as hard, but not as hard as B.

I take your point about feeling it as a waltz though. That's a nice idea. I will try that next time I have a struggling student!

Cheers,

Michi.

[djembeweaver]

I think it's all down to exposure. I've been working on the off-beat bell for 10 years and only in the last couple of years have I managed to be able to play a pattern (say the dundenba kenkeni) on its own without tapping my foot and just feel where the downbeat is. I'm also starting to develop the ability to switch pulses in my head while playing the same thing - a very weird experience at first.

I've even started to experience a rather disconcerting thing where I can hear both pulses equally or no pulses at all (only the melody).

One thing that really helped me was listening to mamady's individual doun parts for things like dununbeh and trying at first to clap the non-existant pulse. Once I could clap it I tried dancing a simple echauffment move (basically stepping in time). Then I forced myself to be able to hear the pulse in my head. For years it took an extreme act of will to keep hearing it right but it did get easier. In short I think that it's better to play another accompaniment while listening to the double off-beats - this way you get it fixed in your head without the distraction of trying to play it at the same time!

[The Dank]

Everyone seems to agree that C is easiest, but that's the first time I've come across as A being harder than B.

This was the case for me as well. When I first learned a rhythm with bell B, it wasn't so hard for me to hear the bell correctly when I was just listening...it was only when I started trying to play the bell that it gave me trouble.

With pattern A, however, I couldn't perceive it correctly when I was just listening, even when I knew I was hearing it in the wrong place. My first experience with this pattern was when I learned Kakilambe in college. To practice hearing the pattern correctly, I would sing the kakilambe djembe part in time with my footsteps while I was walking to class and try to force my brain to perceive it in the "correct" way. Even so, it took me a while.

but A? There is nothing in our own culture to draw on

Agreed...of the three, I think pattern A is the most foreign to the western ear (especially the classically trained western ear), and I think this is why it was the hardest for me.

Cheers,
~D