singing the rhythm

[rachelnguyen]

Hey Bubudi,

Definitely... a BIG camera and a tiny recorder. Probably should be the other way around, but what the heck.

I am so excited about it. I leave in just a couple of weeks! Yippee!

[bubudi]

those tiny recorders tend to be voice recorders. very poor for recording any sort of music, especially drums because they don't have adjustable recording sound levels. if you want a good portable recorder, i recommend the olympus ls-10, which is about $300 and the size of a cell phone. very easy to use straight out of the box, and does a very good job. if you have the right mics the results can be professional. for a little extra you can buy a remote for it which means you can leave it in one place and not have any handling noise.

exciting indeed! you're in for a real treat. i'm a bit jealous...

[rachelnguyen]

Hey Bubudi,

Thanks for the tip. My recorder, is, indeed, a cheap voice recorder. It sucks. (Also Olympus, but intended for lectures, not music.)

To get this vaguely back on thread, LOL, I do use my very cheap recorder to record me singing my rhythms! If I get home after a class and for some reason haven't recorded the new rhythms, I will sing them so I don't forget. I think of it this way... if I were a kid studying in Mali, I would be with my teacher every day, so remembering stuff wouldn't be an issue. As it its, a few days go by between classes and stuff just evaporates. It takes quite a while for a rhythm to really stick.

By the way, the Olympus recorder you linked to is a bit pricey at the moment. (Want to save my cash for the trip!) How about the Zoom 2? It's half the price. Anyone have one? I seem to remember there was a thread about this awhile back. Maybe I'll put that snazzy search function to work.

edited to add: Found it! Here's a link in case anyone else is interested:
post2197.html


Love,
Rachel

PS: Bubudi, come with us next time. We are planning to do this every other year or so.

[e2c]

I've heard great things about the Zoom H2, but don't have on yet. It's on my list, though...

[bubudi]

i wrote that zoom h2 appraisal, but for music recording on the road i have changed my mind on it for the purposes of recording on the road, since battery life isn't very good (could be tricky for you to recharge them there) and any wind noise gets picked up as much as the music being recorded. the olympus is much better in this regard and has the highest battery life of any portable recorder under $400. it's even better than the more expensive edirol r-09.

i just found the olympus ls-10 cheaper with free shipping here

in mali you will come across lots of great musicians jamming, playing in clubs and ceremonies. you can return home with loads of beautiful music to listen to. the extra $100 is worth it to get better quality sound imo. next time round you could invest in some good mics and use the ls-10 to record a cd for sidi with a group of other good musicians.

[e2c]

I know musicians who speak very highly of the Zoom H2, and that's more than likely what I'll be getting, unless something else starts looking more tempting...

[bubudi]

depends what your goal is. i could speak very highly of a $60 voice recorder if my goal is to record lectures. when it comes to recording live music while on the road in africa, the zoom h2 doesn't cut it. it's more than decent for recording classes and a demo cd if needed, but that's a strictly indoor, non-professional application.

[e2c]

I do know people who use it to record gigs, albeit indoors.

And you're right - if I was doing live recording in Africa, I'd want something better than the Zoom H2. But for the foreseeable future, it'll do just fine.

[bubudi]

just for kicks, here's how a rhythm should be sung. this guy is a guinean living in gambia. his name is mohamed camara.

[e2c]

You know, he's using some of the syllables that Indian percussionists use (for learning rhythms and as vocal percussion). Interesting!

[Djembe-nerd]

e2c,

you seem to have good knowledge of inidan music. Did you train ever in any instrument. just curious.

[e2c]

Adam,

Indian music/indian instruments: that's kind of you, but i don't really know much of anything. I know of some of the percussion instruments, but that's about it. As for lessons/training, I wish! I'd love to take some lessons on something that's relatively easy to play, but nobody around here teaches. It's a lot easier for me to hear what's going on in bhangra and Bollywood songs as opposed to *any* Indian classical music.

My only real training (other than djembe/duns) has been in Middle Eastern percussion + a few conga lessons. But I've been interested in music from all over the world for many years. Must've been all that sitar stuff on Sgt. Pepper's that did it to me. (Am only half-joking; the Beatles' interest in music from India and elsewhere hit a lot of people my age; I had a Ravi Shankar LP or two, back in the day.)

About using syllables: they're used in Arabic music, too, but mainly to let communicate how something should be played. the whole deal is very simple compared to what's done in India. (Mostly "dum" for a bass note, and "tek" and "tok" for rimshots and accents with fingers. But people do exactly what the guy in bubudi's vid do - they vary the pitch of the sounds so that you know where the stronger and weaker notes are.) At any rate, I was taught in this way and have found it useful for all kinds of percussion music, per learning.

[rachelnguyen]

Bubudi,

What a sweet video. He sounds exactly like Sidy when he sings a rhythm. I can't really sing 'em yet.... but now I can mostly understand what I am supposed to be playing when my teacher sings me something.