N'Terke

[michi]

N'Terke is a rhythm that Epizo taught some years ago (pre 2004) at Bundagen. This rhythm is still floating around in New South Wales and Queensland. I have all the parts for it, but I have no cultural background whatsoever. My searches haven't turned up anything either.

Does anyone know anything about this rhythm's background?

Thanks,

Michi.

[bubudi]

i don't know a rhythm by that name. do you pronounce the e at the end? does it sound like any other rhythm you know? send the parts just in case someone knows it by a different name. then i can also ask around.

[Onetreedrums]

Looks to me like n'terike which translates to "my friend (male)" in Bamanakan. I haven't heard of any rhythms called this, but it may be a modern arrangement.

Good luck!

[Dugafola]

abide n'terike!!

that's one of the first things i learned in Bamana.

[bubudi]

n'terike also means 'friend' in jula, so maybe epizo learned it in abidjan during his time with the koteba ensemble.

[michi]

I finally got around to recording this. My apologies for the Percussion Studio sound, but I don't have dunduns here and can't accompany myself

BTW, "N'Terke" was my personal guess at the spelling only. Both e's are voiced. "N'Terike" sounds like a good candidate. Is the "i" voiced in that? (The way I've heard this rhythm pronounced, there is no audible "i".)

I tried to get more info from Epizo about this rhythm, but he didn't reply.

Here is djembe 1:

01 N'Terke - Djembe 1.mp3

Djembe 1

(1.51 MiB) Downloaded 56 times

And djembe 2:

02 N'Terke - Djembe 2.mp3

Djembe 2

(1.51 MiB) Downloaded 51 times

Here are the dunduns. I only have dundunba and sangban with a bell. I don't know whether Epizo ever taught a Kenkeni part.

03 N'Terke - Dundun.mp3

Dunduns

(1.51 MiB) Downloaded 54 times

Michi.

[michi]

Finally, all three together:

04 N'Terke - Ensemble.mp3

Ensemble

(1.51 MiB) Downloaded 52 times

I had to post this separately because the upload limit of three files per post. Could we lift that limit to, say, ten? It would save having to split posts such as this one (as well as the tutorials on knots I did some time ago, which had nine images each).

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

ok, very interesting

djembe 2 is very similar to a solo accompaniment for denba/maraka
djembe 1 is a solo accomp for tiriba (a rhythm which has a somewhat similar feel to denba/maraka)
the dunun melody reminds me of garanke, but is also not too far off to be an adaptation of denba/maraka

many people call the maraka rhythm take, which means blacksmith. they are actually different but related rhythms that are often mixed together in bamako.

could this possibly be epizo's interpretation of take?

[michi]

Thanks for all the info! I didn't now about the djembe parts being solo accompaniments for Tiriba and Maraka.

I agree about the similarity of the dunduns with Garanke. It also reminds of the duns for Soli, with the high note on the 1 and 2.

could this possibly be epizo's interpretation of take?

Unfortunately, I have no idea... If I see him this year, I'll try and ask (depending on what mood he is in and how much I have to debase myself to get an answer...)

Michi.

[bubudi]

depending on what mood he is in and how much I have to debase myself to get an answer...

yea, that dude really doesn't like answering questions. one can't help but wonder how much of this stuff he actually knows. on the positive side, he doesn't invent stuff if he doesn't know it (afaik).

[michi]

yea, that dude really doesn't like answering questions. one can't help but wonder how much of this stuff he actually knows. on the positive side, he doesn't invent stuff if he doesn't know it (afaik).

Oh, he knows it alright. Just watch how Malin, Mohamed, and Sibo interact with him. They clearly respect what he says. And Epizo is genuine, I have no doubt about that. It's just that his abrasiveness is hard to deal with at times...

Cheers,

Michi.