Senegalese Sabar

[shane]

Im am trying to collate sabar repertoire, notation and recordings. I am having trouble finding notation over the web, I have plenty of recordings however, I have only found one book which provides interpretation on some rhythms . I have notation from teachers which I have put together which I am looking to expand and collate with other versions or interpretations of the music.

I know this site is dedicated for djembe, but is there anyone there who can provide some links???

Yo

[Mikeleza]

Caaarn mate...

[shane]

Is it True that djembe players dont like Sabar?

[freefeet]

Is it True that djembe players dont like Sabar?

Not for me, i love it. Listen to Djabote by Doudou. Anyone who don't like that shouldn't be let near any drum.

[Mikeleza]

Haha!

I think this topic should be removed due to its non-djembe content.

There is a special section for this topic.... Its under "Other instruments"

hehe....

Mike

[bubudi]

There is a special section for this topic.... Its under "Other instruments"

yes, that's true. if we keep this in the djembe & dunun discussion sections, then people will want the same for tama, sikko, congas, bongos, kpanlogo, ashikos, bodhran, hang drums, darbouka...

i love sabar though! the only thing is, i thought djembe was loud, but you will definitely need earplugs to go to a sabar! when i listen to doudou n'diaye rose, i hear a lot more nuances. then again, his performances and recordings serve a different purpose than a sabar festival. yet it's rooted in that tradition, and i have heard other examples of older players playing with varied intensity (not all loud). so maybe it's a generational thing?

there aren't too many traditional sabar recordings, the way there are djembe recordings. i'm not counting the senegalese pop (mbalax). sabar is fun and it helps to learn wollof concurrently, since the drum literally talks. i learned a few wollof words that way (i didn't continue with my lessons, though). some of the timings are completely foreign to djembe players. just listen to the solos to get what i mean. oh yea, and the stick technique is tricky to start off with. completely different way to hold a stick, and different angles for different sounds. plus, it's easy for a beginner to hit the fingertip of their bare hand with the stick, the pain of which will make you say some colourful wollof expressions!

i'll pull some links for you in due course, but i don't think you'll find anything much in the way of notation.

in the meantime, have you checked our doudou ndiaye rose cd which was a feature download last year?

[Mikeleza]

Here in Perth, (Aus) we have had a couple of great sabar players move in, so Shane and I have had a bit of experience playing sabar.

Yes sabar is LOUD!
A lot of the rhythms are a lot more difficult to "feel" than djembe rhythms, you really have to free you mind to learn sabar.

Good luck Shane in finding some info here, there must be someone with some extra notation here on Djembefola.

Mike

[bubudi]

ok here are some resources. sorry, no notation.

if you know any other resources, please add them.

recordings

doudou n'diaye rose orchestra - lac rose
doudou n'diaye rose orchestra - djabote (dvd and separate cd by the realworld label)
doudou n'diaye rose orchestra - sabar
mapathe diop - sabar wolof: dance drumming of senegal
omar thiam - sabar: the soul of senegal


books

patricia tang - masters of the sabar (224 pages, includes accompanying cd and transcriptions of rhythms)


i'll post some resources on wolof language in a separate thread.

sophie schouwenaar's dissertation on sabar dance (in dutch only)

Sabar_Technique.pdf

bongo central's illustrated sabar technique

(139.46 KiB) Downloaded 20 times

[bubudi]

see here for sabar dances

[shane]

Sweet.. got a few of them, cheers for the links.... I will post some more soon

See you on the 'Other Instruments Page' Mikey

[e2c]

when i listen to doudou n'diaye rose, i hear a lot more nuances. then again, his performances and recordings serve a different purpose than a sabar festival. yet it's rooted in that tradition, and i have heard other examples of older players playing with varied intensity (not all loud). so maybe it's a generational thing?

Generational: may well be.

But I think Doudou's ideas about music have a lot to do with the overall style of playing on his recordings and in his performances. In that respect, he reminds me of Adama Dramé.

Back in the late 80s-early 90s, he and his troupe were filmed for a doc on the percussion festival in Seattle. Their performance - and Doudou's conducting the ensemble - really bowled me over! There was a bit of rehearsal footage and it was fascinating to see him working on details of the ensemble's presentation and sound.

[bubudi]

yea you'll never see that kind of conducting in traditional african music. doudou was asked about it in an interview once (will have to find it and post it up). he had a lot to prove at first, when he brought his orchestra, composed of about 50 people, most of them his own daughters! (how can he keep track of so many kids?). he pretty much said he wanted to bring something 'world class' and show that anyone could play the music given the right training and commitment. he brought the western style conducting and composition together with mastery of the sabar repertoire. at the time, in senegal you had to be a gewel (griot) and male to play sabar. the ndiaye family are all gewel, but females were excluded from drumming (from what i've read in two great dissertations on the topic, it's more so than the resistance that girls/women face in mali or guinea). the drums are shrouded by some mystique, and people say prayers before and after playing, as well as other little 'rituals' during play. he demystified the sabar somewhat. after the performance of his group 'les rosettes' was aired on national television (!), he was invited to an assembly of the nation's sabar masters. although i'm not aware of the west having ever seen the footage of that performance, it made history in senegal and resulted in him becoming the most celebrated sabar master there.

[freefeet]

it's easy for a beginner to hit the fingertip of their bare hand with the stick, the pain of which will make you say some colourful wollof expressions!

My Ewe teacher started us off with two hands and then introduced stick and hand - rather painful few lessons they were.

I haven't played stick and hand for a long time. This conversation is giving me the urge to start again, along with the Sabar drum in my workshop a friend has given me to reskin for him. It's a ton of fun and adds a wonderful new palate of notes to one's drumming.