Did you come to djembe via a drum circle?

[James]

Drum circles are sometimes given a hard time, let's find out the truth

[Carl]

It all started with a frame drum...

I had a tar for about 6 months, and I wanted to learn more, there was a "drum class" at a local music store. I was the only one with a frame drum, everyone else had congas and just a few djembes.

I upgraded to a remo djembe and started going to drum circles. From there I got a White Clifs Ashiko, a "Paulo whats-his-name" djembe then finally the Mali drum that I rave about here from time to time.

I think I did drumcircles and djembe classes for a year or two before I met Mamady, and it's been "down hill" ever since.

While I have occasioned drum circles run by my students from time to time. I think it's been 4 or 5 years since I've actually been to one "on my own". (not that I wouldn't, though I doubt that I'd bring a djembe to one, but that is another story...)

C

[Beerfola]

I voted NO but that might not be accurate. I've always been drawn to the sound of drums and drum circles just happen to be the most accessible source. I just happened to witness a captivating drum circle at a music festival that was primarily made up of a core group of really great players. There was a full dunun section and everyone was apparently experienced in West African rhythms. However I have seen many drum circles that could not hold my interest and I have only participated in one. Fun, but not my cup of tea.

[wonderwebb]

I went to my first drumcircle on friday just gone! For the last year i have been going to various djembe classes and africa in january.

The drum circle was really good for me as a beginner i was able to practise solo phrases rolls and all manner of things that i have wanted to try out but not had the confidence to do at my regular classes. This can only be a good thing in my opinion. It was great for me to see how i could fit my parts into what was being played and also gave me the chance to be able to take over a rythm and take it my direction.

Looking forward to going to another one . Its no substitute for my regular djembe classes but is a good complimentary experinence that can only improve my drumming.

[the kid]

The funny thing is when you sit with your friends in a circle and play drums you make a drum circle. For me it doesn't really define the quality of whats played. I've always played in a drum circle. My house is a drum circle hahaha. even my drum is a drum circle..perplexing isn't it..so i answered "It's more complicated than that"....

[bubudi]

ok keanie, we'll all go change our answers now!
i guess most of the people calling it a drum circle are people that get together with darbukas, bodhrans and bongos and play the same beats over and over. that's been my experience, anyway, although i'll have to admit i haven't been to anything called a drum circle in years. when i hook up with other drummers i just call it playing drums!

[ubba]

Drum circles years ago scared me, strange people I didn't know, music I was unfamiliar with and I didn't think I was talented enough to play a part in a group gathering. A couple of years ago I got sick and had inflammation of the brain, they were never really sure of the exact cause but it did effect my memory and cognition. Always the curious one I stopped in a new age shop way up in the mountains of S. California and saw a small djembe for sale, more of a toy than anything else but I had no idea where it came from or what type of drum it was...I just wanted it. I took it home that night and started to beat on it, very sad indeed but I enjoyed it on a level that made me want to continue...the internet finally showed me the type of drum and many different styles of music using drums from all over the world.

The first drum to really grab my attention was the frame drums since I'm of Irish descent and the bodhran was familiar to me, I saw a guy on you-tube from Germany playing duombek and several types of frame drums and he didn't use a tipper on the frame drums like I had seen as a child from Ireland. Needless to say I was hooked into a world of drumming and started to experiment with my toy djembe and an old frame drum I found with the signature of an Irishman inside...that must have been Karma. I had lots of trouble with the frame drums but loved them none the less...it was the arthritis in my right hand that steered me to used the djembe more often but to this day I still love watching video's of David Kuchhermann on you-tube playing his frame drums.

I started to see more and more video's of West African djembe masters and non masters playing and slowly it called to me and I went to buy my first djembe, it was from Ghana and made of the soft wood twenboah I think they call it...later it developed a crack and I never cared much for the sound but others did, it had a deep base. Later I found a whole world of djembe info online about wood type's and styles of djembe so I started to research and went to Drumskulls to purchase my first powerful sounding djembe...I became hooked, deeper than the oceans. Drumming has helped me on many levels, socially, physically and mentally...it had a way of balancing my mind and healing my brain and when I heard myself hit a tone and slap that pleased me...I was a very pleased man and hungered for more.

[dununbabe]

welllllll, I voted yes, but I would like to re-phrase it that the djembe found ME at a drum circle. Once I found out there was a tradition behind it I left that scene. Nowadays we'll have a"get-together" and play trad rhythms, and yes it's in a circle. So is it still a "drum circle"?

[rachelnguyen]

I discovered djembe at my church, actually. A few years ago on Pentecost (which is today, incidentally) some friends played drums during the church service and then played out on the church steps afterwords. They had a spare drum and I sat in. The next day, I bought a djembe at a music store and the day after that, found my Malian teacher, Sidy Maiga, on google.

It was Divine inspiration, LOL. The beautiful thing, for me, is that I have played my drum at church every Pentecost since. It is my very own rhythm anniversary. And it happens that it was the day I was baptized, too.