Status symbol?

[michi]

Interesting, thanks for that. I'll ask Mamady next week. He may have something to say about this too.

OK, so I asked Mamady, His answer lines up exactly with Epizo's. If anything, Mamady was even more emphatic about this than Epizo. He said that seke seke are there to make the djembe more beautiful and to make its sound more interesting. In no way are seke seke associated with status or playing ability. In Mamady's words "seke seke are about the djembe, not about the player."

It is perfectly OK to put seke seke on your djembe at any occasion, no matter whom you are playing with and how much better players they might be than yourself.

Looks like my teacher was mis-informed, after all...

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

thanks for checking with mamady and sharing with us. thanks also for these little clips from the camp. this is what this community is about.

this in no way rules out segesege being a status symbol in some communities. it seems that in guinea and burkina it doesn't hold any such significance. it does, however, in the mandinka and bambara communities in tambacounda and cassamance, who originated in mali. abdoulaye diakite (who is from tambacounda) talked about the significance of segesege on a djembefola's status. his teachers were bamana, from segou, so possibly it has that significance there also.

[Rhythm House Drums]

I've heard this before.. to make the drum more beautiful. I like that.

I do feel though that so many people in the US do see them as a status symbol. Even though the consensus from the people brought up in the culture seems to be that they are there only for enhancing the music and adding "bling" (I like that)... So often they are viewed as Status here in the US. So I guess it's a matter of personal preference and if you care what others think. Like I've said before, I use them when I'm playing alone, because I like them... but I leave them off when playing with certain people because of the implied position they feel it has...

[michi]

thanks for checking with mamady and sharing with us. thanks also for these little clips from the camp. this is what this community is about.

My pleasure!

this in no way rules out segesege being a status symbol in some communities. it seems that in guinea and burkina it doesn't hold any such significance. it does, however, in the mandinka and bambara communities in tambacounda and cassamance, who originated in mali. abdoulaye diakite (who is from tambacounda) talked about the significance of segesege on a djembefola's status. his teachers were bamana, from segou, so possibly it has that significance there also.

Ah, interesting, thanks for that! I'm not surprised to learn that there are regional differences. For me personally, it's not that I have some obsession about seke seke and try to play with them every opportunity I get; I was simply curious to find out whether there is any significance to the seke seke other than as decoration and to flesh out the sound. Certainly, I would always ask the more experienced players around me whether anyone would object before putting them on.

Cheers,

Michi.