Dununs...

[Carl]

I hear you on the reaction to a badly-taught class, but that doesn't mean that the basic idea is flawed.

I like transferring dunun parts/melodies to djembe - just for fun, in playing for myself - and find that it helps a lot in understanding the placement of djembe parts, on an intuitive level. Am sure this will all give me some fuel for my own solos, as time goes on and I learn more.

There's no reason in the world to hold back just because that guy didn't know what he was doing.

You are completely correct. Playing with or on the dunun parts is a perfectly legitimate way of working on coming up with solo techniques. My personal taste leads me in the opposite direction. I tend to use overlapping for breaks, and I often use this technique to come up with breaks. For solos I preferr to play in the spaces (if I'm playing in the same time signature at all... )

My students will often directly copy dunun parts on their own so I havn't been that concerned about teaching it in class. Maybe I should rethink that. That's the nice thing about having these discussions, it gets me thinking about things I might have abandoned or avoided in the past.

C

[bubudi]

Inspired by bird calls... wow, interesting. I'd like to hear those. Are they on any of his CDs?

here's kono 1, last track on mamady's nankama album:


you'll have to get mamady to demonstrate the bird calls for you!

there are also the dibon rhythms which were also inspired by bird calls from the bush. according to famoudou, some hunters heard these particular birds and created the rhythm after they got back to the village.

[Carl]

A note and mystery on Kono II...

I knew it was on Mamady's CD Mandeng Djara. Mahiri taught it as Kono II (unless I misunderstood something?)

I didn't have my CD at the time (and I still can't find it!!!! I think I might have lent it out to someone.... )

I just checked online, and the song I am thinking of is Track 10 Kedjula kanin (rhythm: Kedju)!!!!

So the rhythm is either Kedju or Kono II?

Once I find my CD I'll check the liner notes, and I'll ask Mahiri about it next time I have a chance....

In any case, check it out, it's a very cool tune, and my students are about one more class away from kickin' it!!!

C

[Dugafola]

A note and mystery on Kono II...

I knew it was on Mamady's CD Mandeng Djara. Mahiri taught it as Kono II (unless I misunderstood something?)

I didn't have my CD at the time (and I still can't find it!!!! I think I might have lent it out to someone.... )

I just checked online, and the song I am thinking of is Track 10 Kedjula kanin (rhythm: Kedju)!!!!

So the rhythm is either Kedju or Kono II?

Once I find my CD I'll check the liner notes, and I'll ask Mahiri about it next time I have a chance....

In any case, check it out, it's a very cool tune, and my students are about one more class away from kickin' it!!!

C

you may have figured it out by now...Kanin 2.

[dununbabe]

The big down side here is that most beginner students do not have dununs to practice at home!

give 'em Boomwhackers! yeah I know... but it works!

[e2c]

And they're cheap, which is another plus.

I'd think paint buckets or big trashcans would work OK, too. Also large cardboard boxes - and in that case, you could close both sides so that there's a reverberative thing going on, as with double-headed drums. You could also close off the ends of the buckets (etc.) with cardboard or a piece of plywood.

[sidetrack]
There are so many ways to play "found percussion," and there are plenty of people in the world who have little else for music making - so they go for it. There are flamenco percussionists who play the tops of wooden tables - sometimes solo, other times in groups. In Brazil, the most portable samba instrument is a wooden matchbox, and there's a real art to playing it. (Also in trad. samba: knife and plate - sounds like Malian metal scrapers; even metal pots and pans, straw hats and, occasionally, old shoes.)

and look at instruments like the cajon - it's a wooden box! Black people in Peru - and in Cuba - used drawers and packing crates to make music. Some still do. All the fancy flamenco cajones came from dresser drawers and boxes. (fwiw, I'm not talking about cojones - that's a whole 'nother story! )

Personally, I'm fond of all of the things I just mentioned, metal trashcans and cardboard boxes especially. (Not joking - they can sound wonderful.)

[/sidetrack]