Playing all alone...

[e2c]

michi, I think he was having to split the difference a bit, in order to target both drummers and dancers.

and of course 200 bpm is extremely fast - I still can't play at that pace for any length of time, but I guess I knew that nobody was expecting me to when I 1st got those discs (or now), if that makes sense. (I was very new to all of this when I got the CDs, and still am, in many ways.)

For me, being able to hear the separate parts - especially the duns - has been great. I love the cuts where all the duns are layered by themselves, without any djembes. That makes a super practice track for playing either dun or djembe, and allows people to become familiar with the melody that the duns are playing - even if they have never touched a dundun and never intend to. to me, that is super-important for anyone who is coming to this music and cannot be emphasized enough. (I personally couldn't really hear the djembe parts very well until I started going back to play kenkeni and sangban.. it made all the difference in the world to me to simply play one part and be able to listen to all the rest - solo phrases included.)

Also, the ultra-fast tempi are (imo) extremely valuable for people who need to brush up on ensemble work but don't have anyone to play with (or when other players are available sporadically, etc.). from my pov, it's pretty darned boring to have to play alone all of the time (during practice/playing for fun on my own).

I think I would have tried to get the Mendiani and Kassa/Soko discs into your hands when you were brand-new to all of this, as opposed to Tiriba et. al., but that's just me.

... and maybe I'm just kind of geeky, but I love hearing the way the drum parts work at different tempi. It kind of helps the music get into my bloodstream, so to speak.

[e2c]

Wula has the practice/play-along CDs back in stock -

http://www.wuladrum.com/store/

(You'll have to scroll all the way to the bottom...)

[bubudi]

michael has explained that for each practice track in the series, he has played, recorded and tracked each drum part separately for about 2 minutes, then looped the resulting track a couple of times to lengthen it. there was no electronic alteration of the tempo.

i would say that what some people would have been hearing in the recordings was the difference between tracking each part separately, and the more dynamic result of recording a live ensemble.

no doubt it would have been a lot of work to produce this series, and a lot more effort to get a good ensemble to record the practice tracks with. this is the best compromise.

[e2c]

I was hoping Michael would post here... ah well. They just finished moving to another location (all the drums and other instruments!) and no doubt time is at a premium.

The way he recorded the discs: makes sense.