very non traditional style

[jzkornbluh]

Well, I picked up the djembe about 3 years ago and it has not left my side since then. When I cannot play a drum set, the djembe prevents me from going insane. I've just been wondering what other people thought of this weird style I've developed as a result of teaching myself everything on the djembe, and I finally found this site today!

[michi]

I like this a lot. That kid certainly has tons of aptitude and feel!

Cheers,

Michi.

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

I enjoyed that. Certainly as you say, not traditional but that is more the way I play mine. That finger flick off the edge to get a sharp slap sound is the same thing that I use but it's very hard to explain unusual technique in just words alone. I'm really glad you posted this video, a picture is worth a thousand words as they say...Main difference is, I think yours is tuned quite a bit higher than mine, I like a deep bass to tie in with the bass guitar.

I have not taken the traditional path with my djembe, I am first a guitar and bass player and more recently, an extreme novice on the bala. I bought my djembe to use on some recording projects where I didn't want to be stuck with mechanical drum machines for the drum track. That is where my djembe and cabasa and tambourine come in, even pans from the kitchen sometime. I play mainly reggae and South African style music with a strong influence of Celtic and 1950's rock'n'roll thrown in. Odd-ball is the best way to describe the end result.

I really like the way you play, any instrument to me is a blank slate just waiting for someone to coax interesting sounds out of it and that is for sure what you are doing right there.

What style of music do you play when on your kit?

Nice one, cheers, Gordon.

[jzkornbluh]

I mostly just take whatever knowledge I can from the spotty training I've had in jazz and orchestra and use that to try and translate emotion into noise on the drums. I guess my style would fall somewhere between jazz and rock...and whatever else I've been exposed to. I plan on trying to play music as a living...so at some point it would probably help to learn how to read music and the like.

[michi]

Any new style of drumming you expose yourself to, whether that's West African, or middle-Eastern, or Indian, or whatever, will give you new inspiration and impetus for your other music. Mandingue Music is quite challenging rhythmically, and even experienced jazz kit drummers are often surprised and challenged by its depth and complexity (especially Dundunbas).

If you take up traditional Mandingue drumming, I have no doubt that you'll have a lot of fun and also learn things that will come in handy for other styles of music. And there is no reason why you can't combine the techniques you invented yourself with more traditional technique to come up with a really unique style on the djembe.

I encourage you to give it a go--you clearly have a lot of aptitude and experience already, and you could go a long way with the djembe as well as experience a lot of personal growth.

Cheers,

Michi.

[FriendyAnil]

Hey that's awesome men great..I really like and I also learning guitar..I love music and dancing .

[Waraba]

Wow! You're going to soak it all up like a sponge. Keep going.

[closetdrummer]

I can relate to your video. Almost everything I do is "non-traditional". I take things and often use them for what the're not assigned to do. I have a hard time getting the "African" sounds out of my drum. I sound very 4/4 with rock, pop, funk beats in my soul. I want to just go with it!

[djembeweaver]

That's awesome

Why not learn traditional style too? You could still keep going with the finger style in parallel. You'd be killing it in a couple of years if you found a good african teacher.

[closetdrummer]

That's awesome

Why not learn traditional style too? You could still keep going with the finger style in parallel. You'd be killing it in a couple of years if you found a good african teacher.

I would love to find a good African teacher. Problem is I live in a town of 5000 in the biggest county in our State with the fewest people. Hopefully, someone with experience will come into the small drum circle and I could hook up with him/her.

[EvanP]

I just looked up Omak on Google. It's definitely a long way from drumming. It looks like Seattle's about 2 hours away? If so, you might be able to at least hook up with someone there for a weekend workshop. Manimou Camera is in Seattle. Tyler Richart is as well, as are several other good teachers.

If you're up for a longer road trip, Mamady Keita is teaching a workshop in Portland the last weekend in March. I guarantee you won't be disappointed with the experience. Mamady is the best teacher of anything I've ever had.

"You don't have rhythm honey."-that's what my wife says.

Maybe you can introduce your wife to others that don't have rhythm? In all seriousness I used to hear that line as well. I still have difficulty with straight time, but somehow have a feeling for polyrhythms.

[closetdrummer]

I just looked up Omak on Google. It's definitely a long way from drumming. It looks like Seattle's about 2 hours away? If so, you might be able to at least hook up with someone there for a weekend workshop. Manimou Camera is in Seattle. Tyler Richart is as well, as are several other good teachers.

If you're up for a longer road trip, Mamady Keita is teaching a workshop in Portland the last weekend in March. I guarantee you won't be disappointed with the experience. Mamady is the best teacher of anything I've ever had.

"You don't have rhythm honey."-that's what my wife says.

Maybe you can introduce your wife to others that don't have rhythm? In all seriousness I used to hear that line as well. I still have difficulty with straight time, but somehow have a feeling for polyrhythms.

I will try to get a hold of Tyler Richart as I bet this community would welcome a djembe worshop!

[EvanP]

Tyler's a great teacher. Bring him in for a workshop, and get a couple private lessons for yourself.

Manimou's also a great teacher. He was the first African teacher I'd had and I was blown away. He also teaches dance workshops.

[closetdrummer]

Tyler's a great teacher. Bring him in for a workshop, and get a couple private lessons for yourself.

Manimou's also a great teacher. He was the first African teacher I'd had and I was blown away. He also teaches dance workshops.

I'm looking to bring Tyler to town after his workshop in Idaho.

Thanks...

[TNT]

IMO what you have done is awesome and your creativity speaks volumes. You can learn tradition and follow what has been done for years or you can create your own path like no other. Like playing original vs copy, me original. To me the creative is the path I will take. Nice job! You should give workshops of your own, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to put rhythm to my fingers, as a set drummer I have never done that b4...@ 52 not sure they'll be that fast anymore lol. See the young can teach and inspire the old too

Allright so it's drum rudiments on fingers thanks for opening my eyes. I'll get this thing and my non traditional creative style figured out too, I'm just getting started. Again great job keep up the good work.