[R00STER]

Hey guys, I’m trying to find ways to practice rhythms/soloing when I’m at home, without other drummers. For example, I also play guitar and it’s easy to find “jam tracks” of famous songs or at least music in a given style/key that just loops and you can practice improvising over it. Is there anything like that for djembe, with maybe dundun parts and/or other accompaniment parts pre-recorded? What other options are there along these lines?

If you do use something like this, I assume you need some type of high-powered stereo that can play loud enough that you don’t drown it out?

[djembefeeling]

You can use a drum sequenzer for that just like Percussion Studio. Easy to program your loop and play to it on whatever tempo you like. I wouldn't recommend to play it on a loud stereo. the djembe has so much dynamic, you've got to be brutal with the stereo. I prefer to play with professional ear protector and play the loop over my headphones. that way, your djembe is rather silent and you can practice and rehears for hours without getting tired. I used to play the loop over my stereo, very loud, but that way I couldn't practice and concentrate for long. and my hearing suffered severly. not immediately, but with a evil delay of some years. my hearing was better thatn average for my first three years of drumming. Now, it is close to being in need of a hearing aid device...

[R00STER]

You can use a drum sequenzer for that just like Percussion Studio. Easy to program your loop and play to it on whatever tempo you like.

Are you talking about a piece of hardware like a drum machine or just some software application? Do these things sequencers have dunduns and djembe sounds?

[djembefeeling]

I am talking about a rather cheap and easy software. You can download and experiment for free, when you want to save your results, you've got to order a key:

http://www.moosware.net/PercussionStudio/

It comes with djembe and dunun sounds, I did upload some better instruments on the homepage of Percussion Studio. Just look up "Instruments" and then "Initials".

[foxleg]

I just came across an iPhone app called 'DjembeTime' that works really well.

It has a number of rhythms that you can select from and you can adjust which drums you would like to hear and their volumes. For example, you can turn down the dununba/kenkeni and just have the sangban going....

Worth a look if you have an iPhone. The sounds are really nice too.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/djembet ... ?ls=1&mt=8

[R00STER]

Thanks guys, these are great suggestions. I've downloaded the Percussion Studio and will give it a try. I'm not an Apple guy but that Djembe Time app looks pretty nice for a couple bucks. I do have access to some Apple devices so I might just give that a try!

If anyone else has any suggestions I'd like to hear them. Thanks.

[Talisker]

Rooster, another Apple gadget app is called Piti-Piti-Pa: again, just a couple of bucks, has lots of rhythms and you can mute all or any of the drums, slow things down, it has a simple notation that scrolls along as it plays;and a good selection of rhythms. I'm really impressed with it.

[Erny]

Why not using a Loop-Station?

e.g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVswn_PjOI0

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8kitnhq-z0


Erny...

[the kid]

The mo'rhythm app for iphone/ipad is cool enough to play along to and learn basic djembe, dunun, sanban, kenkenni and bell parts for a couple of rhythms. Sounds good enough to me and is a handy tool even for non drummers or someone who likes to hear a simple breakdown of the parts in a rhythm and who wants to be able to adjust the volume of each part, and solo parts for clear listening etc with out interrupting the rhythm. A more accessible way to learn compared to Tab or dvds/cd's imo, although everything has it's limitations and as i said this is good for basic learning and play-along.

The speed can be adjusted a lot with out any noticeable sound change.,or glitches. I managed to glitch it at top speed but in fairness there is no need to put it to max speed as it is like 220 bpm which is excessive. Down to 40 bpm is un necessary imo too, but loads of variation in feel between40 and 220bpm to mess around with.

[Paul]

i've never heard anything on percussion studio that sounds real. please show me examples if there is.

I've tried looping for kamele ngoni and you can end up spending more time perfecting your loop skills than playing.

Got play along tracks from tasumakan which are helpful. Each rhythm is about 8e and comes with breakdowns and two speeds of play along.

Rhythm reference is worth a go, they seem to be good quality recordings

[boromir76]

Instead of loudspeakers, I prefer to use headphones. I know it is more "natural" to play along with speakers, but they have to be quite good, powerful and loud to reproduce enough loudness and clarity for play along as with real drummers.

Tried Piti pata app, but didn't liked it. So far Percussion Studio is the best for rehearsal, but it does not exist as handy phone app only on PC or lap top which is not so convenient.

[korman]

Instead of loudspeakers, I prefer to use headphones.

Over the years I've come to prefer what is called "open-ear headphones" or "semi-open". These are usually quite large headphones that go over your entire ear (so they're comfortable to wear for long time), and the headphone cup has some openings in it so you can still hear outside sounds when wearing the headphones.
With these its much easier to balance the practice track with the sound of your own djembe, and the frequencies of your playing are not distorted (which is the case with closed earphones or the earbuds).

They don't necessarily have to be expensive, I currently use these
https://www.thomann.de/intl/lv/superlux_hd681.htm

[pagapov]

I just came across an iPhone app called 'DjembeTime' that works really well.

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that I've just released an updated version of DjembeTime app that lets you create your own notations, and even has a customizable swing editor! Check here: https://djembetime.com