- Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:50 pm
#37441
You're right, we've had this discussion. Even though djembes are not the main reason, they for sure add to the problem...
I disagree with some of this. Many hands other than the carver's must touch that shell before it's taken off the shelf of one of the world's top djembe makers.the kid wrote:It is hard to see why djembes are so dear any ways considering the real price of wood and carvers in West Africa.
People seem to accept a special piece should be 800 dollars but are then shocked at 1500?
I think both prices are over the top for a good djembe which is esentially, specially selected wood and well carved bowl.
I'd say these drums come with a good recommendation.michi wrote:I own #3 of 40 of the original 2010 Signature Series. From what I know, Jeremy sourced the shells from Mamady's preferred carver, built the drums, and then had Mamady play a whole bunch of them. Mamady picked the ones he liked best and was happy to put his name to.
Definitely a better investment than stamps.michi wrote:I agree that the Signature Series drums are overpriced. I bought mine partly because it is a superb drum, and partly out of loyalty to Mamady. I've never regretted the purchase.
Deforestation is happening. Last year the UN issued new protections for rosewood trees, the hardwood favored for the making of tabla shells. As with the djeme, the tabla is not the main culprit in the wood's demise - as I understand it, the demand for fine furniture is.djembefeeling wrote:You're right, we've had this discussion. Even though djembes are not the main reason, they for sure add to the problem...
Thanks, now I'll remember!djembefeeling wrote: ↑Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:19 pmHi Korman, when you only put everything after the equality sign into the youtube braket, we can actually see the video here.
I see what you mean! I guess it's just a language problem here ...djembefeeling wrote: ↑Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:19 pmI did listen to MKs playing over my stereo and can also not hear the bass in his slaps and tones. I guess what he means is that they resonate well. So many djembes are cranked nowadays to a point where the sounds are clear but screaming like they want to tear ever moment. They don't speak anymore. But that djembe Mamady plays resonates well.
nice postdjembefeeling wrote: ↑Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:19 pmHi Korman, when you only put everything after the equality sign into the youtube braket, we can actually see the video here.
I did listen to MKs playing over my stereo and can also not hear the bass in his slaps and tones. I guess what he means is that they resonate well. So many djembes are cranked nowadays to a point where the sounds are clear but screaming like they want to tear ever moment. They don't speak anymore. But that djembe Mamady plays resonates well.
I like the same quality in djembe sounds. I always tell my students that a sound has to have this "plop" quality, a mix of a little attack and resonance in the room. Such a quality you cannot produce with force. A skin hit with brute force will sound brutal. But you want to excavate it's own sound, it's free voice, a sound where the skin swings in accordance with itself. I think you can cut all that talk short by saying that you like a bass with the slap and tone, because the bass is always stimulated a bit on a skin that is not cranked too hard to swing freely. On a brutally cranked skin the bass is dead.
I think you can see the same quality in someone singing. A cranked djembe is like a person singing with the head voice only. You do not get any personal information from such a voice, you cannot express your inner feelings properly and thus cannot communicate those feelings to others. But when a singer uses all the resonating space he or she has and doesn't force the vocal chords, pure beauty and uniqueness can emerge.
Depends on the hand that strikes it i reckon. We don't hear some one like Harouna dembele hitting brutal sounds yet he beats the djembe with a lot of force. I find his sound sweet. Lets compare a plop to a Njang. Gimme njang or zang any day over plop. Plops are for the toilet bowl, no offence. lol.Such a quality you cannot produce with force. A skin hit with brute force will sound brutal
Well, I try to ungrow 35 years to share laughter...still... Plops for the toilet bowl, right, you got, in a constructive fashion, exactly what I tried to describe....the kid wrote: I find his sound sweet. Lets compare a plop to a Njang. Gimme njang or zang any day over plop. Plops are for the toilet bowl, no offence. lol.
Never heard a living goat screaming, but prefer girls anyway (hey, the time travel to my teens worked with some delay)the kid wrote:A dead goat screams louder than a live one
Right. Or any other thing like it's price or origin. Wait, resonance is what I said as well...might be just that.the kid wrote:Mamady may be using 'bass' as an expression of soul of the drum or the character of the drum, or simply resonance.
Your just listening to djembe in the wrong enviroment.I did hear that slap even two days later as a ringy sound in my ear. Believe me, it sounds brutal, not beautiful in real life.
You are taking this aproach to literally. It is not about playing tons and slaps unclear mixed with basses. It is about playing them very clear, but adding also a litlle tonal depth with subtle bass resonance underneath. I doubt this ambient video recording could reproduce that but can understand why MK wants to have a litlle bit of bass with tons and slaps. It gives sounds more tonal range, more "body", depth and drive. It is basically like mongolian throat singing or someone who would play guitar and bass at the same time. In my experince this can be achieved in priciples only with djembes which are not to tight. The other thing that possibly also contributes to this added sound would be positioning of palms and fingers They should be as far towards the center as possible, not sacrificing the qualitty of tons and slaps and ergonomics of playing.korman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:44 pmI'm a bit puzzled, because he said that "When I play a slap, I want to hear the bass with the slap. When I play a tone, I want to hear the bass with the tone."
For one, I don't hear the bass he's talking about (maybe because I'm watching this with headphones).
And secondly, I don't want to hear the bass:) I want pure sound, and that's what I always thought Mamady and other great djembefolas had.
The thing is though, Mamady is playing with so many techniques in this clip. He's basically all over this djembe.The other thing that possibly also contributes to this added sound would be positioning of palms and fingers