Drum Circle with Master Drummer

I am Really Sorry about the quality of these clips, but the sound is great...
I hope you enjoy it....

Master Drummer at Play1

This is Peter, a Master Drummer from the Wilderness area, with his Band.
His brother,Eugene, is playing on the Kit drums.
Peter's Djembe is miked up and sounds amazing.

Master Drummer at Play

This is Peter from the Wilderness area(Garden Route)

It was absolutely amazing to drum along with you, and thank you for the awesome Vibe You and the Band brought to us on Sat.(Big Blu,Mosselbay,S.A)

I hope we get some more clips from you.
Daniel

Reggae Band at Big Blu

This Brilliant reggae drum band was brilliant...
They played at a bar in Mosselbay called Big Blu, in fact that is where our weekly Drum Circles are held, so all the Drummers came together and jammed with the band.

The two in the centre of the last pic are brothers,both drummers and their other brother(Also a drummer) makes and sells Djembe Drums...my Drum comes from him!!!!

Drum Circle in Mosselbay,S.A

DRUM CIRCLE AT BIG BLU IN MOSSELBAY,SOUTH AFRICA

We have a Drum Circle at a bar right on the beach in Mosselbay, called "Big Blu"
We play every second week on a Sunday or Saturday...

Anyone is always welcome to join us.

Drum Circle in East London,S.A

These are all photo's from one of our weekly Drum Workshops, held by Richard in East London,S.A at a pub called "Imbizo". As you can see the pub has a very African vibe to it which is perfect for Djembe Workshops.

There are a few Experienced Drummers at this particular event. The Lady playing the Big Djembe is also a Master Drummer,(and my very best friend) Beverly.
As you can also see we even have a regular Rastafarian(Bra Gift Watchman).
This Djembe was carved and skinned by Richard,Please e-mail me if you are looking for a drum made by him...his drums are of awesome quality, so good in fact, that some of his drums have even been exported to Germany.
...And of course, no Drumming event would be utterly complete without my BEAUTIFUL Wife with her GORJIS smile(I'm scoring points folks,hehehe).

Master Drummer in East London,S.A

This is my good friend Richard...A Master Drummer from East London,S.A.

Richard has a weekly drum circle at a pub called "Imbizo" or you can find him at "Sugar Shack Backpackers" on the East London Beachfront.

If you ever DO go and introduce yourself to him, tell him I say "Hi"

Caught Free-stylin by my Wife

My Wife caught me jamming my Djembe to a track on my Hi-fi,(Max Normal - Hazel's Joint)

This is a great way to learn and memorize new rhythms for yourself.
Enjoy

Interesting fact about neckline

Interesting story:

The Africans often believe that a skin on a Djembe Drum(which is a real animal) carries on the spirit of the animal.

That line is the neckline of the animal, usually the piece directly above the heart.

A Djembe that has been skinned correctly will have this line as close to the center as possible.

Thus when you play on left and right of the heart, the animal can sing out to the nature it remembers.

Interestingly enough...if the animal was weak or sickly,the drum will have a flat small sound.
If the animal was a big,strong and healthy one,the drum in turn sounds loud and good.

Hand Placement on a Djembe Drum

HAND PLACEMENT:
(REFER TO CLIP OF 3BASIC NOTE ON A DJEMBE DRUM)


Here are 3 pictures that show you where to hit the drum for each of the three basic notes.

Here is a pic of a base note:

Hit the drum in the center, with a cupped hand.
Don't be afraid to hit the drum hard, but listen so that it doesn't begin to become just noise.

The Middle Note:

Hit the drum just off center(left/right,doesn't matter which)
The best note will come from a spot between the centre and edge of the drum.

The Treble Note:

Hit the drum on the outer edge,
I get the best sound by smacking my hand on the side of the drum and letting my fingers bounce on the skin...you a very loud "Twang" sound.

Djembe Drum Paradise: Caught Free-stylin by my Wife

Djembe Drum Paradise: Caught Free-stylin by my Wife

Free-style drumming on a small Djembe

I decided to have a break from teaching....hehehe,I'm a fussy guy and had to re-take these clips quite a few times to get the angle right...

Here is a couple of rhythms played together...

Tribal Rhythm2

This is the Tribal Rhythm that My friend Bev taught me....it comes straight from the Transkei in South Africa. Its a typical African Tribal rhythm found in far apart villages.

If you want to know more about the Transkei go to www.wildcoast.com.

I hope this clip is easy to understand.
Dan

Tribal Rhythm1

This is a tribal trance rhythm I learnt from my 61yr old friend(Beverly) in East London...

The trick of this rhythm is to keep playing the same rhythm without any change for as long as possible...its quite easy to get lost in the rhythm as I hope you will find out.

In my next clip I will give more detail in how to play this Awesome rhythm.

Kids having fun2

Its amazing how young kids have a natural rhythm in their souls.
These two have never touched(or even seen) a Djembe Drum before, but look how easily they synchronize their rhythm and tempo.

Kids having fun

These kids had a blast learning to play the Djembe Drum, and so did I.

I especially want to thank their Moms, who gave me permission to post photo's of their children on my blog.
Ek së biae dankie dat "Die Mama's" my permissie gegee het om hierdie fotos of my blog te sit.

Ek hoop Julle kry dit reg om die fotos van julle eie rekenaars af te laai. Die maklikste is net "Copy and Paste!"

Ek hoop dat Julle die fotos geniet.
Daniel

Giving an impromptu lesson with some kids

I met these Kids at random while putting together some Video Clips and I decided to give them an unplanned lesson.

Drumming is GREAT for kids, not only is it FUN, but it is also:

1) Good for hand eye co-ordination skills
2)Right and left brain motor skills development(but only if they play for a long time,as in months or more)
3)It promotes creativity
4)Calms any children with hyper active related problems
5)Improves rhythm and music sense

Ta-ka-doem-ta African Drum Rhythm Rounding Off

This is a quick tip how to play the African "Ta- Ka- Doem- Ta" Rhythm, with a nice rounded off sound.

This method of "Rounding Off" can be used with any rhythm you play, in fact you will see it many many more times on this blog.
It has a nice whole sound, and really fills up the space between the notes that you play.

I hope this video is explained well, Enjoy.

Ta-ka-doem-ta African Drum Rhythm

This Rhythm is a traditional African rhythm which I learnt from a Master Drummer in East London,South Africa.(His name is Richard)

He holds drum lessons at lovely venues called "Imbizo", and "SugarShack Backpackers".

This is one of the 1st rhythms that many drummers learn. It is called "Ta - Ka - Doem - Ta"

Djembe Basic Notes Rythm

On the last clip I showed the 3 basic notes found on a Djembe Drum,

This is the actual rhythm that you can play using only those 3notes.
I have added a couple of tones here and there but you will get the idea.

Don't worry if you are not as fast in the beginning, the point isn't speed, as long as you are consistent in playing the CORRECT rhythm.

Djembe Basic Notes Introduction

These are the 3 basic notes found on a Djembe Drum...Base,Middle and Treble.

As you get better you will learn to get more sounds and notes out of your drum, but even the most experienced drummers need to come back to these 3notes every now and again.

My Favourite Place to Drum

This is my favourite place in the George area to play drums,
The Garden Route Botanical Gardens(www.botanicalgarden.org.za/)

Most of my drum clips will be from this garden...please go check out their website to find out more!

My first clip of me playing djembe

Here is a very short clip of me jamming a couple of very short rythms on a Djembe drum,
Please don't be too critical it is late in the evening and the lighting is not so good...tommorrow I will put a whole bunch of new clips on for you...

How to hold a Djembe Drum when playing it....

Always remember that however you hold a Djembe, the most important is that its comfertable for you.

However here are some basic rules to follow:
The base of the drum must be angled off the ground at 45 degrees or more. This is so that the sound can escape the funnel of the drum and be amplified out nicely, otherwise the drum doesnt go BOOM, only Thump.

I put a strap on my drum so that I can carry it over my shoulder whilst playing, allowing me to keep my back straight and my posture upright...this is good so that you don't put strain on your lower back.

To your right...............................---------------->>>>>>>
is an example of how to sit so that you don't hurt your back,
notice the strap around the midsection of my back, and the angle that the base of the drum is off the ground.

Enjoy my Blog...

Hi to All,

I am so glad you have decided to check out my blog.

As you can clearly see...I hope...I am deeply impressed with the Djembe Drum.
The Djembe is an African Drum(Althogh I think it is firstly from Senegal,back in the day)
It is carved from a tree stump, the harder, heavier the wood...the better quality drum you get.
The skin on the drum is usually goatskin, pigskin or a modern plastic-ee-leather(Which is terrible to play on)

On this blog I will be posting vid clips and pics of various styles of playing and rythms that you can maybe learn and use...I hope that I can impart some useful knowledge to you!

Enjoy, and please spread the news of my blog and lets see just how many other drummers are blogging along with you and I.

Daniel Nicholson