darbuka jam sessions?

I’ve been trying to find out if there is a community in Toronto of darbuka players but have had no luck so far. I’m going to be asking around at belly dancing schools and see if I can meet their darbuka players at some point. It would be fantastic to be able to meet with periodically and have a jam session specifically for middle eastern rhythms.I have been participating in drum circles but they are mainly made up of djembes and African rhythms. I’m a beginner but I think it would be a good way to learn from other students as well and even for sharing resources.

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If you happen to stumble upon my blog and either know of a middle eastern music group/jam session or a group of darbuka players interested in getting together a jamming, please leave me a comment! Thanks

Darbuka progress report #2

Here’s the darbuka progress so far. It’s been 5 or 6 weeks (I think?) and I know I have ways to go yet. The technique definitely needs work and I need to make it sound more natural. The pace isn’t consistent either. I’m a little impatient that way – I tend to want to play faster without perfecting the technique but hopefully it’ll develop as I go along. Oh well. The last one is the worst! Totally messed it up. I just learned it last week – a 10-beat Egyptian rhythm called Samai. I’ll have to practice those finger snaps and split fingers.

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The rhythms are – in the order that I attempt to play them: Beladi, Malfuf, Saidi, some pop rhythm, an Indian rhythm and Samai.

Darbuka progress report #1

It’s been about a month since I returned from Istanbul and about three weeks now since I started learning to play the darbuka I bought from Istanbul. I thought I’d record my progress using my handy iPhone and hopefully hear improvements in months to come. It certainly not an easy instrument to play, especially if you are looking to go beyond the basic rhythm and go into solos and learn Turkish style of playing.

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Listen to: Darbuka Progress #1 – Malfuf and Saidi 

In the recording, I’m attempting to do Malfuf and Saidi rhythms (i think??) – with some stuff I recently learned – mainly the finger snapping (left ring finger snapping from the left thumb) and some split finger stuff in the very beginning. You probably won’t hear it. Anyway, you can hear my many mistakes in there somewhere.. and some unevenness in both the quality of the sound (the bass/ the “doum” disappears in the end.. ) and the tempo. You can tell that I need to turn my brain off and just enjoy the music. I need to get to the point where it would make me want to dance. I have to work on that.  Feel free to send some comments/suggestions for improvement!

bandurria

Since I think I’ve found my calling with folk and world music, having picked up the fiddle and darbuka to learn regional music traditions, it would only be appropriate that I should learn the musical traditions of my homeland, the Philippines.  Having immigrated to Canada at 11, I don’t remember much about the Filipino folk music traditions. I know that we have folk music  instruments such as the kulintang mainly used in the south, a set of gong chimes similar to ones used in Thailand, but one that I do remember is the bandurria, a 10-string plucked instrument similar to a mandolin.  I remember seeing a photo of my cousin playing the bandurria when she was in high school. At the time, I didn’t know that it came to the Philippines through the Spanish tradition although that was probably pretty obvious and is certainly not surprising. 

There is also one particular brand of bandurria that I want to eventually own – Lumanog. Lumanog is a popular and believed to be the best local brand of acoustic guitars and stringed instruments in the Philippines. It also happens to be based in my home province of Pampanga. I hope that one day I can get my hands on a Lumanog bandurria and learn traditional Filipino folk music.

My Toronto

The one thing I love about Toronto is that it can feel like a big city but within in, there are pockets of active, tight knit communities. For me personally, whenever I decide to take up a new hobby, I will most likely find a teacher (if you require one) and an active community related to it. I’ve gone through a handful of hobbies (dragon boat, outrigger canoeing, fiddling, hand-drumming, sketching, salsa dancing) and with each one, I’ve found a welcoming community, open and receptive to enthusiastic beginners. Many of these communities have web presences too, for example, bulletin boards, websites, etc. that makes it easy to connect with people. I can’t imagine my life without being active and being involved in the community through my hobbies. It is such enriching experience. It’s such a gift to be able to be part of something like that and it’s a great way to relate to the city and to meet people from all walks of life.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

fiddle wishlist

I want..

Stroh Horn Violin, Brass

Custom Modern Style Cigar Box Fiddles

Neil Gow Pochette (aka Dancing Master’s Kit, Travel fiddle)

Hardingfele (Hardanger Fiddle)

rhythms and resources

This more of a note to self. This is a list of rhythms I’ve learned so far on the darbuka. I’ll have to remember these.. not just by name but also how the rhythm goes. Must do some research, learn notation and make recordings of each.

• Sabar – from Senegal, also the name of a type of drum
• Beledi – Middle Eastern rythm
• Kpanlogo – from Ghana
• Maghreb – from Morrocco

Darbuka/Doumbek/Hand Drumming Resources:

• An archived website on Alternative Music –  includes drum notation, practice exercises and rhythms
• Jas’s Rhythm List – long list of middle eastern rhythms
• Jas’s Middle Eastern Rhythms FAQ – fantastic site that answers to common questions about darbuka, list of rhythms and darbuka resources
• Drum Rhythm Generator – plug in the notation and generate a MIDI at at various tempo. Great little tool!
• Doumbek for Dummies – includes various rhythm notations
• Dumbek rhythms on Wikipedia
• Dumbek info on CrispyNeurons
• Middle-Eastern/Belly Dance rhythm – list basic rhythms with notation and audio sample

fiddle and drum

It feels good to be back into the swing of things. After taking a year break from music, basically finished with my fiddle class on May 2008 and didn’ t pick it up since then, I had forgotten how great it is to play music with other people.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I had acquired an Egyptian-style darbuka from Istanbul and am determined to learn it. Over the weekend, I went back to bringing music back into my lifestyle and attended a drum circle at “Soul Drums” and a fiddle jam session at a local church, led by my former fiddle teacher. I think I may take up fiddle again in the fall or winter – this time I want to learn the French Canadian and Metis fiddling styles.  I don’t want to quit music again. I want to continue to do it, even if I’m not taking classes. It should be part of my day to day life.

dabbling with darbuka

I recently returned from a fantastic trip to Istanbul and absolutely fell in love with the darbuka drum (aka doumbek, tabla, etc.) and Turkish rhythm. There is one street in Taksim where there is live folk music, drinks on the patio and dancing on the streets. There is also live music in one of the clubs we went to and I was mesmerized by the music.

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So I decided that a darbuka would be the perfect souvenir to take home – and I had convinced myself that I can learn how to play the darbuka. I went back to Taksim during our “shopping day” and checked out some darbukas in this one street lined with music stores. There was a wide variety of darbukas to choose from: from the Egyptian style with a rounded top, Turkish style with the exposed screws and there were ones made of copper, aluminum, ceramic and cast iron. It was difficult choosing a good one. I wanted to get one that would last me years – and after some research, I found that the best types are ceramic and cast iron as they more stay stable when being played. The one I ended up buying was a cast iron solo darbuka from Emin Percussion (along Istikal Caddesi in Taksim, Istanbul), a high-end darbuka store in Istanbul that sells professional quality darbukas which they also make themselves. It was pricey but the sound it made was fantastic.

I’ve already done some investigating in terms of places in Toronto where I can learn how to play darbuka/doumbek. I found Soul Drums, which offers all sorts of hand drumming workshops from this darbuka resource website, also Worlds of Music Toronto also offers doumbek workshops. I will be attending my first “drum circle” this weekend! I can’t wait to put my new darbuka to use.

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I think the best kind of souvenir you can take from a place is a piece of the culture. Whether it be food recipes to traditions to music. To me, after taking fiddling and learning about fiddle music influences across borders, I’ve become fascinated by how you can learn about the history of places and people by learning about one instrument.