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Preview the new CD
This is an amazing audio and notation encyclopedia of every djembe and dun dun part for 50 Rhythms! |
 In all my years playing, studying and teaching West African rhythms and percussion I have always come across an interesting and challenging situation. It is really hard to find people, that is to say djembe players, other fellow percussionists or drum students who want to learn the dunun patterns, individual traditional dunun parts and or ballet arrangements on 2 or 3 dununs or more. dununs are also known as djun djuns, doun douns or [...]  Toca artist and Toca endorsee Michael Pluznick shows the fun Zaouli break and Kuku solo technique for djembes and dunun on Toca Stage Series Pro wood djembe and Toca Freestyle Djundjuns. [...]  Does age matter when playing or performing drumming and percussion music? Yes and no.Many of us who have been playing for a while would obviously like to keep playing for a while. I myself am over 50 years old. I am constantly playing with players half my age and sometimes more. Of course there are always going to be some age or physical limitations, but there does not have to be any cramp in your style and with the proper maintanance and care of our bodies there should be no reason why we can not play well into our 90′s! They do in Africa! [...]  People often ask me about a training program. What could they do to improve their drumming and or improve more rapidly? I put together the following suggestions based on my own training program that I have followed for many years. Those of you who know me personaly know I am a bit of a fanatic so of course you can tone down the program to suit your own personal needs. So just take a few ideas from here or all of them. “Arai gor dai” as they say in Thailand (“up to you”)! So pick and choose and enjoy your practice and training ritual. remember it’s “playing” and playing is FUN! [...]  Many people have written to me saying, “OK, I agree I need to practice, but where can I practice”? Maybe it is too cold to go out to the park, or you just don’t feel like dragging your drum around? Or maybe someone has complained about “noise”? I do not know how many times I have had noise complaints from my neighbors about “strange sounds both night and day”! The drums can definitely bring out [...]  If you are walking into an unkonwn situation be it a drum circle, drum jam, party or a dance class here are some general guidelines of etiquette to follow. They may seem pretty simple and you may or may not agree with them. But if you follow them you will have a much more harmonius experience then if you don’t, and you will also make it a lot easier on other drummers or players [...]  Soloing on any drum especially djembe can be daunting at first. Everyone wants to do it but how do we start? First of all, what is a solo or “lead” as we also say in the drumming world? Traditionally speaking a solo in West African music, specifically music from Guinee and Mali is a phrase or group of phrases chained together that interact and accent the dance choreography or dancers movements. The solo inspires [...]  Tina and Luna enjoy there first djembe drum class with Michael Pluznick on Koh Samui Island, Thailand. Luna is playing a new Toca Freestyle djembe. Tina and Michael are playing Toca Stage Series Pro wood djembes. The rhythm being taught is “Makru” from Guinee, West Africa. http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/m… Aruna and Brulye teach Michael P Mendiani solo technique at a djembe class at Centre Togola in the Sabalibougou district of Bamako Mali. Music, song, djembe and dunun class and djembe lessons are held here every day of the week. If you want to study djembe in Mali, this is the place to go for a djembe lesson or african dance class. These guys and their students really play djembe well! Very [...]  Bali Djembe drums vs West African djembe drums The prices of professional djembe drums are going through the roof on line (you can pay well over $650!). That said, under certain circumstances, one of the best buys going right now is a Bali djembe drum. They are just about always light weight, have nice skins and a great drum can cost you about $100 US or even less! Bali is still a wonderful place [...] Aruna and Brulye teach Michael P Mendiani solo technique at a djembe class at Centre Togola in the Sabalibougou district of Bamako Mali. Drum class and djembe class is held here every day of the week. If you want to study djembe in Mali, this is the place to go for a djembe lesson or african dance class. These guys and their students really play djembe well! Very inspiring drumming! http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/mali Didadi is a rhythm that can be used by young people to compete at festivals and celebrations. Didadi can be played for the expected arrival of an important person or at end-of-the-year holidays. Some say it originates from the Bougouni circle , of Mali’s Sikasso region. The didadi is also organized during the end of the year holidays. What many of us know as a dunun (double sided drum) is here called [...] How to play djembe. Begginers Djembe calss. Begginers dunun class. This is the rythym arangement “Djagbe” (in Guinee) or Madan (in Mali) djembe and dunun class excerpts @ Rumpuree dance school in Thailand. taught by Michael Pluznick. http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/mali Part number one Watch me, (Michael Pluznick) struggle in the deep Mali West African heat trying to remember..and recite djembe solo technjique for my master djembe teacher, “Old Master” Aruna Sidibe… everything Aruna has taught me in the prior 2 and 1/2 months of djembe class for this one piece! I pull it off, but just barely!! To see how it is really played go to my other SUNU djembe and african [...] When an established conga player transitions to learn to play djembe he or she has certain advantages and disadvantages. When you play congas, there is much emphasis on pushing in to the drum to make tone. On a goat skin djembe, do to the thin tight skin, you must pull the sound out. work on pulling and keeping your hands in near the rim Despite this energetic difference, the technique for making tone [...] Silencing the inner critic. For most of us when we are drumming , practicing and playing we are playing to an imaginary critic. Often this critic is saying, “you are not good enough”. I have learned over the years to simply not pay attention to the critic or whatever negative images or feelings that may come up while playing. Or we can be playing against someone who was at or in a playing situation. [...] Don’t let your ego in the way of making you a great drummer. A great freind and teacher used to tell us before class. “Leave your ego at the door”. When we come together to drum, to learn or to play together it is important we come with respect for each other no matter what level of playing we are at. Everyone can drum and everyone has their own unique beat or inner rhythm. [...] Excerpts from Guinea West African drum class and djembe lesson by Michael Pluznick. Sobonikun is a mask dance. This is the sangban (dunun) part that was taught to me by master djembe drummer Bolokada Conde (of Les Percussion du Guinea). Different then the Mamady Keita version. Also known as Sogonikun in Mali a mask dance. Sobonikun, Sogognikun, Sogonikun I often hear people, friends and students complain that they can not play as fast as they would like to. Watch any video of the top players in Africa or Cuba play and it is truly amazing. How do they do it? A key to playing fast is playing relaxed. This does not mean “sleepy” it means “tension less”. Some people can relax or play with tension easier then others. There are mental aspects [...] function startGallery_11() { var myGallery = new gallery($(“myGallery_11″), { timed: true, showCarousel: true, showInfopane: true, showArrows: true, embedLinks: true, slideInfoZoneOpacity: 0.80, delay: 5000, defaultTransition: “fade”, textShowCarousel: “Show/Hide Thumbnails” }); document.getElementById(“myGallery_11″).style.display = “block”; myGallery.toggleCarousel(); } window.addEvent(“domready”, startGallery_11); flpowers flower power 1 flowers and nature in Thailand flower power 2 flowers and nature in Thailand buildings 1 asian architecture buildings 2 asian architecture flower power 3 flowers and nature of thailand drummer statue in park veggies in market fresh veggies in market at Paragon shoping center bangkok Thailand traditional drum statue traditional drum statue in bangkok park sunset 1 sunset at Pattay Beach Thailand, 2 hr drive from Bangkok. Farangs love this beach resort city sunset 2 Thailand, 2 hr drive from Bangkok. Farangs love this beach resort city sunset 3 Thailand, 2 hr drive from Bangkok. Farangs love this beach resort city sunset 4 Thailand, 2 hr drive from Bangkok. Farangs love this beach resort city sunset 5 Thailand, 2 hr drive from Bangkok. Farangs love this beach resort city West African djembe and dunun class and drum lesson taught by percussionist Michael pluznick at Rumpuree in Bangkok, Thailand. This African drum rhythm is from Guinea, West Africa. Here is my Mali Suku (Soli) djembe solo technique class with master Aruna Sidibe in Bamako Mali, West Africa. I am reciting back to my teacher specific djembe phrases or “techniques” which are age old, and played by all drummers who play traditional Mali west african djembe drums. This is from a drum class given by Bolokada Conde star of Les Percussions Du Guinea, in Oakland at the Malonga Center (formerly know as Alice Arts Center), In this video Bolokada shows the seeming simplicity of drumming. According to the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes directly from the saying “Anke dje, anke be” which literally translates to “everyone gather together” and defines the drum’s purpose. In the Bamakan language, “Dje” is the verb for “gather” and “be” translates as “everyone”. |
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