Voice In The Drum

Based on extensive field research in India and Pakistan, this new study examines the ways drumming and voices interconnect over vast areas of South Asia and considers what it means for instruments to be voice-like and carry textual messages in particular contexts. Richard K. Wolf employs a hybrid, novelistic form of presentation, in which a fictional protagonist interacts with Wolf's field consultants, to communicate ethnographic and historical realities that transcend the local details of any one person's life. The narrative explores how the themes of South Asian Muslims and their neighbors coming together, moving apart, and relating to God and spiritual intermediaries resonate across ritual and expressive forms such as drumming and dancing. Wolf weaves in the story of a family led by Ahmed Ali Khan, a North Indian ruler who revels in the glories of 19th century life, when many religious communities joined together harmoniously in grand processions. His journalist son Muharram Ali obsessively scours the subcontinent in pursuit of a music he naively hopes will dissolve religious and political barriers. The story charts the breakdown of this naiveté. A daring narrative of music, religion and politics in late twentieth century South Asia, The Voice in the Drum delves into the social and religious principles around which Muslims, Hindus, and others bond, create distinctions, reflect upon one another, or decline to acknowledge differences.

Born in Nigeria, Onye brings the heart and soul of Africa to The Drum: Voice of the Village. He teaches the reader how to approach the drum, how to play the drum, how to use the drum for healing and awakening as well as for entertainment, and how to create and celebrate community through the power of the drum. Onye tells the story of his village - where the drum was the heartbeat of the people, sounding out the messages of a new birth, mourning the passing of an ancestor, dancing the joy of new love. The drum was always vibrating, speaking the emotions that connected the people of the village with each other and with the world. A pioneer in using music, rhythms and dance to bring diverse communities together, Onye shows how music has a profoundly transformative capacity to affect personal and societal healing. He teaches how to use the drum for health, healing and ceremony as well as for creating community. Onye Onyemaechi is the founding director of Village Rhythms and Insights for Healing. He is a celebrated recording artist, performer, producer, composer, teacher, mentor, healer and consultant. Book jacket.

Percussion is an attempt—in the author’s words—to make sense of "senseless beating," to grasp how rhythm makes sense in music and society. Both a scholar and a former professional drummer, John Mowitt forges a striking encounter between cultural studies and new musicology that seeks to lay out the "percussive field" through which beating—specifically the backbeat that defines early rock-and-roll—comes to matter for raced, urban subjects. For Mowitt, percussion is both an experience of embodiment—making contact in and on the skin—and a provocation for critical theory itself. In delimiting the percussive field, he plays drumming off against the musicological account of the beat, the sociological account of shock and the psychoanalytical account of fantasy. In the process he touches on such topics as the separation of slaves and drums in the era of the slave trade, the migration of rural blacks to urban centers of the North, the practice and politics of "rough music," the links between interpellation and possession, the general strike, beating fantasies, and the concept of the "skin ego." Percussion makes a fresh and provocative contribution to cultural studies, new musicology, the history of the body and critical race theory. It will be of interest to students of cultural studies and critical theory as well as readers with a serious interest in the history of music, rock-and-roll and drumming.

In response to the phenomenal resurgence of the drum nationwide, Michael has completely revised and expanded the 1991 edition for all those folks discovering the power of drumming. This useful book reveals profound teachings about shamanic drumming, which is a time-honored method of healing and helping others. Trained as a ceremonial drummer in the Mongolian and Native American shamanic traditions, Michael presents the first practical guide to applying this ancient healing art to our modern lives. Through a series of simple exercises, lessons, and rituals, he teaches you the basic shamanic methods of drumming. The focus is on creating sacred space, journeying, power practice, power animals, geomancy, drum therapy, drum harmonics, drum circle dynamics, and the universal rhythmic phenomena that come into play whenever we drum. The techniques are simple and powerful. Whether you are an accomplished percussionist or a total beginner, this user-friendly book will help you harness the power of drumming.

This book was created to help drummers improve their abilities to play great drum fills. the material presented was originally developed over the course of several years, as a result of the needs and requests of many of my students. As drummers practice playing fills, it becomes apparent that there are a variety of issues that need to be addressed. to play fluent and creative fills, a drummer needs a strong foundation of basic fill concepts, the technique to execute the fill, and musical ideas for the content of the fill. Without these key elements, playing fills can be a source of difficulty and frustration. to further illustrate this idea... In some cases a drummer may practice a particular lick or sticking pattern to a high degree of physical execution, but does not have a clear understanding of how to apply it well within a musical phrase. the opposite is also sometimes true, a drummer may understand a simple rhythmic idea and play it very well as a fill, but doesn't quite know how to employ more interesting techniques or sounds into the phrase and get something else out of it.The goal of this book is to help drummers achieve a balance in these necessary skills. This book presents a diverse collection of studies and exercises that clarify the basics of drum fills, develop more advanced and specific techniques to use in fills, and present many ideas for musical phrases using the techniques. the studies are presented in an order that follows a natural progression of ability, however... the exercises do not need to be played in the order they are presented. Students and teachers can select exercises to design a curriculum that fits a student's needs as their skills develop. with each set of exercises, you will find descriptions, tips and practice instructions. Sometimes they are written for each individual study, and when appropriate they are written for the entire chapter. Be sure to read the text that accompanies each part of this book to get the most out of the exercise.

Alfred's Drum Method, Books 1 and 2 are the ideal teaching tools to help prepare beginning players for all styles of snare drum and percussion performance. Book 1 contains 80 pages of sequential instruction covering rudimental studies, roll studies, contest solos, and bass drum and cymbal technique. Book 1 also includes 23 solos suitable for recitals and contests. Book 2 is much more than just a snare drum method! It continues the learning process by covering additional rudimental studies, tonal properties of the snare drum, theme and variations, musical forms, solos and duets. Book 2 also covers traditional rudimental style, corps style (by Jay Wanamaker), orchestral style, accessory instruments, and multiple-percussion techniques. The DVD includes demonstrations of all the rudiments and accessory instruments, plus solo performances by the authors. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

A collection of essays by Femi Osofisan, the internationally respected Nigerian dramatist and poet, who is widely hailed as one of Africa's leading writers of the generation following on from Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. With acerbic wit and with idealistic fervour, Osofisan speaks in these essays about the place of literature and drama, and those who consume it, in the troubled post-colonial continent that is Africa. The result is a passionate and original insight, not only into the work of his contemporaries, but also into the adventure of the Africa of the past.

(ExpressiveArts). After extensive field-testing in the U.S. and Canada, World Music Drumming has passed all the tests! Aimed primarily at grades 6-8 with extensions into the lower elementary grades and the high school, you and your students will learn drumming techniques, sing lots of great songs with accompaniment and movement, connect African and Latin American cultural traditions to the music performed, and discover how music can be the perfect vehicle for teaching team building, respect, focusing, listening, problem solving, and other important life skills. The Teacher's Edition provides complete lesson plans and a step-by-step teaching process.