Overall, it was very interesting to get a little bit more background on West African drumming through this project. I had originally contemplated doing lion dance music since I am heavily involved with that, but I'm glad I decided to try something different a learn about different perspectives from others on this subject. First, actually learning the basics of djembe was really fun. Way different than lion dance drumming. What I really appreciated about this project though was speaking with the different drummers and learning about their personal connections to West African music and its significance to them. Listening to Yiriba speak about the disconnect between diasporans and African culture really made me think about how valuable it can be to maintain a relationship with your heritage, or to reconnect to it. There is a strong sense of identity he gained through West African music, and also for some of those that enjoy it.
Do you ever have this sort of identification with music from your culture? Was there anything interesting about my presentation that you weren't expecting?
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Yiriba interview- Continental Africans vs. African-Americans in San Diego
I had the chance the other week to speak with Yiriba, the djembe drummer from the West African dance class at UCSD. It was really great talking to him and he had a lot to say. In addition, it was also interesting to hear his perspective on West African music as an African-American, rather than a continental African like Abdoul.
I first asked Yiriba how he initially got into African music. He first saw an African drumming group perform at the Safari Park. As someone who has always been a drummer, albeit informally, he was fascinated and ended up joining that group. This is where he learned the basics of his drumming from a grand master and he later traveled to various countries of West Africa and expanded on his drumming knowledge. Now in San Diego, he has his own West African drumming company and performs around San Diego with them.
In terms of hierarchy for learning in the drumming groups he was a part of, it was very clear that there is a solid distinction between being a continental African and African-American. Masters were either brought from Africa, or the truly avid learner would travel to Africa to learn from them. Yiriba, although he has drummed for about 40 years I believe, does not consider himself a master. His definition of a master is someone who is incredibly knowledgable in the drumming rhythms, techniques, and secrets of at least one ethnic group of Africa. The only way to do so is to be completely immersed in that groups culture and to be taken in by it's community. This is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for an African-American to do because of the cultural differences. There is a deeper understanding of the traditions and culture that African-Americans, as diasporans, can't really attain. So in regards to the West African music setting in San Diego, there seems to be a necessity to refer back to the roots, Africa, for it to retain a sense of traditionalism, rather than become acculturated.
I first asked Yiriba how he initially got into African music. He first saw an African drumming group perform at the Safari Park. As someone who has always been a drummer, albeit informally, he was fascinated and ended up joining that group. This is where he learned the basics of his drumming from a grand master and he later traveled to various countries of West Africa and expanded on his drumming knowledge. Now in San Diego, he has his own West African drumming company and performs around San Diego with them.
In terms of hierarchy for learning in the drumming groups he was a part of, it was very clear that there is a solid distinction between being a continental African and African-American. Masters were either brought from Africa, or the truly avid learner would travel to Africa to learn from them. Yiriba, although he has drummed for about 40 years I believe, does not consider himself a master. His definition of a master is someone who is incredibly knowledgable in the drumming rhythms, techniques, and secrets of at least one ethnic group of Africa. The only way to do so is to be completely immersed in that groups culture and to be taken in by it's community. This is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for an African-American to do because of the cultural differences. There is a deeper understanding of the traditions and culture that African-Americans, as diasporans, can't really attain. So in regards to the West African music setting in San Diego, there seems to be a necessity to refer back to the roots, Africa, for it to retain a sense of traditionalism, rather than become acculturated.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Drumming Class in detail
Okay, so a little more from the djembe class.
This is what I learned from my interview with Abdoul:
He began drumming in his homeland of Senegal around 10 years old, when he heard the djembe and fell in love with it. He took classes every week to learn the djembe from a family that had djembe knowledge passed through it's generations. Abdoul considers learning the language of the drum to be one of the most important things in order to be able to play the djembe.
After learning to play the djembe for many years in Senegal, he moved to Italy for school where he taught the djembe for two years. Next, he moved to Spain for four years and taught there, and then moved to the US where he is now. In San Diego, he has met several djembe players, but found that many of them do not know the language. He teaches them the language at the World Beat Center.
I asked him what kind of community he plays djembe for in San Diego. Abdoul mostly sticks around at the World Beat Center to teach djembe, but he also visits local elementary/middle/high schools and holds workshops where they learn about the djembe and its history. In addition, he plays for African dance performers and interestingly enough, in Tijuana. He said they love the djembe in Mexico and he goes there every weekend.
Overall, it seems like Abdoul's contribution of African music to the San Diego community is localized to the World Beat Center, as well as to educating San Diego youths. He also provides a more traditional structure of djembe education to the djembe drummers of San Diego.
This is what I learned from my interview with Abdoul:
He began drumming in his homeland of Senegal around 10 years old, when he heard the djembe and fell in love with it. He took classes every week to learn the djembe from a family that had djembe knowledge passed through it's generations. Abdoul considers learning the language of the drum to be one of the most important things in order to be able to play the djembe.
After learning to play the djembe for many years in Senegal, he moved to Italy for school where he taught the djembe for two years. Next, he moved to Spain for four years and taught there, and then moved to the US where he is now. In San Diego, he has met several djembe players, but found that many of them do not know the language. He teaches them the language at the World Beat Center.
I asked him what kind of community he plays djembe for in San Diego. Abdoul mostly sticks around at the World Beat Center to teach djembe, but he also visits local elementary/middle/high schools and holds workshops where they learn about the djembe and its history. In addition, he plays for African dance performers and interestingly enough, in Tijuana. He said they love the djembe in Mexico and he goes there every weekend.
Overall, it seems like Abdoul's contribution of African music to the San Diego community is localized to the World Beat Center, as well as to educating San Diego youths. He also provides a more traditional structure of djembe education to the djembe drummers of San Diego.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Djembe Drumming Video Example
Just realized I never posted a video of what djembe drumming sounds like, here you go! If you listen, you can hear that there are two distinct sounds for hitting the rim of the drum, and one for the center. Those are the sounds I mentioned I learned in the djembe drumming class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe75DvjOrBc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe75DvjOrBc
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Djembe Drumming Class
Today, I went to the World Beat Center and took a djembe drumming class. It was loads of fun. I learned a lot about the instrument and had a chance to speak with the instructor, Abdoul. I will write more details about my interview with him the the next blog.
In the class, I learned that the djembe originates from West Africa but is now common throughout the entirety of Africa. Djembe knowledge was traditionally passed down through generations of families but it has become something that can be learned through classes. Abdoul, from Senegal, learned to play the djembe through classes starting at age 10. One of the things he stressed that is important about learning to play the djembe is to learn the language. There are spoken sounds that refer to the three types of drum hits. These hits are called bass, tonic, and clock (or this is what I thought he was saying). Bass is a hit to the center of the drum with your palm, tonic is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held together strongly, and clock is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held apart loosely. This creates three different sounds- a deep one, high pitch, and higher pitch. Different words signify the three hits, and it is important to learn the words for the patterns in order to remember and play them. I remember talking about this in class in reference to other styles of drumming.
After we learned the basic hits, we learned two patterns for dhomba (spelling unknown). Dhomba is music that is played at an annual ceremony/festival in which everyone in the community participates. It was really fun learning this and also tough learning the language.
From the overall look of the World Beat Center, and from reading the website, it seems to be a location that prides itself in sharing African culture with the community. I may have to take a further look into what they offer.
In the class, I learned that the djembe originates from West Africa but is now common throughout the entirety of Africa. Djembe knowledge was traditionally passed down through generations of families but it has become something that can be learned through classes. Abdoul, from Senegal, learned to play the djembe through classes starting at age 10. One of the things he stressed that is important about learning to play the djembe is to learn the language. There are spoken sounds that refer to the three types of drum hits. These hits are called bass, tonic, and clock (or this is what I thought he was saying). Bass is a hit to the center of the drum with your palm, tonic is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held together strongly, and clock is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held apart loosely. This creates three different sounds- a deep one, high pitch, and higher pitch. Different words signify the three hits, and it is important to learn the words for the patterns in order to remember and play them. I remember talking about this in class in reference to other styles of drumming.
After we learned the basic hits, we learned two patterns for dhomba (spelling unknown). Dhomba is music that is played at an annual ceremony/festival in which everyone in the community participates. It was really fun learning this and also tough learning the language.
From the overall look of the World Beat Center, and from reading the website, it seems to be a location that prides itself in sharing African culture with the community. I may have to take a further look into what they offer.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Djembe class
I have officially committed myself to taking a djembe drumming class next Wednesday at the World Beat Center. Sounds like it will be fun. I will use this as a chance to get in contact with the instructor and ask some questions about his music. I'm still trying to solidify the direction I want this project to go in, but I think after speaking with him and getting some more information that will help me out. From the World Beat website (http://www.worldbeatcenter.org/), I learned that there are also many others I can talk to about the role of African music in the San Diego community. I think I'd like to see if there are differences in how African music is received in the African community in San Diego versus the general San Diego community. I remember hearing on NPR a while back about San Diego having a large African refugee population and being surprised, and googling it, I found it has the largest East African refugee population in California and second largest East African refugee population in the nation (http://www.hornafrica.org/).
Later, I plan to interview the professor and the drummer for TDMV 143 West African Dance. I think this will be cool because the drummer for the class is African-American, while the drummer for the World Beat Center is from Senegal. I hope to get their perspectives on learning djembe drumming and if how they practice it in San Diego is different. Maybe their backgrounds will have an important role in how they utilize their drumming and communicate with others in San Diego.
Later, I plan to interview the professor and the drummer for TDMV 143 West African Dance. I think this will be cool because the drummer for the class is African-American, while the drummer for the World Beat Center is from Senegal. I hope to get their perspectives on learning djembe drumming and if how they practice it in San Diego is different. Maybe their backgrounds will have an important role in how they utilize their drumming and communicate with others in San Diego.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Where to go
So I'm pretty set on doing something related to African drumming. I've found several options in San Diego for me to get some exposure. I can go back to my West African dance class and speak with the professor and the drummer. I found there is also the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park. West African drumming is taught there so it would be fun to take a class. I already do drumming for lion dance, but it would be a totally different experience to try African drumming.
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