Shekere Factory

   I've been busy working on this shekere. I went by General Bead here in San Francisco and picked up a whole bunch of nice beads to get my next shekere projects going. This one pictured here is going to be for me to take to rumbas around town. I'm trying out some new techniques on this instrument, which were a little challenging but I've got it under control now. I'm hoping to get it done for the rumba tomorrow at the Radio Havana Social Club. I'm looking forward to seeing how this shekere turns out.

 

Rhythm Transcription Sheets

          Hopefully this works out. I've attached a couple of image files that hopefully my readers can drag to their desktop and print out. What these files are, are sheets that I take to classes and seminars to write down and make a record of what I am learning there. 

                                                                                 

    I've done this for over a year now, conga rhythms and bata. I started off with just the sheets which was very effective, writing down the rhythm's notes, sequence and hand sticking through direct observation of the teacher's demonstration. I now combine this with digital audio recordings I make with my Zoom H2, which is an extremely convenient little device. The two methods, direct observation and the audio recordings, combined with direct experience and memory of playing and hearing the rhythm in class combines to make the most effective and accurate recordings short of video. Many instructors do not permit video recording of classes.

    There are several methods of notation that would be suitable for charts like these. I myself use an adaptation of "The "Stoned" Hand-Drum", which is a very cool method itself adapted from the venerable  Stone-Stick Control for the Snare Drummer.

    

    The 'Stoned" method uses letters and such for the different tones.

     I use a version of this method of letters for the tones of the drums, and I place a letter "R" or "L" for the hand underneath the tone to show the sticking. These methods are similar to tabs for guitar players. Here is an example of one that I have used.

  
    Another method that is very common is to use a row of squares for each hand; dominant hand on top, the other hand on the bottom. Both methods have their advantages. I prefer it written in one row, as I feel it's easier to vocalize the rhythm in one line, the letters end up forming a kind of sentence that I can pronounce. 


   Writing rhythms for hand drums in  standard music notation has one big problem, mainly how to represent the different strokes and the sticking, there has not been a standardized way to represent that in music notation. I often wonder why the different strokes can't be represented on the different lines of the staff, like for a piano. Usually a whole series of little symbols are used, which are always clumsy and differ from book to book. I think you could use a treble clef to represent the higher drums and the bass clef for the lower drum. The note lines would represent the tones, G for slap, E for open tone, B for bass, etc, etc. The sticking would still need to be addressed.

     Anyways, it's a debate that is going to go on for a long time: how to transcribe rhythms for hand drums. Hopefully you'll find these little sheets useful, they work well for me. The best way to transcribe them is whatever way works for you best. Of course there is the whole discussion about whether or not rumba and folkloric music which was originally passed down orally can be accurately represented on paper at all, but that's a whole different subject for another post.

Caxixi.com - Cabello Organic Percussion

 

 (from caxixi.com -Cabello Organic Percussion)

   A little while ago I wrote a post on erikundi , which are little shakers made kind of like little baskets. I know of them mainly for their use in the Afro-Cuban Abakua rhythm, but in Brasil they are called Caxixi, I'm familiar with them being played with the Berimbau, the instrument famous for accompanying Capoeira.

(from caxixi.com -Cabello Organic Percussion)

Wikipedia has this to say about caxixi and erikundi:

A caxixi is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat-bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. Like the maraca, it is sounded by shaking. It is found across Africa and South America, but mainly in Brazil. Natives believed the caxixi to summon good enchanted spirits and to ward off evil ones.

In Capoeira music, the caxixi is played along with the berimbau. In West Africa it is used by singers and often alongside drummers.

An erikundi is a kind of basket woven maraca, a percussion instrument. It is of African origins.

 Anyways, why the double post? My friends over at Sentimiento Manana posted this great picture from the percussionist Gene Golden, showing the variety and quality of his instruments. He has some fantastic stuff, including some incredible erikundis (caxixi).

(from http://sentimientomanana.blogspot.com)

  So I did a little browsing and came across a beautiful site called caxixi.com which belongs to Cabello Organic Percussion. Imagine that! A whole website named after this humble little instrument! I'm very impressed. That is just the thing I like to see. I wanted to put the word out there for any Afro-Cuban folkloric players that can't go to a flea market and buy erikundis from Ghanaians like I was lucky enough to. Cabello Organic Percussion not only seems to make fantastic and quality caxixi, they seem to have that secret ingredient: passion! I'm sure it won't be long before I have some of their instruments. They are so beautiful.

(from caxixi.com -Cabello Organic Percussion)

All done.

   Well this little guy is done now. Two more to go. This shekere ended up having a nice tight responsive action with a crisp sound, but not too loud. That's perfect for a cachimbo for guiro, even for rumba, but I don't think this gourd quite has the presence for rumba. In a guiro this size shekere basically keeps the time, playing the pick-up just before the downbeat and the downbeat and . Ki-la, ki-la, ki-la: just like the cachimbo for bembe or the okonkolo often do.

  I've heard this particular size go by a couple of names. Cachimbo is one, okonkolo like the bata drum is another, and I've even heard it mentioned as an "uno" (one), I assume because it's the smallest, or first shekere somehow?

  Cachimbo and okonkolo are obvious names as a 3 shekere agbe (or agwe) set plays guiro. From what I understand a guiro is similar to a bembe with drums and a toque with bata; the guiro uses primarily shekeres. From what I have seen and heard the songs for the orishas are sung at each. Just to be clear, I'm not a santero, though I know several. I enjoy the music and I enjoy educating myself on it's backgrounds and traditions.

  So this little guy is done and now onto the other two. It's always a pleasure to finish one of these instruments as one is never quite sure how it is going to come together in the end; the sound, the action the appearance.

Shekere Project

 

    This little shekere is turning out very well and progressing quickly. It is going to be the cachimbo, or okonkolo to an 3 shekere agbe set for guiro I am making. The tones of the gourds I am using for this set match so well it is unbelievable. It's like the intervals were tuned. I think the set is going to turn out very nicely. There is a good chance I'll be selling that set to bankroll the other 9 gourds waiting to be made into shekeres I have lying around.

 

    So why am I thinking of letting this set go if it has such great potential? Well, I'm kind of an oddball in the fact that I prefer my shekeres on the large side, larger than usual, big actually. This set is a little more regular and manageable in size for the typical player. One never knows, I may end up changing my mind and keep this set, if it sounds as good as I think it will. But I've got to let go of most of these, the last thing I need is 12 shekeres cluttering up my little San Francisco apartment. Could you imagine the noise I would make as I bump into these things while trying to eat my breakfast?

Quinto or Requinto???

   The little drum in rumba is the quinto. It is the highest pitched drum for rhythms like Guaguanco , Rumba Columbia, Guarapachangeo and Yambu. For  Guaguanco , Rumba Columbia and Yambu it is the main improvising drum, responding to the dancers movements, the singer and the other drums. Frequently during the montuno of a song the lead singer may cry "Quinto!!!", which is a signal for the coro to stop and for the quinto player to really let loose and play a solo. Guarapachangeo is kind of a different story with all the cajons and multiple drums being played sometimes.

   There can be some confusion regarding this drum, mainly in the terms quinto and requinto. When we look at big manufacturers like LP we see the quinto and the requinto in their catalogs. However when we look at this album by Grupo Afro-Cubano and look at the quinto player, we see what Lp would call a requinto. To Grupo Afro-Cubano it is the quinto, and they credit Giraldo Rodrigues with playing it.

 

   LP is mainly referring to the requinto as a size of drum, their smallest. While in rumba the names for the drums mainly refer to their role or position in the ensemble. I've also heard the quinto referred to as "a fifth", assuming the fifth drum. I don't know how accurate that really is, but if you have claves, palito, tres dos, salidor then quinto, that makes five. Also quintet means five, thus quinto???

 

   So why requinto? I'm assuming LP adopted the name for size purposes again. An LP quinto is not really different enough in size from the conga and tumba be an authentic sounding quinto for rumba. You need something smaller, with a different shape to sound like that. Listen to an old Los Munequitos album and hear how high pitched the quinto is. Look at the examples in this blog and see how small the "quintos" are. 

From Wikipedia: 

The term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are requinto guitars, drums and other instruments.

     It doesn't look like Jesus Alfonso needs a smaller version of his quinto here does it?  An 11" LP quinto just isn't going to compare with Jesus's drum there, so they've got to have a requinto. We also have Nolan Warden saying:

The words quinto, conga, and tumbadora are now used as a practicality among performers and retailers to indicate size. Quinto, the smaller drum, traditionally refers to the lead part in rumba......

Some manufacturers now produce requintos (extra small) and/or supertumbas (largest). It should not be inferred, however, that drums with these names were ever used together in a traditional ensemble. ~(Warden pg.2)

    You never see Jesus Alfonso Mira credited with playing the "requinto", he plays quinto, he is a quintocero. You also never hear the gallo call out "requinto!" when he wants to hear the solo, it's always "quinto!". As Nolan Warden says, you really don't hear the word requinto used referring to a traditional rumba ensemble at all, unless your referring to drums that have been sized along the newer LP "standards". This old Gon Bops ad doesn't use the word requinto, even though their "Super Quinto" size is what we might think of as requinto nowadays. Actually super is the name of the line, along with the Voodoo, and International lines, which also feature the 9 3/4" size. What's even more confusing is the new DW Gon Bops feature a "super quinto" as well, but it is a size in their California series, it's a smaller quinto, what others call a requinto, however DW Gon Bops call it a super quinto, perhaps in reference to the older Gon Bops.

   The only rhythm that I have actually learned that calls for a drum part with the name of requinto is a Comparsa taught to me by Sandy Perez. In that rhythm the quinto is still the main improvising drum with the highest pitch, and the requinto drum plays a repeating rhythm and is described as being the 3rd highest pitched drum.

   I've also heard that the music Plena from Puerto Rico uses a drum called a requinto.  However I know so little about that music, that all I am going to do is mention it and post this little image I found describing what a requinto is in Plena. I assume it's accurate. There is also this from Wikipedia. 

The requinto drum is used in the Puerto Rican folk genre plena, wherein it is a small conical hand drum that improvises over the other drum rhythms.

    I myself have 3 quintos, or  2 small quintos or "requintos", and a quinto. My largest quinto is by Resolution drums and is 10 1/2". I use this drum as a cachimbo for folkloric rhythms like Bembe, Palo, Makuta, etc. It is a fantastic little drum, but it is not quite the right size to get that high, high pitch that your really want for an authentic sounding rumba. I mean, I can and I have used it for rumba, and it works fine, but I was after a different sound. In folkloric rhythms it works great, because in that music the cachimbo, or high drum typically plays a recurring rhythm that forms a melody with the other drums. The larger size makes a pitch that is closer to the middle and low drums and makes the rhythm more melodious. In most folkloric rhythms the low drum is the improvisor. In contrast, a rumba quinto is so high pitched it occupies it's own realm in the music, along with the other drums and the voices.

   The other two quintos (requintos) are 9 3/4" by Isla Percussions and a 9 3/4" California series Gon Bops. They both have the high, high sound you can hear in rumba recordings from Cuba.

   I'm assuming the LP sized quinto is intended for a Salsa or Latin Jazz 3 drum set up, as it's range would be more compatible with a conga and tumba. However, many of the guys I play with use that size as part of their rumba set and that is perfectly fine and acceptable.

  Then there's the Guarapachangeo. It's not unusual to see the quinto player for that rhythm to be playing a quinto cajon between his knees, a quinto to his right and then requinto or smaller quinto to the right of that. Not only that, but it's entirely possible for the quinto player to be playing very conservatively while the big bass cajon's are going off all over the place.

  So what can I say? Confusing isn't it? A quinto really isn't a quinto, a requinto is a quinto, unless of course you have a quinto and a requinto, but then you have a quinto and a smaller quinto. Oh, and a fifth isn't a bottle, it's a drum.

Radio Havana Rumba

    This is the rumba I go to regularly. If you happen to be in town come check it out.  Yesterday I provided the drums for the first time. Everyone had compliments on them, which was great to hear. I had built this set specifically for ocassions like these. Like I tell my friends, I have drums that travel and some that stay at home. These are the ones that travel to rowdy rumbas, park practices and conga classes. Isla, Gon Bops and Valje.

   So if you're around one Sunday, come on by and take a turn on a drum or sing a rumba with us.

...and this is how I roll.

The History of Jazz Piano

Okay, I know it's not rumba instruments, or even rumba, it's jazz and piano. However I did attend a similar lecture series by SF Jazz on rumba by John Santos and it was very good. I intend on attending a few of these lectures as well.

Rumba and jazz share similarities as they are both improvisational musics. In the words of Mario Punchard of Isla Percussions "Jazz and Rumba are on the same plane". Also an interesting fact the late and great Miguel 'Anga" Diaz was influenced by the incomparable Thelonious Monk; stating as much in the videos on the making of his phenomenal album Echu Mingua. Incidentally the second lecture of the series covers the great Cuban pianist and composer, Chucho Valdes, who also appears on Diaz's album Echu Mingua.

Anyways, I love jazz as much as I love rumba. I can say that it was actually jazz that led me to discover, appreciate and learn rumba. So if you happen to be in San Francisco during September and October, or live here, I recommend attending one or more of these lectures.

 Discover Jazz thursdays, sept. 17-Oct. 15, 7-9PM Jewish Community Center of SF

Non-Members: $25/class| $100 full course (5 classes) buy tickets

SFJAZZ & JCCSF Members: $18/class| $75 full course (5 classes) buy tickets

Jazz has played an integral role in opening ears to “world music,” and the piano has played a central role in much of that progress. In our fall Discover Jazz course, students will learn about some of the most significant pianists on the global stage. The five-class series will create a vivid picture of the musical diaspora of jazz, using the compelling musical histories and personal biographies of the great jazz pianists to shape our journey.

• Sept. 17: New York, Monk and Modern Jazz The aptly dubbed “genius of modern music,” Thelonious Monk and mid-century Manhattan, when all the modern giants of jazz came out to play—features guest artist Adam Shulman. buy tickets
  
• Sept. 24: Cuban Piano and Latin Jazz A close look at the Cuban piano greats, from Chucho Valdes to Gonzalo Rubalcaba and young upstart Alfredo Rodríguez—features guest artist The Nina Ott Trio. buy tickets
  
• Oct. 1: From Jelly Roll to Modern New Orleans Trace the vibrant piano legacy of the birthplace of jazz through legends like Jelly Roll Morton, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint—features guest artist Mitch Woods. buy tickets
  
• Oct. 8: European Masters Take the Stage The old world welcomed early jazz players; now European pianists like Bobo Stenson, Nik Bärtsch and Marcin Wasilewski are becoming increasingly important—features guest artist The Peter Horvath Trio. buy tickets 
• Oct. 15: Great Jazz Pianists of Africa Jazz returned to its African roots with a fury through pianists Abdullah Ibrahim, Hotep Idris Galeta and Bheki Mseleku——features guest artist Dee Spencer. buy tickets

Special Discount to Rumba Instruments Readers

Hello blogosphere. I have very generously been offered a discount to present to all my readers from a local internet percussion store; California Percussion.
The intent of my blog is education, information and entertainment. However I also believe in supporting local businesses and artists, so I am taking this opportunity to promote California Percussion as a local company, and also California Percussion's proprietor; James Lee "Trey" Wyatt III.

I find it very pleasing and reassuring that a professional percussionist of Trey's caliber has extended his passion as a percussionist and a performer to being a provider and promoter of percussion instruments as well.

Let me paste the biographical information I have found here:

James Lee Wyatt III, also known as "Trey", joined the San Francisco Symphony in 2001 after having served as Principal Percussionist of the Honolulu Symphony from 1997-2001. A native of Princeton, Kentucky, Trey began playing percussion at age 10 and was primarily interested in the high school marching band drum line. With Trey as section leader, the Caldwell County High School Drum Line won first place in the Kentucky State Drum Line Competition.

The summer before his senior year in high school he attended the Interlochen Arts Camp where he played with a full size orchestra for the first time. He remembers, “The first piece we rehearsed was Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and the string entrance after the opening brass fanfare was like nothing I’d ever heard before. From that point on, I knew I wanted to play in a professional orchestra.” Working toward his goal, Trey received his Bachelors of Music from The University of Michigan under Michael W. Udow, Principal Percussionist, Santa Fe Opera and Salvatore Rabbio, retired Timpanist, Detroit Symphony. He received his Masters of Music from Temple University under Alan Abel, retired Associate Principal Percussion, Philadelphia Orchestra.

Trey has performed at The Santa Fe Opera, the Ojai Festival with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Britt Festival as Principal Percussionist, the National Repertory Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, the US and Italian Spoleto Festivals, and with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Sun Valley Idaho. He performed Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion with the Honolulu Symphony in March 2002 and the Stanford University Symphony in May 2003. Trey enjoys playing occasional concerts with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and exploring the percussion ensemble repertoire. He has recently started taking Taiko classes with the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and finds it to be a diverse musical experience.

He is Co-owner of California Percussion, LLC Rental/Sales/Service with his San Francisco Symphony colleague David Herbert. “It’s great having a warehouse housing a huge collection of standard and exotic instruments that David and I have found all over the world!”

Anyways, back to the discount. I have been provided with the discount coupon code of: RUMBA. It is a discount for Congas and Bongos and Accessory Percussion (which includes claves, bells, etc.) for my blog's readers. At the checkout page, just use this coupon and click on the 'Apply Discount' button. I can say that California Percussion's reperesentatives have been very professional and a pleasure to deal with.

I think the most interesting product the company has is the "Gon Bops" 55th aniversary model. This is the only company I know that offers this model. I can recommend Gon Bops, having one of their California Series drums myself, and also having experience with Akbar Moghaddam, a past San Francisco resident and master drum builder.

Maybe we'll be seeing Trey and California Percussion at the rumbas soon!