Hi I'm Liz with the Louisville Free Public
Library. In 2017 we launched the COLLIDER artist in residence program., Joan Brannon is
our February 2021 virtual COLLIDER artist in residence. We are excited to welcome Joan back as
she was one of our in-person artists in February of 2019. Joan is a Louisville percussionist and
musician and we hope you'll join her live program. Welcome. I'm Joan Brannon and I'm back for
part two of this residency series for February. Perfect timing for Black History month. As
you all know from my introductory video I am a lifelong student of the drum that's what I
consider myself a student.
I will learn and learn and learn as much of this drum as possible and
my goal is to learn it not just for myself but to learn it to be able to share it and and
give access to other people who don't have access. So last time I started talking about
the djembe just a little bit and I wanted to first today go into this drum a little bit more
and show you some ways to play notes and tones if you're a beginner. To get you started this drum
this djembe, you can tell it by the shape people consider it a goblet type shape it's mine was made
in Guinea West Africa out of a wood called lingay and so it's hollow on the inside you can see
all the way through there. The djembe drum is one of the most popular hand drums in the world so
it's a pleasure for me to be able to teach people a few notes and some things to do with it if they
don't have instruction.
The djembi is made – the top part is goat skin and basically a tree is
cut down if it's done in a more traditional way permission is asked of the tree and the tree may
say yes the tree may say no but if the tree says yes it can come down and a number of drums can
be made out of one tree. Then the goat skin will be stretched across the top and then it'll all
be held together and tightened with this rope so when you sit to play a djembe it has
different tones kind of based on the size the wood it's made of, how it's carved on
the inside and the tightness of this head. So we'll get started.
There are three basic notes
you can make a lot of sounds with this drum, but there are three basic notes to play
bass. You have your hands in the air and basically just let them drop and bounce
off the drum right in the middle there. It's got a deep resonant sound. The second note of djembi is tone. You play it
on this part of the drum right here together so your fingers together. Fingers are together,
but your thumbs are out like this so you're always protecting your thumbs from injury because
at the edge of the djembe is a metal rim more than one but so this is skin covering
wood and then there's a metal rim so you want to keep your thumbs well out of the
way. Alright so we have two notes bass. Tone. Bass. Tone. When you hear rhythms you'll often hear a pattern
like that that I put at the end it's called a break. Some people call it a signal but that's
the way to get the the song started or to make a change in the middle or to end it and that
way everybody knows when to start all together when to finish all together.
You might be drumming
alone or you might be drumming with other people in an ensemble and that's the way that happens or
if you have dancers dancing with you that break or that signal gives them information about what
to do next. The third sound or note that you get from this djembe is called slap. It's in the exact
same area as tone but you just use a little more wrist. Again keep your thumbs out of the way this
is a higher pitched sound that you're going for this time it's a little bit more
of this part of your fingers not up here right here.
Okay a little more wrist
just kind of loosen your wrist stretch them out and then let them flop. Base, tone, slap. The three basic sounds of the
djembi. So if you're drum shopping you want to find a djembe with a head that's about 12 inches
round that way. It will be tall enough to reach the floor and that way you can hold it comfortably
with your feet. There are smaller djembes that have maybe eight inch or ten inch heads and
you can hold them between your legs. It's a little trickier to do but can be done. Drums
are the prices of djembes are based on the size so you would have all those things to
consider if you were thinking of buying one. I definitely would recommend from the African
continent if you wanted the most authentic sound but there are other ways to shop for drums.
You can email me at jbrannon@drummingworks.com and if you want some advice or some resources
for either buying a drum or having one repaired or something like that I want to tell you about a
program I started last summer with Summer Works. It was a job program that was intended to be seven
weeks and the young people embraced it so closely that they requested we somehow continue it and
through Youth Build Louisville we've been able to continue it.
The program is called Spirit Beats.
Spirit Beats is an arts and entrepreneurship program. It's a multi-tier process. You learn
to play instruments. You learn the culture and history of the drum in a way that you're able
to teach it. So the young people in the program now will become teachers. They also have learned
to make instruments. The instruments are sold and then there's the aspect of the startup
business so the young people have created mission statements, vision statements, and know
exactly what it is they're putting into the world and we'll be able to teach that to younger
kids.
If you want to get involved with Spirit Beats you can contact Summer Works or you
can email me at jbannon@drummingworks.com Today I want to do sort of a shout out
to some other women drummers, Black women drummers in particular around the country.
It's Black History month and I just want to take a moment to to to feature their names. I was
in Kentucky for many, many years without a teacher and the way I was able to learn is somehow
other women had maybe made CDs or I was able to take a workshop with them and invaluable
experiences. There are just a few that I want to let you know their names and you might
be able to google them and find out more information and find out where to find
their music or even take a workshop.
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