Boomboom BOOOOM bubububu BOOOOM
Surdos :: BrazilianPercussion.com
I've finally found a way in. As some of you may know about my family, my wife is heavily addicted to dancing. Her favorites are Samba and various forms (forro, axe, etc), as well as Salsa. I'm not as fortunate in the leg department (all grace that I have seems to be stuck in my hands, and unless I'm doing a Capoeria hand stand, it ain't happenin'). But two weeks ago I accompanied Angela to her Monday evening Samba class and instead of hanging out, looking like a sad puppy and imbibing anything so I had something to do, I took a drum class.
and I loved it.
I've been a musician since before memory (playing drums first as a 3 year old - destroying them in the process and then starting classical piano at 5), but since I've been editing full time, my guitars have been gathering dust. It's difficult right now to find musicians who are 1. very good and 2. not professionals. I want more like me: Guys/Girls who've played at the professional level but don't want to be full time musicians. So I've been recording ideas into my protools setup, and trying to learn all the parts so I can play all the parts.
Back to the drumming. It's fun, I get to bang a loud drum for 2 hours straight and it's constructive because the beat is what the dance class in front of us are dancing too. This is actually a norm in the LA area. Most samba/salsa dance classes employ 2-6 drummers to provide the rhythms. Especially since certain dances go along with certain rhythms.
And now that I can contribute, I am very happy. Yesterday, the wife and I went to a birthday party for one of her dance instructors. In the garage were numerous drums and I was able to join the bateria and play along. Nothing quite like 30 people in a backyard in Inglewood half dancing to the 1/4 drumming and the rest eating and drinking.
I'm starting on the bottom (Teacher asked me if I had any musical exp. I told him a little bit, but I was here to learn). and so far I play the surdo, which does the bass bottom beat. Jumping from Bass guitar to bass drum is pretty good. And it's difficult to keep the time two hours in a row nonstop. but the cool thing is that everyone hears the bass, it defines the bar and besides, all the kids wanna show off on the snare drums anyway. Every place I've been there's been 4-5 snare kids and hardly any surdo players (at the party, I was the only one). So I get to play. It's a funny echo of rock music, how there's always too many lead guitarists to go around but few bassists. If you want job security in music, play bass!
I've finally found a way in. As some of you may know about my family, my wife is heavily addicted to dancing. Her favorites are Samba and various forms (forro, axe, etc), as well as Salsa. I'm not as fortunate in the leg department (all grace that I have seems to be stuck in my hands, and unless I'm doing a Capoeria hand stand, it ain't happenin'). But two weeks ago I accompanied Angela to her Monday evening Samba class and instead of hanging out, looking like a sad puppy and imbibing anything so I had something to do, I took a drum class.
and I loved it.
I've been a musician since before memory (playing drums first as a 3 year old - destroying them in the process and then starting classical piano at 5), but since I've been editing full time, my guitars have been gathering dust. It's difficult right now to find musicians who are 1. very good and 2. not professionals. I want more like me: Guys/Girls who've played at the professional level but don't want to be full time musicians. So I've been recording ideas into my protools setup, and trying to learn all the parts so I can play all the parts.
Back to the drumming. It's fun, I get to bang a loud drum for 2 hours straight and it's constructive because the beat is what the dance class in front of us are dancing too. This is actually a norm in the LA area. Most samba/salsa dance classes employ 2-6 drummers to provide the rhythms. Especially since certain dances go along with certain rhythms.
And now that I can contribute, I am very happy. Yesterday, the wife and I went to a birthday party for one of her dance instructors. In the garage were numerous drums and I was able to join the bateria and play along. Nothing quite like 30 people in a backyard in Inglewood half dancing to the 1/4 drumming and the rest eating and drinking.
I'm starting on the bottom (Teacher asked me if I had any musical exp. I told him a little bit, but I was here to learn). and so far I play the surdo, which does the bass bottom beat. Jumping from Bass guitar to bass drum is pretty good. And it's difficult to keep the time two hours in a row nonstop. but the cool thing is that everyone hears the bass, it defines the bar and besides, all the kids wanna show off on the snare drums anyway. Every place I've been there's been 4-5 snare kids and hardly any surdo players (at the party, I was the only one). So I get to play. It's a funny echo of rock music, how there's always too many lead guitarists to go around but few bassists. If you want job security in music, play bass!
posted by DLoyd76 at 5/17/2004 10:43:00 AM
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