Fun with Djembes

Sorry I have not posted anything this week, or started the song of the week yet, but I was out camping with a bunch of other students this week up in northern Ontario. The past couple of days have been very fulfilling to me as a person as we had time set aside for us to go find spots in the wilderness secluded from everyone else, and to be perfectly quiet for a period of time and just reflect on ourselves and where we are in life. During this time I did a lot of thinking, about the blog, about drums, about religion, and I think that this is something that we should do a lot more often.

But enough with my excuses for not posting, here is what I have to say. 

I brought my Toca plastic djembe on the trip, and boy was I glad I brought it. It was perfect for around campfires to play along with a friend who brought his accoustic guitar, and provided a lot of musical relief to some who were struggling with the no iPod rules There were times where some of us were just floating in canoes in the middle of the lake while waiting for others to get started, and boy does a djembe sound amazing on an open lake surrounded by cliffs and trees! There is no better sound then a drum connecting directly with nature. It really brought out the natural rhythm we find in nature, in our selves, and in our lives. I can now see why the drum was used so much by the Native Americans to tell their stories and to connect to each other. 

The Toca drum I was using was given to me for my birthday from my brother, and what a good choice it was! This drums low end is sooo deep and rings forever. My friends compared it to a subwoofer in a car from far away. You can get so many different unique sound out of this drum, and its synthetic material was perfect for a canoe trip. It didn’t matter if it got wet, because it’s not going to warp. If anything got ruined it would be the head, and that is replaceable.

All in all, the toca synthetic djembe is a very good quality product for the price. I am not an expert on hand drums, or hand drumming for that matter, but since I’ve owned this drum I’ve had a lot of desire to learn more about hand drums and their culture. I have figured some techniques out on my own, and some from youtube, but I still want to learn more. It is nice to get away from the kit sometimes and focus on different aspects of percussion. It will round your more as a drummer, and give you respect towards other styles of playing.

Props to Toca, my brother, and Mrs. Z for planning the canoe trip.

P.S. there is a song of the week up!