chelidon: (Default)
[personal profile] chelidon
Wow, am I tired, but it's (mostly) a good tired. It's been a long day of work and writing and house renovations and drumming. Now I get to catch up on pending email and planning for weekend events (all day class here on Saturday followed by bardic circle, and extra-lovely houseguests coming and going Thursday-Monday)

I got hardwood laid in a swath about 4 ' wide by 24' long, and probably would have kept going tonight, but I managed to cleverly drive a 1" long wood splinter all the way in under the nail of my left thumb, and after pulling it out with a pair of needle-nose pliers and trying to keep from bleeding all over the nice new floor, I decided to call it a night. Ow ow ow. Not the place I would have chosen for a piercing, either -- too hard to keep clean ;> After I get some more done, I'll probably post a picture here (of the floor, not my thumb).

Figuring that if I was going to go through all the trouble to lay hardwood, I wanted wood that looked like wood, instead of wood that looks like a flawless plastic imitation of wood, I went for the "rustic" grade (which costs more than "select," go figure), and it was so worth it. Knots, worm holes, funky grain, lots of variation in color, and some of the most amazing pieces of figured oak I've ever seen. I've about tranced out just staring into some of these pieces of wood. Bliss.

I also got to drum for an hour and a half this evening with these folks, who are running a 10-week class about 25 min from my house. The fellow leading the class just got back from a month in Guinea working with his Malinke teachers there , and he came back with 20 new (well not new, quite traditional) polyrhythms. Drool. It was really good drumming intensely for that time, and I was very impressed both by the teacher and the other students. And it's really good for me to be there as a student, to focus on cleaning up my technique and pick up some more traditional polyrhythms. One unique aspect of Malinke drumming is routine use of three different types and sizes of djundjun/dundun (bass drum) -- more nifty parts to learn! I asked after class, and next week we're getting printed notation for the rhythms we'll be working with -- more bliss. I'm going to be running a semi-monthly drumming skill-sharing get together out here starting in April or May, and I will definitely be sharing this stuff, as well as at the places I'll be teaching over the Summer and Fall.

Re: Drumming?

Date: 2005-03-22 04:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] devbrain.livejournal.com
I'm a bit nervous //
Has the red crested crane passed //
And my title too? //

Profile

chelidon: (Default)
chelidon

July 2011

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
1011121314 1516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 27th, 2026 06:45 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios