[Djembe-nerd]

Yes, the difference was audiable a little more live, somehow the recording sounds almost the same for the slap and the tonepalo. Also its only coming with the right hand for now, whenever it comes more clearly. I will try with a more drier djembe to see if the difference is noticable or becuase I am thinking in my mind I am following a technique the sound exsists

Yes, lot of work ahead, but not years

[Dugafola]

my problem is being able to go from normal slap to 3rd slap in succession.

[e2c]

my problem is being able to go from normal slap to 3rd slap in succession.

Ditto, though I don't think i have that "3d slap" nailed by any means... Still working on it!

[michi]

Just found this very nice and clear example of the third slap. The slap is first used at 4:04 and again at 5:12, 5:57, and 6:12.



Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

his hands look like they are in 3D for part of this clip.

love it.

[michi]

his hands look like they are in 3D for part of this clip.

Yes, that's a nice clear recording.

Looking at his hands for the signature slap, it seems that he's hitting in same spot that I indicated here. But he doesn't strike with forefinger and middle finger; instead, it looks like he's striking with ring and little finger.

Michi.

[Dugafola]

his hands look like they are in 3D for part of this clip.

Yes, that's a nice clear recording.

Looking at his hands for the signature slap, it seems that he's hitting in same spot that I indicated here. But he doesn't strike with forefinger and middle finger; instead, it looks like he's striking with ring and little finger.

Michi.

yea it appears he has slightly bigger than average hands as well.

[e2c]

Actually... I think the fact that everyone's hands are different is a key point.

Some of us will be able to produce the sounds (not just "3d slap") in one way, others in... [fill in the blanks].

I think experimenting and finding out what works for you is the main point, no?

[Dugafola]

Actually... I think the fact that everyone's hands are different is a key point.

Some of us will be able to produce the sounds (not just "3d slap") in one way, others in... [fill in the blanks].

I think experimenting and finding out what works for you is the main point, no?

indeed.

[Mikeleza]

excellent video Michi, you always come up with the goods!

I've had a little attempt at getting that slap but I don't really get it yet. I saw Mamady doing it in spain last august and saw how he changes the angle (alot like the video above) but I haven't really found the sound yet. I can get a different sound if I concentrate the slap towards my two middle fingers and turn my hand inward but its not by any means clear yet.

My favourite use of it that I have heard so far is on Mamady's album Mogobalu where he plays this beautiful 9/8 solo phrase over Konden or something... (I can't remember which rhythm, might not be Konden)

I love learning different styles of slap. I generally only use one or two on djembe but I can play four clearly different slaps at the moment... I would love to be able to do this "signature slap"

[davidognomo]

hi,

maybe a little too late to jump in this discussion.

I know this third slap as chora (this is not an exact spelling; in english, to get the the right phonetic effect, it's better to write shora)

I didn't catch if anyone identified it as originally from Ivory Coast.

Maybe Michi or one other of you guys who have frequent contact with Mamady can confirm this with him, but it has been told to me by a student of his, and other people who got this idea to, that Mamady got this from his time in Ivory Coast.

In the videos posted by bubudi in the video section "Harouna Dembele vs. Petit Adama Diarra you get really good examples of the usage of this slap.
I don't know the biography of Petit Adama, but, Harouna has also been some time in Cote d'Ivoire (Yelemba d'Abidjan)

I hope that one of these days I get to find where I saw a very nice video of a not too much virtuoso fola using this slap in a very cool way. From Ivory coast too.

But for me, the guy that has better control of this slap, from those who I know, is Thomas Guei

2:12


you can also check the vid I posted in the video section, intitled "who is who", where he does the same thing at 9:00.

I checked this intire thread. I don't think that what Famoudou does in his introduction to sofa in Rythmen der Malinke is the same kind of slap as the shora. The shora, or tonpalo, as I've seen you call it here, is more melodic. That slap of Famoudou's is one other thing, all right, I mean other than a regular slap, but I don't see it as this tonpalo slap.

There is also one other kind of "pitch range" in the slap that can be seen right in the beginning of this babara solo (from beginning up to 0:22)


I think this effect is much due to horse skin, wich I was told is what Babara uses in all of the djembes he has and palys with.

[michi]

I checked this intire thread. I don't think that what Famoudou does in his introduction to sofa in Rythmen der Malinke is the same kind of slap as the shora. The shora, or tonpalo, as I've seen you call it here, is more melodic. That slap of Famoudou's is one other thing, all right, I mean other than a regular slap, but I don't see it as this tonpalo slap.

I agree, it's something different. The tonepalo falls in pitch in between a tone and a normal slap. What Famoudou does in that recording is to use normal slaps, but vary their overtone spectrum. It's not the same. The tonepalo uses a different vibrational mode of the skin that changes the fundamental frequency, whereas Famoudou uses the same mode (that is, the fundamental frequency stays the same) but varies the overtones.

Cheers,

Michi.

[davidognomo]

Hey, just posting to share a happy funny happening.

I'm still trying to hold on to the right regular-slap technique. It's not yet consistent, but very much getting there. I noticed that when I was trying to achieve a regular slap, sometimes a close to 3rd slap sound would appear.

With time and practice, I'm improving the consistency of my regular slap, and with the help of michi's pictures with the colouring on the skin of the djembe and on the palm of the hand, and the video recordings available on you tube, and observing a teacher with whom I' ve had recently a few classes, that does it, I' m starting to produce intencionaly the third slap.

so, thank's djembefola.com

and thanks, Michi!

[kawa]

I'll try my best to explain how I do it :
put your hand on the skin as if you'd hit a medium,
then put it a bit more inside the skin area,
relax your fingers,
tilt the hand slightly so that the index is higher than the little finger,
put the hand slightly more centered,
and hit with a focus on the tip of your fingers

If you get the right position without hitting the skin too hard you should have it.

It requires lots of practice though.

I think that if you want to get the topalo right you should first spend much time on your tones and slaps. The topalo is intermediary between the 2. You can't get it if your S and T are not crystal clear. So work on your basic sounds first, it will be helpful.

The specialist of the genre, to my knowledge, is Thomas Guei. He is an outstanding player. He also has the sickest topalos I've ever heard. And he can do many different topalos (Mamady has only one).

Hope it helps.

Kawa
http://kawatvinternational.wordpress.com/
http://kawatv.wordpress.com/

[davidognomo]

I talked about this vid in a previous post, when I was saying that I had the impression that the tonpalo slap was an ivory Coast thing.





It seems that the soloist is using the tonpalo slap.



I had a workshop with Baba Toure, who is from Ivory Coast, and asked him. He confirmed to me that the tonpalo slap is original from Ivory Coast.