[Nodrog]

Hi there,

The main reason for me buying my djembe was to supply a nice beat for our jam sessions. I finally dug out my Boss BR600 digital recorder and finding a quiet period last weekend decided to try and record something.

I was on my own so this means I had to build up the parts seperately deciding to record a beat on the djembe first. I intentionally had nothing clearly defined in mind so I placed the recorder on a low table about 3 feet from the djembe. The BR600 has very sensitive stereo mics built in so I went with those. I just started a fairly simple beat with a few breaks thrown in and kept it going for maybe 90 seconds. This was mainly an experiment to allow me to figure out the recorder as well as the music side. Ok, so I now had a stereo recording of a djembe rhythm lasting 90 seconds and I was very pleased for a first attempt so I decided to keep it. Next, I used my classical guitar to play what I would describe as African style guitar in the key of G maj. I had a few attempts at this but on the third attempt I was happy enough so I saved that one. Next, I grabbed my Tacoma acoustic bass and recorded a complimentary bass line that laid in nice with the djembe track. Both these 'acoustic' guitars are electric so I used the guitar leads straight in, mainly to avoid background noise. (I had switched off the A.C whilst recording the djembe because the onboard mics were picking up the AC as background hiss. I was starting to get warm so I switched the A.C. back on and used the guitar leads straight in to isolate them from any unwanted sounds. They were also recorded on two tracks each for a little space and atmosphere).

And that was it. My first 90 second experimental djembe recording which I have called 'Africa 1'. This is to encourage myself to continue and hopefully do 'Africa 2' sometime.

I know folks are now gonna be saying, "Let's hear it then". Sadly,at the moment, our home computer is dead. It got struck by lightening and I am hoping it is repairable. As soon as I have it back, I will try to download a clip on this site. As mentioned, it's only around 90 seconds but it will be interesting to see what you folks think.

All the best, Gordon.

[Nodrog]

Quick correction on the above post. I had mentioned it was about 90 seconds long but when I arrived home from work last night the first thing I did was to time it. Shows what a bad guesser I am. Turned out to be exactly half that time and is just 45 seconds long. That might turn out to be a good thing, depending on who's listening to it I guess. Ha,ha,ha..

It was just a learning experience at this stage, mainly to figure out the recorder and for a first attempt, I was quite pleased. Now, I'm looking forward to Africa 2... whenever...

Gordon.