[e2c]

michi - gotta agree with you on the lack of cohesiveness and agreement among the ethnomus types.

I have read a few absolutely insane descriptions of how some Arabic rhythms are supposedly played - while I won't drop names, I will say that the people who adhere to this way of thinking seem to have absolutely no idea of how music is actually played, by real people at that.

Ditto for some of the folks who write about African music.

There is no consensus, not by a long shot! (At least, not in the material I've read.) If anything, there are petty little "wars" between different groups of ethnomus types over nomenclature, terminology, notation, even about the music itself and why it is played in the first place.

It gets very frustrating - and ridiculous - all too quickly.

That's not to say that all ethnomus people are wrong, or don't know how to play music - far from it.

The ones who do actually play/sing the music that they study are usually good sources. (but not always.) I think semantics is a problem here, as in many other fields. And trying to work with more than one language - translations and such - can compound the problem(s).

[djembefeeling]

Allow me to use "micro-pulse" instead of sub-pulse if you want to make me really happy

o.k., you get a leave from me but micro-pulse is tricky cause it's too close to micro-timing, which is supposed to be used on the next level of differentiation beyond the sub-pulses. people might confuse micro-timing with micro-pulses...

Point taken though: I will try to be more focused and less whimsical in the future!

I don't think you have been that whimsical at all. sometimes it's interesting how a discussion developes. the off-topics are a good resource for creative thinking, and good conversations started from complete off-topics. but many threads are just slightly ripped. so many interesting projects just fizzle out.

I will say that the people who adhere to this way of thinking seem to have absolutely no idea of how music is actually played, by real people at that...Ditto for some of the folks who write about African music.

it seems there has been much progress lately - I can tell when I will have checked this out. at least partially a sort of consensus has been established with some things. and at least for Rainer Polaks work I can assure everyone that he knows his stuff; it has been so delightful to listen to him at the rare occasions at his workshops when he did play the djembe for a demonstration of soloing on any rhythm! please listen to him soloing on Sunun, Kirin, Manjanin, or Suku:

http://www.myspace.com/bamakofoli

[e2c]

Agreed that Rainer Polak is very good!

[djembeweaver]

Agreed that Rainer Polak is very good!

I second that. Wow - I liked his academic work anyway but I've just gained a whole new level of respect. Really sweet playing.

[softshape]

To move the focus back to the topic , I strongly believe rudiments we play with our students should be simple (enough) and I don't give them many different rudiments. There are only 1-2 rudiments, we start every session from them. The point is to concentrate on the speed. Many different variations produce more load for their brain; 1-2 patterns are moved to a "spinal cord" and we can focus on the speed development better.

[bkidd]

Hi Softshape,

Having spent a bit of time working on both speed and sound, I would argue that it's better to focus on sound rather that speed. Beginners might not think that is the case, but beginners also don't know what's good for them.

Regards,
-Brian