Non-Western Musical Autobiography

For much of my life I've kept my distance from non-Western music, largely due to the connotation I had attached to it somehow: that of less than savory people sitting in circles singing songs and banging on various percussion instruments with little or, more typically, no training. Plus, throughout my pre-college music career, I had everything I wanted from music (marching band and my stints in various metal bands kept me plenty busy destroying my hearing and sense of musicality/ as a side note, my first genuine exposure to non-Western music came in 8th grade when our middle school started a steel drum band, though it never sparked my interest). It wasn't until my sophomore year as an undergrad that my percussion professor retired and was replaced by Christopher Davis.

His first semester at North Greenville he introduced me to an instrument, which I had seen tons of guys trying to impress ladies under the shade of a tree around campus with. Obviously, with this stigma attached to it, I was hesitant at first. However, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the djembe - I believe it took all of a week or so for him to convince me I needed one for myself. Our percussion ensemble began learning dozens of African dances a week (most of them consist of a two to four bar repeated pattern over which select participants solo). We learned these for many reasons, the first of which is the educational value of playing complex polyrhythms and being forced to improvise over these. The second was the educational value we could impart on others. We took these dozens of dances to area elementary schools and played for assemblies, at which we gave prepared "speeches" on the history and uses of each. I learned a great deal about African drumming during this time and began using the djembe with my rock band (during all those sappy ballads).

In addition to my exposure to African drumming, I was also introduced to authentic Latin percussion (well, sort of, since most Latin instruments can also trace their roots to Africa). Several times as an undergrad, world percussionists were brought in (most notably from the Cuban Conservatory of Music) to do clinics for our Jazz/Latin band. During those clinics my mind was blown as to what was possible. I had always thought that any percussionist could take a set of Congas and throw down a sweet groove, but my perception was certainly changed after watching two gods exchange improvisations on drumset and congas. Their conversation was an aural assault of amazing complexity and clarity. The command they showed over their instruments made me decide that I had to learn to play Latin music, so I gave an attempt at becoming a decent Latin set player and gained a deep appreciation for the music.

Other than these direct involvements in World Music, my largest exposures have come from each of the Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC) I have attended. This is an amazing gathering of percussionists from around the world and any type of percussion you may be interested in seeing, or hearing, it's definitely there. I've seen countless drum circles, Taiko drum enembles, various Indian groups, etc... Each has given me a new perspective, and ultimately respect, on music outside of our cultural norm.

*Exciting tidbit: I just got an Udu last week! (Ibo for "pottery") I hope to continue spending all my money on various hand percussion...