Another new thing

I've added a new piece to <http://x31eq.com/music/>. It does
use my drum, which Jacky said he wanted to hear. Hopefully this isn't the
best I'll do with it.

Graham

In-Reply-To: <a4dsij+q6fu@...>
jacky_ligon wrote:

> Forgive me for not recalling - but did you say that your drum was a
> Dumbek? Sounds great!

I've got more terminology now. It's what's called a "goblet drum". I
don't know much more than that. I got it from a third world craft shop,
and it didn't even have a label. It's a wooden frame with what must be an
animal skin.

> And on that Pelog tuning - would you care to show the cents values on
> that one? That was a happening melody.

Oh, yes. I mention it at <http://x31eq.com/7-plus3.htm>. It
could be the white notes of

C 0
Db 150
D 200
E 350
F 500
Gb 650
G 700
A 850
Bb 1000
B 1050
C 1200

without C and F. But it's probably tuned more like 31-equal because I
recorded it with MIDI Relay. The piece is heavily derivative of a track
I've got on a CD of flute and gamelan music of west Java. I can give you
the catalog number if you want to check how unoriginal it is. I wasn't
actively looking for that sound, but I found by noodling with the neutral
third scales that one of the pentatonics came out sounding remarkably
similar. It was very easy to get an example together by playing it with a
flute timbre, like on the CD.

> I want to get a Dumbek and a Djembe too. Remo makes some good Fiber-
> Skin 3 drums that stay in tune even in the most humid conditions.
> Never thought I'd like the Fiber-Skin 3 until I got both a Riq and a
> Tar. My two Bodhrans are goat-skin (bless the goats that now give me
> such musical pleasures), but they are very sensitive to humidity -
> which here in NC can swing wildly up and down in the space of days.
> The Bodhrans have an exquisite sound when the climate is dry. They
> are made by Cooperman - one of the finest makers of this kind of
> drum. The 18" has a lovley inharmonic timbre which can sound a little
> gongish if struck in the right place, and the 24" has this huge noble
> sound in its bass, and a rim tone to die for. I love drumming. I
> carry a 14" Tar with me everywhere, and play everyday that weather
> will allow in the lovely parks near where I work.

Oh, they're supposed to stay in tune are they? I think mine'll be
particularly sensitive, and perhaps it does sound best in a dry
atmosphere. Ultimately, I'll control this by using samples, but that
means all the work of isolating them again without background noise,
building them into a patch, and even recording more of them.

You have to be careful about the ways you obtain pleasure from goats.

The high pass filter can make a big difference to the sound. Cutting out
the constant boom is essential for snare-type sounds. It was difficult to
control that for the recording, because the acoustic bass was getting in
my headphones. So on previous takes I tended to over-filter it. Getting
the sound right in general was remarkable difficult. Obviously, as I
usually play acoustically, that's the sound I know how to control. To
capture it electronically requires training in microphone placement I
don't have and probably different microphones as well. With samples
that's not a problem -- they sound great, so who cares if they aren't what
you get like acoustically?

I don't practice drumming anything like daily, any more than keyboards or
guitar. But it is fun. And a good way of learning rhythm. I might make
a systematic effort to learn Beefheart patterns.

Oh yes, and about the parks. A couple of weekends ago, I decided to walk
to Yatton, because I haven't been there much and I thought there might be
something interesting. Sure enough, when I stopped and decided it was
time I headed back I saw a footpath to a place called Cadbury Hill I
think. It was an Iron Age fort and some kind of settlement in the Dark
Ages. I had no idea there was such a place so close to home. It has
quite an atmosphere, and was fairly quiet. A few archaeologists, some
dogs, other people who found their way up. It's big enough and has enough
trees that you could find an out of the way spot and have an acoustic jam
session. Drums and flutes, record it onto DAT, if I knew people who'd do
such things. One day I might bring my drum there (get the bus this time,
it is a long walk) and get some open-air practice. I suppose it'll get
busier in the summer, coincident with the mud drying up.

By the time I got home the mood had completely passed, as well as me being
tired and hungry, so I didn't get anything recorded that day.

Graham