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Ar this reminds me of last summer in Zurich. Rick gave us all a great lesson in rhythms, a very interesting approach which we all enjoyed. Cheers Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Baldwin" <coyotelk@optonline.net> To: "Rick Walker/Loop.pooL" <looppool@cruzio.com>; "Rick Walker/Loop.pooL" <GLOBAL@cruzio.com>; <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 5:50 PM Subject: Indian syllabic rhythms (was avant-garde thread) >> Awesome post, Rick. It's nice to have such a cogent summary of the >Indian >> system - I'm moving this one into the "Keepers" folder. > > I'll second that! Many of Rick's posts are in my notebooks. If I ever > publish any, he will get full props! > BTW, anyone into Sheila Chandra? Her album "The Zen Kiss" has some > excellent solo compositions built upon rhythmic syllabifications. Also > Meredith Monk pops into my scrawny little brain at the moment. And on a > GREAT box set of dumming called "The Big Bang," there's a cut called "A > Quality of Seven" that has some excellent Indian drumming and occasional > syllabic counting. I'd LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to have more recordings of Indian > musicians doing syllabic counting; any recommendations? > dB, coyote > >> > >> > Amplifying on this concept a little: >> > >> > The Indians use these four subdivision: >> > > >> > Ta-ki (pronounced Taw kih) >> > TWO >> > 1 2 >> > > >> > Ta-ki-ta (pronounced Taw kih tuh) THREE >> > 1 2 3 >> > > >> > Ta-ki-di-mi (pronounced Taw kih dee mee) FOUR >> > 1 2 3 4 >> > > >> > Ta-ki-di-na-tom (pronounced Taw kih dee nah tom) FIVE >> > 1 2 3 4 5 >> > >> > Interestingly, they stop at the threshold that Western >> > psychologists in the >> > latter 20th century discovered.: the number 5 . >> > From what I've heard, human beings can keep five things in >> > their heads, >> > concieved of as separate things but that the minute we get >> > to larger numbers we are forced to begin grouping into >> > smaller increments. >> > The Indians have known this intrinsically for hundreds of years. >> > >> > The emphasis always being on the 'Ta' or first syllable >> > >> > >> > In this way you can make a practise matrix of any time >> > signature you want to >> > take on and just sing the syllables >> > >> > for example: >> > >> > 2 + 2 + 3 or Ta ki Ta ki Ta ki tuh >> > 2 + 3 + 2 Ta ki Ta ki ta Ta ki >> > 3 + 2 + 2 Ta ki ta Ta ki Ta ki >> > >> > 7/8 = 3 + 4 Ta ki ta Ta ki di mi >> > 4 + 3 Ta ki di mi Ta ki ta >> > >> > 5 + 2 Ta ki di na tom Ta ki >> > 2 + 5 Ta ki Ta ki di na tom >> > >> > >> > Sing these combinations over and over, making sure that ever >> > syllable takes >> > exactly the same amount of time. >> > There are more sophisticated games to play with this material >> > and you can >> > syncopate or leave out notes internal to each >> > phrasing but this will give you all the basic phrasing >> > possilities of each >> > odd time signature you want to play in. >> > >> > Warning: If you are playing, say the first excercise above >> > as an ostinato >> > that your whole band is playing.................. >> > it will really throw people if you use any of the other phrases >> > simultaneously so you will need to check it out and >> > also practise it with them if you plan on doing it live. >> > One long band >> > practise or two playing different time signatures against >> > each other will usually do the trick to learn how to do this >> > (but you have >> > to have relatively sophisticated musicians with a good >> > internal sense of time and also, more importantly, their >> > willingness to go >> > along with these games that sound like gibberish >> > until you get to know them better. >> > >> > > >