Percussion for Bill Walker's New Delta

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Jim Goodin asked:
" Rick what's the percussion array you are using, particularly the shell 
like bck that looks a bit like an oud back actually, then the water jug 
or 'bong' that's pretty neat... as I commented really lovely stuff and 
love the 'haunt'."


The shell I played on "Makina"   is a traditional percussion instrument 
played in Mali.    It is just a large half of a Calabash.
If you have listened to any of Ali Farka Toure's early records this is 
the only percussion instrument used and , typically,  the percussionist
uses small short sticks (like thick chopsticks) held between the 2nd and 
3rd fingers of each hand to make the clicking sounds and the palms
on the gourd itself to create a bass sound.    In this particular 
case,   Ali's own percussionist, Hamma Sankare actually brought the gourd
I"m playing as a gift for  my roadie/percussionist  Sue Cole.  He had 
promised to bring me one the next year but the Spirit Of Africa Festival
that I had produced to bring Ali to the West Coast for the very first 
time was cancelled the next year and I've not seen Hamma since :-(
Sue has graciously let me borrow that gourd for many years now.   
Typically it is played with one mic on top and a kick drum mic underneath
the gourd that rests on a pillow but there wasn't time for this setup as 
we had very little time to set up for the concert,  
so I improvised and used my finger nails to get the blend of clicky and 
bass sound using the one mic I had access to.

The water jug or 'bong' as you call it that I played on "Google 
Vacation" is an invention of mine that I call the "Liquid Glass Ghatam".
It has four different pitches on each pain of side glass and the water 
inside makes the very thin glass have over a
two octave range.    I"ve consdered filling it with dyed clear oil that 
is more viscous so that I can control the pitch
better (the slower the liquid the more you can 'tune' the pitch you are 
playing but with enough time you could
actually get close to playing melodies with it.  I found it for $25 in a 
Cost Plus and kick myself that I didn't buy four
of them.   I just love it but have to give credit to a student of mine 
who I was training
for the Blue Man Group auditions,  Matthew Shreiber for discovering the 
water tuning properties.    
He insisted that I try putting water in it and I though, incorrectly, 
that it would dampen it's resonance to much.
He really insisted (even though I was a bit cranky about it.........lol)
so I went into the bathtub,  filed it up a bit with water and had my 
mind blown by the results.
Thanks ever so much,  Matt!

I played a Cooperman Kanjira on "Mummy From Memphis" which is a very 
small expressive and low pitched South Indian frame drum that allows one 
to pitch bend
like a bayan on a tabla set.    I've probably put more hours into this 
single drum than any drum in my huge collection.
I love it and it just is amazingly difficult to play with any semblance 
of speed.  I keep working on it.
It's the single most humbling instrument I've ever attempted to play 
outside of the middleastern Ney which is the only instrument that
I've ever just given up on due to it's difficulty. (There's a guy online 
who swears that he can teach me to play it though, so never say
never).

Finally, the electronic drum I used on 'Late August' is a rare and very 
highly sought after electronic drum from the 80's called a Korg Wave Drum.
I actually do not own this but have it on gracious loan from Matthias 
Grob.    It's an amazing instrument that is one of the most
expressive electro acoustic drums I've ever encountered.   In terms of 
sensitivity it just kicks ass on anything that is sold
nowadays, including  the Roland Handsonic (which is a cool instrument 
but not nearly as electro/acoustically expressive).
That show was the first show I ever used it at and do to some looping 
technical difficulties I was unable to use the four
different sounds that I had intended for the performance which would 
have made it really multi-timbral and deep.

Okay,  that's the roundup for that performance's percussion.

Thanks for the compliments, guys.  That was a very fun show.

Rick Walker