In the first I'm playing the chico, which is like the metronome, while Alvaro plays the piano, often testing me with improvisations to see if I can maintain the time.
In the second, I'm now playing piano, while Alvaro takes over the chico. Why I chose to play such a fast tempo I'll never know, but Alvaro is obviously enjoying pushing me to keep up.
With candombe drumming, often players think of themselves, or refer to others, as the drum they play: "I am a chico," or "he's a piano." Many of the players are highly skilled at playing all three, but will still identify themselves with a particular drum. I've heard Guillermo Ceballos, who leads the Taller de Percusión in Buceo, associate this with an individual personalities. As I was analyzing these videos, I really started to wonder: "what drum am I?"
Since first beginning to play with the Taller back in August, I've played piano, and with that group feel comfortable doing so. Playing the "base" pattern offers the downbeat, often referred to here as la tierra, the "earth." The piano base is solid, dependable, which I think is my personality. But it is also an instrument that allows for certain improvisatory gestures, and though I understand it, still can't make it happen the way I hear it, which is clear in the second video. Spontaneity has always been something I plan (I think that makes sense).
Playing chico has been a different experience for me, but in the end I often think this suits my personality. It's constant, dependable. It also lacks that downbeat, which for a long time made it a difficult instrument to understand, and could totally alter the way I heard the groove of a complete candombe drumming ensemble.
In the end I'm not sure that I've found my candombe drumming identity. The two videos above are great because it's possible to see and hear the difference in the way a true candombero plays against a proficient Yanqui (Yankee, sort of the Uruguayan gringo; funny since I grew up in South Carolina).
No comments:
Post a Comment