Nice work, gents! And I loved the bonus tabla podcastlet.

More cowbell,
Lucia

Awesome guys. My favs were the guire sample by The Boy Least Likely To, and My Dancing Days Are Done. Loved all the info about Tabla and the bols (phrases). Great lesson. ssrb

Great! but what about the princely claves, without which Afro-Cuban music would be unthinkable?

For the clave patterns, I suggest you check out the "Elements of Salsa" episode -- show #5:
http://blog.pandora.com/archives/podcast/2007/02/elements_of_sal.html

Glad you liked the examples, Sunshine/Rainbow.

Cheers,
Kevin

Why oh why did I waste my youth learning guitar and keyboard. Percussion was the way to go! This stuff is awsome. Like listening to a textbook on the computer. I would have stayed awake in my music theory class if it had been more like this.

LOL 'needs more cowbell' indeed... such a classic skit.

I will tell you that at least for public drumming events there are two things that ought to require a license.. Cowbell and Claves.. all it takes is some rhythmically impared person to pick up one of those and 'try' to join in, to cause massive confusion and dissarray.. something else badly played can get lost in the mix, but not a cowbell..

great stuff, the very first bit you did where you added the bass, is basically the start to blue bayuu isn't it?

I noticed for a brief bit I heard the 'language' of the tabla.. not sure if this would be beyond the depth you intend for these but I find it interesting that most ethnic hand drums have their own language that can be used to speak the rhythm and 'note' of the drum aloud.. In order to really learn the drum and the traditional songs of the drums you have to actually learn the language of the drum.. and since they are each different knowing one of them doesn't really help you with the others.. Congas, Tablas, Dumbek, Djimbe all have their own languages as I am sure do many others

For example the classic Baladi song for Dumbek is said as Dum Dum tek ca tek Dum tek ca tek tek ca (which of course doesn't work very well typed out)..

It would be interesting to hear examples of the various drums and their languages when you do your next piece. at least as a bit of background info.

Wonderful Tabla playing there Sameer.. I keep meaning one of these days to try and learn tabla (as if Dumbek, Ashiko, Djimbe, claves etc don't keep me busy enough..

So next.. for the next percussion bit, could we get something from Celtic (bodran) and perhaps middle-eastern (dumbek) and maybe actual african drums as well? (I know you covered some african here, bu there is so much more...)

Hey, Chuck!

"Blue Bayou" is a bossa nova bassline, certainly. So is Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number."

I agree that each drum really has its own language. Djimbe and Dumbek as you said, but also Bugaraboo and all manner of other drums found in traditional music.

So I will take your request and hold onto it for next time: Bring the Bodran, the Dumbek, and the African drums. Check.

And Shawn, sorry to hear that you wasted your youth with guitar and keyboards. I did as well. Never too late to get on some percussion, though.

Awesome podcast. I am a huge fan of percussion. It's amazing how there are so many different types, and each one can evoke a unique feeling. Not to mention all the beats and time signatures you can play. You don't always have to play fast to be good. I like my metal fast, but a smooth beat can win over any day. Anything that gets you movin' and groovin' is where it's at.

The tabla is an amaizng instrument. I can never get tired of that sound.

Neither do I. I could listen to tabla for hours without interruption. Thanks, Andy.

Nice combination, Tabla and Jazz. To all the pandora's Podcast team: I send you a big hug!, it is really a good podcast for all guys that are interested in music in a deeper way. I'm an amateur at several instruments and rythms, so it has been very cool, to learn from you. Salutations from Mexico City.

Thanks, Tlato! Please keep up the playing. A big hug right back at you.

Thanks for all the great comments! I'm enjoying reading these for the first time, and now I'll visit this more often. I agree with all your observations and comments:

1) The Clave was totally not mentioned which is a big no-no, as it is a critical component of latin music roots. Big mistake, I apologize for that. I would suggest featuring it on the next percussion podcast to appease the clave gods, who I'm sure are fuming as they munch on Cohiba cigars...

2) The different languages behind these instruments is extremely interesting and for me, particularly the percussion languages. They are usually not meant to be in written form, it is an aural/oral tradition.

3) The hand drums of India within the country itself use vastly different syllables, and inflection. While bodhran, djembe and dumbek have their languages, the mridangam, and pakhawaj also have their traditions...I believe, that to study these instruments and traditions properly, it takes at least one lifetime. This time around Roy Haynes and Anindo Chatterjee are my cats, but next time it might be Tony Allen and Tata Guines.

Thanks Kevin, for giving me the chance to present something of what I love about music!

My pleasure, Sameer. Thanks for playing so well.

And yeah, the Clave needs its own show. Can't skimp on the Clave.

Incredible drumming! A well thought-out lesson, but I'm reluctant to agree that those were all "subtle" changes unless you're only targeting people who already know how to play.

I just love this podcast, and checked it out again after getting back from India. In the "recent" section of my personal website I linked to this page, so hopefully we can continue to spread the good word about rhythm and cross cultural music forms today! Thanks Kevin! peace -sameer

Great series. I listened to all 8 episodes today, but I had to download the episodes. Clicking "Listen Now" changes the button to yellow, but I don't hear any audio. Also, the Reggae episode cuts off at 7:37. I look forward to listening to the next episode. Thanks!

Am I the only one that finds it ironic that the sample for Don't Fear the Reaper doesn't have any of the cowbell segment in it? Or are my speakers just being wonky on me right now?

Hi, Kaji,

We don't have any control over which part of the song gets excerpted. So, true, the cowbell isn't in that section. But you know the part(s) of the song we're referring to, right?

The podcastlet on Tabla is awesome, how to learn so much in such a short time.

This percussion without borders is brilliant anyway. I'm a guitarist but the importance of rhythm in my playing or in my arrangements cannot be underestimated.

Thank you for such amazing insights from Pandora, enthusiasm from Kevin and the unbelievable technique from Sameer.

Just brilliant.

I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the Percussions Without Borders show. Sameer had a great time putting that together; happy to hear that it's finding an audience.

Man, I have to say that I LOVE this. There's nothing like world-beats and world music. I actually wish we would have a bit of a return to these ideas into the mainstream like we had in the 80's – where guys like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon fused world music ideas together with western music ideas. The result was some fantastic music (Like “GraceLand” and “Rhythm of the Saints”) and some fantastic songs (like “In Your Eyes” from Peter Gabriel.) Obviously, Sting has been doing this kind of thing for years and his music still sounds quite fresh in many ways.
And, both Gabriel and Sting employed the genius of Manu Katche on drums... who you can never go wrong with!

I am also a percussionest in latin music, great web sight!!!