December 5, 2005
By popular demand we played on buckets and junk for the third week in a row and we sounded hot. There's much to be said for creative garbage recycling. This week we'll go back to playing our regular instruments. Ruben, our surdo section leader, was definitely affected by his experience using a 5-gallon water jug. He's gotten interested in playing tan tan style. Tan tan is a drum that's used as a surdo in pagode bands in Brasil. You play the drum horizontally across your lap, hitting the skin with your hand instead of a mallet and tapping the side with your other hand. The water jugs make great tan tans. Anybody who comes across a jug that doesn't have to be returned, please hang onto it for us.
We did some recycling of our players too, shifting some to different sections. Nick and Zane are now in the surdo section -- on second with Willa and Jack; and Vishal has moved over to first surdo joining Ruben and Ernest along with Greg who just moved over from agogo. Rebecca, who is becoming a master of many instruments is now in the agogo section with Michael and Eric. T-Roy (the artist formerly known as Troy) is now in the caixa section, who with new member, Derrell, gives us four strong caixa players giving Miles and Nile support.
The tamborim section looks very different now with the addition of Dylan (who will still play timba on the Northern grooves and funk), Gaston and Justin. That section is now the home of our older and more experienced players who will finally lead us all to international glory. Michael M, our lead turner, Jason, Louie and Chris are now our tamborim veterans.
We also have two new dancers, Jasmin and Dylan's little sister Chelsea. With Veterans Tara, Rebecca, Nadia, Ellen and veteran rookies Julia and Imani, the dance troupe is young, fresh and ready to handle anything Mariko comes up with. Mariko's combination of hip hop moves with traditional Afro-Brasilian steps are giving Battery Drumline a unique flavor.
Upcoming is our fundraiser with Jazz For Peace. It's on Sunday Dec. 18, 6:30PM at Wings Theatre (154 Christopher St.) Let's sell tickets to our friends and even to our enemies. If we can raise funds we can make a CD next spring. More news on that later.
We have two more classes this semester, this Thursday, December 8 and next Thursday Dec. 15. Let's make our fundraiser the best performance in our history.
Polar
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December 17, 2005
Our semester of classes is now over and we want to let ever member of our crew -- bateria and dancers -- that Curtis, Mariko and I are so proud of you that we just can't stop talking about you to everyone we know. You're learning something new and challenging and are creating an amazing show for our city, New York New York, the town so nice they named it twice.
Tomorrow at our fundraiser -- Sunday Dec. 18, 6:30PM at Wings Theatre (154 Christopher St.) -- we'll kill. And what will be really exciting is that for the first time we'll be doing a song. Miles will sing and play guitar on Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi which she had the good taste and forsight to compose to a Brasilian groove. Thank you, Joni. The bateria will accompany Miles and I'll embarrass myself with my amateur cavaquinho playing. Next semester we'll be spending time working on songs with guitar, bass, drum kit, horns and whatever our kids can play. We need to good singer or two to help out Miles. If we have any singers in BD or if you know any kids who sing, let us know.
Let's also thank our amazing PU's (parental units) whose support of our program is largely responsible for our continuing existence. Thank you PS 234 for providing our classroom.
Thanks to Jeanne Fleming for having us in the West Village Halloween Parade. Thanks to Andreia Vizeu, our guardian angel who's always watching over us and giving important advice. Thank you New York 1 News for honoring us with their NEW YORKER OF THE WEEK status and the great feature they did on us. Also for the fantastic coverage they gave us at the Halloween Parade. Thank you Joel Randleman for all the work you did for us to establish our 501(c)3 status. Thanks to our friends in Brasil, Júnior Teixeira, Fernando Fialho and Dinho Rodrigues and all the kids in BARRACÃO DOS SONHOS.
Let's close out the year with a great performance Sunday.
Nick will be in Brasil while we're playing and we'll try to drag his spirit onto the stage -- if we can get it's attention for one minute in a row.
Everybody have Merry Holidaise.
AND NOW: THE MARIKO REPORT
Thanks to all the dancers for making the Battery Drumline dance crew the tightest! You guys are doing a great job keeping up with the choreography and giving out good energy. This is what keeps us fresh, our attitudes and spirit. If anything, this is what we should have for the Sunday performance. The choreography will be really easy, yet clean and sharp. Don't worry if it seems very easy, we want to look polished.
Chelsea and Jasmine, great job keeping up with the old choreography and doing your best to follow, true performers! Ellen, glad to have you back after we didn't see you for a while, we missed you! Tara and Ellen, you guys will lead Katie's samba, and we won't do the other one. We might cut it short to make it easier. The Samba Reggae looked really good, thanks Tara and Ellen again for leading that one. Nadia and Becca, good luck at your ballet show, bring us some pictures back or something so we can see you! And lucky Julia didn't have to clean her room.
Costumes, RED PANTS! Chelsea, you can wear the red running pants. Jasmin, anything red? Can you borrow some from somebody? If you have any problems, you can call me at 917.826.9342, and we can figure something out. But I don't have any good ideas right now. Hopefully a friend has some.
See you guys at the show!
Mariko
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November 12, 2005
Our last performance had a profound effect on our group. More accurately, the film that was screened as part of the event definitely made a very deep impression on our kiddies. FAVELA RISING is a film everybody should see. It's a documentary that showed some a graphic view of kids the same ages as BD kids being shot in the streets every day as a result of extreme poverty. A member of a drug gang decided that there might be a better alternative as a pastime for kids than being shot, so he and a friend started up a music program called Afro Reggae that now tours all over the world and has actually done a huge service to communities all over Rio.
Our kids noticed the vast differences between the lives of the kids in the Brazilian bateria compared to their own. Our program, too, was created by two friends, initially to deal with the aftermath of 9/11 in the Ground Zero neighborhoods. Violence and terror was part of the mix that initiated both programs. But what our crew noticed was that our neighborhood was not drowning in crime and poverty. And BD kids play on real samba drums made in Rio. The favela (slum) kids in Rio can not afford the drums we buy in their city so they play on buckets and stuff from the trash. We had a very long conversation about such ironies and about how these things happen. Also there were a few statements about a certain sense of entitlement that was suddenly very noticable. Louie and Michael M were very vocal about how the film effected them. Nick was wetting his pants trying to get a statement in but by the time we got to him, he'd forgotten what he wanted to say and was, shall I say the word -- silent. Too bad for all of us. I hope he remembers what he wanted to say about the film so we can hear him next class.
After our very serious response to the film, we changed the mood by playing our regular stuff -- but on buckets and a bunch of trash. For some reason, everybody played better then usual. We're going to continue for a while this way. It's a real challenge to get these instruments to sound good and there are creative ways we can find to make that happen. If we take a little time to find the sweet spots on the water jugs, plastic buckets, paint can lids and spatulas, the band can actually SOUND good besides just grooving good.
I hope those who didn't get to see the film with us last week will catch it the next time it's screened.
As part of our website upgrade, we want to create a kids page so that anybody in the group who has web-worthy skills can contribute to the site. For instance, Jack is an astounding artist -- the visual kind. He's going to do some drawings for the site. Nile does really hip cartoons -- not the superhero kind -- and maybe we can talk him into doing some funny stuff about BD. Miles, Louie, Ruben and Nile are active musicians outside BD. I bet they have stuff they'd like us to hear or see. If any kids would like to write poems, raps, stories, news articles; draw pictures; put up mp3's of their own music; produce videos of skits or music -- please let us know.
See you Thursday.
Polar
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November 8, 2005
BATTERY DRUMLINE is on it's way to becoming a New York institution. (No, that that kind of institution.) We were given the
New Yorker Of The Week spot on NY 1 NEWS, we played the West Village Halloween Parade (New York's version of Mardi Gras and Carnaval) and we got great coverage on the live broadcast. You can see videos of both on our website < http://www.polarity1.com/battery/batpixvid.html >. And we generated lots of excitement when we played at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the US OPEN.
Last week we performed at a screening of the amazing documentary FAVELA RISING which won the Best Documentary award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was great performing for a room full of people who are into the samba scene. Even more important it was an experience to see a film that showed kids in a samba program who live in very different circumstances. They live in a favela (a squatters' slum) where people were being shot in the streets every day for a drug-dealing reason or no reason at all by drug gangs and corrupt cops. One of the drug gang members left the gang and tried to save the community by starting a program called Afro Reggae that would try to lead kids to music instead of drug-dealing. They couldn't afford drums so they used buckets and whatever was laying around. They became a world-class band. This week we'll play samba on buckets and junk. Fortunately we get to do it for fun, not out of necessity.
Another important thing in the film illustrated the discussion we had a in class a few weeks ago about how some kids we know who are not at all poor are fronting like they're gangstas from the ghetto. We saw documentary footage of kids the same ages as BD's kids lying in the gutters and in cheap wood coffins with ripped up flesh and bullet holes -- we got to see that poverty and gang signing are not just fashion statements for being cool at school. That's a way of life for people who, unlike our BD kiddies, don't have too many choices about what they'll be when they grow up -- if they live long enough.
Our playing at the Halloween Parade was pretty intense. The proof is on the video. And practically our whole roster showed up. We have to give thanks to some of our astounding crew of old people made up primarily of our PU's (parental units). Thanks again to Jeanne Fleming for inviting us to march for the second year in a row. The parade she created 30 years ago in now a major event in New York bringing together 15,000 of our creative people for a night that has no violence or craziness (the bad kind).
Let's thank Helena (Ms. Nick) for researching and ordering the great new dancers' gear and marching with us. And how about THE BANNER!!!! Caty (Ms. Louie & Jack) put in zillions of hours over the weekend manufacturing it. Let's thank Sara (Ms. Rebecca & Nadia) and Trish (Ms. Zane) for removing every manner of potential thug or terrorist from our path with a display of fearless disregard for personal life & limb; all for the cause of BATTERY DRUMLINE superbitude. Thanks to Mark (Mr. Nick) for shooting some great video footage that we'll see on our site pretty soon and to Andrew (Mr. Eric) who's been cataloging our performances with stills that will be featured in our upcoming DVD full of pix and vids documenting our entire history (and which we'll be selling for exorbitant prices for the sake of BD's mercenary designs). Thanks to Louis (Mr. Justin) and Raven (Ernest's sister) for initializing our banner for the world and thanks to the PU's who helped keep our pacing as we marched and served as the only functioning levee in the US of A which kept the frenzied masses all around us from entering our ranks which could have split up the bateria -- Carolyn & Mike (Mr. & Ms. Julia), Ernestine (Ms. Ernest), Teresa (Ms. Gaston), Helena (Ms. Nick), Deb (Ms. Nile) Bob (Mr. Zane), Mike (Mr. Michael M.), Steve & Gusty (Mr. & Dylan), Lisa (Ms. Greg), Emily (Ms. WIlla), Leif and Kathy (Mr. & Ms. Miles), members of Jason's family and Imani's dad.
And let's give a special call-out to the first time a BD performance included a member of our Velha Guardia (or alter kakhers as they're referred to in Yiddish). The Velha Guardia (Old Guard) are the honored members of Brazilian samba schools who no longer perform but did in the past -- sometimes the very distant past. In our case our first member of the eternal Velha Guardia is Jonathan who has now successfully grown most of the hairs and fungus he'll be growing for next few decades. He's in college and too -- how should we put it -- old for regular BD membership.
We'll soon be shifting some of our players into different sections to freshen things up. That should be interesting.
Our website is getting a bit of a graphic makeover. The home page and videos page are showing evidence of that right now.
See you Thursday,
Polar
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October 23, 2005
As promised, this semester Battery Drumline has officially entered the great state of Next Level. The NY 1 News piece on us was pretty amazing in many ways for what it showed and what it missed. What it showed was a music & dance group that is ready for the world. And, as Ruben and Willa pointed out to me -- and I have to agree -- Troy is not the only kid in the organization who moves when they play. Ruben and Willa get my official apology. We also have some pretty articulate kiddies in the house. Miles, Willa and Rebecca, representing the dancers, eloquently revealed to the New York metropolitan area -- 16 million rude godless souls -- how important Battery Drumline is to them and how Curtis and Polar discovered 30 orphans living in the streets of New York, New York (the town so nice they named it twice). They took these sad waifs, fed them, taught them skills, found nice homes for them, taught them how to read, write and spend countless hours pounding on things and dancing. No wonder Curtis and Polar were named
NEW YORKERS OF THE WEEK by New York 1 News.What the show didn't reveal was the fact that Curtis and Polar are the NEW YORKERS OF THE MILLENNIUM. But that's the elite press for you.
Jessica from NY 1 did a great job and we give thanks for the station giving a call-out to people who try to do something in the city other than trying to turn Ground Zeros into shopping malls. Jessica said heard we were hot but she didn't expect us to be THAT hot! And much thanks to Violet (Ms. Eric) for setting the whole thing up and to Andrew (Mr. Eric) for all the great pix he's been shooting over the past two years, some of which were featured in the NY1 spot.
Oh yeah -- one other thing that was revealed was the importance of drummers in Le Bat to strap on so that the logos on the drums are not UPSIDE-DOWN! The dude whose upside-down logo filled up tv screens everywhere is still in the room doing push-ups. By Tuesday his punishment should be completed and he can have something to eat.
The other thing the footage didn't catch was how strong the playing was. Our crew never played better. The calls were tight, the surdos rocked, the tamborins -- YES. . . the TAMBORINS were solid and kicked the whole group along. I hope everybody in the group noticed how the dynamic of the bateria changes when the tamborins drop out and then enter. Everybody in the section really deserves a call-out.
T-Roy (the drumster formerly known as Troy) has the grooves and the moves. Michael M is the guy to watch right now. It looks very much like he practices his turning technique and he's the guy who will lead the way. Zane too is a powerful player and, as usual, brings big energy to the section. Jason's drumming experience is giving him a big advantage to help make the section happen. Louie, a veteran musician, is new to all of this and seems like he's been playing for years. Nick got his triplets under control and rocked the house. Chris showed up late but the section amped up as soon as he hit his spot.
The surdo section was introduced to our new member, Ernest, who brought his grande size set of eardrums with him and impressed us with his timekeeping and how quickly he picks up parts. He's going be one of our stars. Jack is feeling at home in the section and his mallet technique is happening now. Willa, Vishal and section leader, Gaston mastered the pick-up note of the baião which makes our hearts and ears warm. The first surdos under Ruben's leadership was greasy (the good low-colestoral, funky kind of greasy). Dylan is becoming a music stud for the world with his killer surdo and timba playing. Justin plays like a veteran already and is showing great promise as a tamborm player.
Eric was the whole agogo section and he showed how he can handle a challenge. He played strong and tight and was fearless. His status in the outfit has grown.
Miles and his mini-me -- Nile -- are a section that's Brazil-ready. Nile's experience playing with Barracão dos Sonhos in São Paulo has given him the confidence to stand next to our biggest star every week and keep up with him. Not an easy thing to try to hang with Miles.
Next week we march in the famous West Village Halloween Parade and will be covered live like last year on the ubiquitous NY 1 News.
See you Thursday
Polar
And now -- THE MARIKO REPORT:
Good job dancers staying focused during these pre-performance times! Nadia, thanks for holding down your side of the troupe, we definetely need a solid person who remembers the steps, and Tara, thanks for helping Julia with some of the steps on the other side. Too bad you're not going to be at the parade! We will definetely include some formations to play with the crowd a little bit. Julia and Imani, thanks for being patient with all the new material, you guys are doing an excellent job picking things up and staying with them, you are some true performers! Becca, thank you for your energy as always, and good job remembering the movements and leading the group in front of the camera during down time. Great job everybody filming!
On Thursday, whoever can show up, let's meet at 6:30 because we have a lot to do. Who can meet at 6:30? I'll be there, but I'm hoping that one of the older members can be there to teach the old dances.
Luv ya!
Mariko
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October 5, 2005
We had a great turnout for our last class -- the best ever. Curtis & I were really excited about how we're sounding and how we're getting focused on our goals in a very professional way. This is going to be the year we take off, for sure.
We've been doing an exercise we learned in Rio at a rehearsal of Monobloco, the best-known bloco (neighborhood samba school -- as opposed to the huge ones that play the sambadroma at Carnaval). The exercise was used to help the players (all adults) understand WITH THEIR BODIES how the groove feels with the time. It involves stepping in time and playing your parts very slowly. It seems strange and kind of geeky but eventually it works. Chris is already feeling his part now and the groove in his body. It works!!! By the way, our good friend Junior Teixeira, who plays in the most famous bateria in the world -- MANGUEIRA -- is the one who conducted that exercise and he will be coming up to New York to visit us and help teach you guys.
To many of our players the stepping seems strange and even impossible to do even though it's just walking in place. Over the next few classes we'll be preparing for the West Village Halloween Parade by marching around the PS 234 cafeteria. That will make it easier to understand the stepping exercise.
The tamborims are really gaining skills and confidence. Troy has the syncopation totally nailed. He just to catch up on his turning. If he practices a little bit every day he will emerge as the savior of the section. Michael M has been working hard on his turning and, at the moment, is THE DUDE of the section in the esoteric art of virando (turning). zzzzzZane's technique looks nice but he's still stuck in rock n roll land, as are many of our crew.
We're not saying in any way that rock is bad music. We're just saying that it's primarily based on half-beats with strong stress on all the downbeats which makes it difficult for rockers to understand groove music which is based on quarter-beats and triplets and the coolest stuff happens on the upbeats.
Jason made a great leap in skills last class and we're seeing a great future in BD for him. Rebecca, whose ability to play tamborim and also ganza, is proving to be one of our strongest assets. Nick is back with us and he too is making serious progress on the sexiest and toughest instrument in the bateria. We still need him to take control of his prodigious collection of brain cells and put them in the service of one task at a time. Louie returned after being on sick leave and he's showing himself to be a highly evolved musical animal.
The surdo section is growing and learning more complex patterns now. Despite some challenges, they're getting it together. Willa and Jack are learning the surprisingly difficult task of playing very few notes but placing them in precisely the right place. Again, their background in rock has made it difficult to understand a part, like in the baião, that begins on an upbeat. It will come. We're still waiting for Vishal, who's now a BD veteran, to bust a move again and help make the section kinetic. Again, we give props to Gaston who was born to be a leader. His ability to take control of the section is an important skill that every organization needs. The first surdos are really solid with Ruben, Justin and Dylan. We eventually will need at least one more first surdo player, particularly important when Dylan picks up the timba.
The magnificent Miles is being the extreme professional again and he and Nile had no trouble with their parts in our new Arabic groove which is a great addition to our repertoire. These two guys have the toughest job when it comes to adapting to new material because their parts involve serious technical challenges with rolls mixed with rimshots and subtle triplet feel. They also have to figure out the best strategies for assigning their hits to left or right hand. Miles and his sidekick Nile don't get the credit they deserve because they make it seem so easy.
The agogo section is also adapting to the challenges of working with a bunch of new bells that offer so many possibilities for harmonies. Michael, Greg and Eric are working pretty much on their own to make their section the most creative unit in the band.
Next week we'll be talking to everybody about establishing friendships in Brazil with DRUM PALS (pen pals with kids in São Paulo who play samba). Everybody -- drummers and dancers -- think about if you want to participate. You will be writing in your own languages but every now and then you can experiment with writing in the language of your drumPal. This, of course, will be easy for Nick who already speaks Portugeuse. But those of you who are studying Spanish will have an easy time making the transition because the vocabulary and grammar is very similar to Portugeuse.
See you Thursday in gear for our photo shoot.
And now for the MARIKO REPORT.
Big up all the dancers that came through to Battery Drumline practice!
Nadia showed that she is down to try a few new things, namely a back rollover, in the face of astonished onlookers, while Julia showed us her walking handstand/headstand, and how to fall correctly when practicing your headstands. Thank you Julia for helping your fellow dancers. Tara consistently held down the routine, hitting each movement with precision like a drummer. Good job Tara. Rebecca came through with her hip-hop edge and executed the feeling and style of the beginning top rocks, (the first kickover move of the new choreography.) Ellen also showed that she executed the top rocks with the precision of her footwork, good job making the transition to kick to the other side!
Everybody, don't forget the transitions, practice at home! Kick with your right foot to the left side first, do 4, then do the other side. Then hit the middle with your right foot, left foot, step turn turn turn (turn on left foot, right foot swings backwards. Then right hand in and up, left hand in and up, then get ready, turn turn turn (on right foot, left foot out, swing backwards).
Next week we will go over what you already know for the HalloweParade coming up. We need some leaders in the front for the people who don't know it as well. Julia, we will figure out what your role will be, maybe you could learn some of the routines quickly.
As usual, feel free to email me with any questions.
Bye Bye for now!
Mariko
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September 25, 2005
Our second class was full of surprises. We had two guests. Vivian Warfield, who's been on the drumming scene in NY for years gave us a demonstration of the best tamborim and chocalhos playing that you will ever see north of Rio. She's been following our development from our blogs for the past year and was familiar with almost everybody in the band. Hopefully she'll come back soon to make Curtis and I feel inferior again.
Also Mariko's friend Paulo who plays in a samba band in Oakland California sat in with us which was much fun. I bet the sambistas in Cali will be practicing very hard when they receive word about these badass bangers in New York.
So, in case you were wondering, Troy did, indeed, volunteer his wonderfulness for the tamborim section. And he nailed the telecoteco on his first attempt! DUDE!!! And let's not leave out some serious killer tamborim turning by Michael M who's really showing his stuff now. He just has to work on hearing triplets and the subtle syncopation stuff. Chris also is really getting it together and has some mad moves too. He's just got to maintain focus on playing the part to stay in time. He says he's starting to feel the music so much in his body now that he can feel in is bones when he's in or out of time. You hear that everybody? This guy's becoming a MUSICIAN! And, by the way, where's our pals Nick and Jason? Your section needs you guys!
Another emerging star is Rebecca who's now doubling on tamborim and ganza. After she watched Vivian play chocalhos, she's been dying to try out our set of chacalhos which is waiting for her.
The surdo section is getting big and brawny. Ruben is groovin' and Justin has made the transition from 2nd to 1st surdo in a minute. Dylan doubles on first surdo and timba. His timba playing is downright sick. (That means "real good" Mr. & Ms. Dylan). Gaston is doing a professional job as section leader of the 2nd surdos. He's keeping his crew in line and showing Jack all the tricks. Vishal has become rock solid on his drum and we sure wish he'd do those cool moves he did that one time last year. Willa has joined the section and she's already got her moves going with the big drum. Yo, Wolfe!! Where's our boy?
It sounds like some kind of choir coming out of the agogo section now with three kinds of bells. And we'll be getting our African bells back hopefully next week. Greg, Michael & Eric are working on some complex stuff that's amazing!
Oh yeah, one funny thing before we give props to Mariko and the dancers: One of our players asked Curtis, "Hey Curtis, how come Miles has been acting like such a clown lately, like not part of the band?" We've been wondering about that too. Maybe since he's been in a commercial (as he was heard to point out) he, like another of our stars last year, has temporarily grown one butt cheek too many to fit into his pants.
Curtis and I cleverly imbed in the curriculum of our humble lil' ol' samba school special stuff for our kiddies -- like being on point with school work, eating your vegetables and staying mighty humble in the presence of THE COSMIC NOISE GODDESS who chooses particular human types (usually at random) to be her special Messengers of Music on Planet Earth. She hates wise guys who suddenly think they thought it all up themselves. She gets special thrills from seeing her chosen few buzz with the rhythms of the cosmos. She also loves sitting around eating bon bons in the Great Beyond while watching the humiliating decline of certain former stars who had pissed everybody off with their chronic star-tripping. In fact, few people know that she inserted in the dreams of a VH1 producer one night, the idea for Behind The Music just to keep herself amused. Fortunately our beloved Miles is still young and learns very quickly all aspects of musicianship, even the very discrete ones.
And now for a batBLOG update from Mariko.
See you Thursday.
Polar
THE MARIKO REPORT
I just wanted to thank all the Battery Drumline dancers for coming through to our second practice of the new season! Everybody showed me that they are dedicated to learning dance and becoming great performers. I'm just starting to know you guys better, and wanted to thank you for your hard work. Ellen, you have great energy, are eager to learn new things and to share what you have. Please continue to practice your back bridges and stretching. Tara, you seemed quiet at first but I can tell that you are actually not shy at all but very strong about who you are and what you are about. This is a great quality, and when you put it to dance you can become a leader with the energy that you have. Work on the front kickovers, (the first move of the routine). Nadia, thank you for helping me lead the class with the across the floor exercizes, you also have strong leadership skills. Also work on the hitting the angles of the uprock move (the front kickovers). Rebecca, you presence is very much appreciated in the room, you have a unique energy that is very real. You give 100% and pick things up quickly. Don't forget to extend you arms whenever possible to define your movement. Julia, you sweetie, come up with a solo of your flips to do so when we have show you can showcase your talent! Also, try to hold your tonuge a little when I'm giving instructions or when others are talking so we can move faster.)
Good job everybody, and everybody should be practicing the routine at home so they can do it in their sleep. That way when you come back, I can work on the details of the movement instead of simply what move comes next. Then we can move on. Don't forget what I said about "work the angles!" Extend, use your head movement. Get lost in the moves. You will be able to do that only if you can do the routine in your sleep. That's when you can start really enjoying it!
Also, tell you friends about the class so we can build it and create a force to be reckoned with!
Feel free to email me about anything.
Peace,
Mariko
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September 23, 2005
Our new semester formally began last Thursday and it looks like we're on our way this year to creating some great things. We have two fantastic new rookies in the bateria the brothers, Louie and Jack. Louie will take on the awesome challenge of making our tamborim section a world-class unit; or at least a neighborhood-worthy unit. And Jack has joined the surdo section which we're trying to make larger (and louder) with the recent purchase of three new surdos. So now we have 10 surdos and we're looking for kids to bang em hard.
Speaking of our tamborim section -- since our gig at the Knit, our front line has been sounding tight and it's time to move on to turning. Zane, Chris, Michael M and Louie are forming a solid unit. Remember -- although the tamborim is the most challenging instrument, it's also the sexiest position in the bateria. It's like the shortstop in baseball and forwards in soccer. Once you can do it -- you're the elite corps of the entire bateria -- The Special Forces, The Un-desperate Housewives, The Speakers Of The House, The Geeters With The Tweeters, The Geezers With The Tweezers, The Leaders Of The Speeders, The Sauce On The Pasta, The Dreds On The Rasta, The Exalted Pilots Of The Mothership Of Phunk, The Cream Of The Cream Of The Ice Cream Supreme, The uh. . . uh. . . The Biggest ##### In The Whole ##### Universe!!!!!
And how about our old pal, Troy. What we've suspected for some time and made certain last Thursday is that Troy is a natural musician. He's a monster! He kills on surdo. He's learning caixa parts by PAYING ATTENTION and he sat in with the agogo section last week. Not only that -- he's one of the top performers in the bateria with his movement and lit-up face. So what do we do with a dude like this? Clearly he's a prime utility player like Miles and Nile who can play any instrument in a gig if we're in need. We're hoping he'll step up to his biggest challenge yet by joining the tamborim section. Will he rise to the challenge? Tune in next class.
Our always stupendous agogo section has finally been rewarded. Our recent acquisition of rare bells from Bahia and agogos de quatro have made the section truly sing. The amazing harmonies created by the different types of bells playing at the same time will allow us to create special parts that will turn the section into a front line feature unique to Battery Drumline. Michael, Greg and Eric are ready to enter the spotlight and get the recognition they really deserve.
The caixa section is so tight now that Miles and Nile sound like one guy playing instead of two.
Now it's time for the surdos to move up to the next level. Ruben is righteously leading the first surdo section with Dylan and has been joined by Justin who's going to be super hot. Gaston leads the second surdo section with Vishal, Jack the Rookie, and Wolfe the Missing. The section rocks more than ever but it hasn't been challenged to play complex patterns like the tamborins, agogos and caixas. Because of that, when we try tricky breaks, like in samba reggae, our crew trips over their shoelaces. That will soon change.
Our best news is our new dance instructor, Mariko. She's going to bring lots of new ideas and a new spirit to our danceline. She was really impressed with her crew, Tara, Ellen, Rebecca, Nadia and rookie, Julia. Mariko said that the veterans already had great stuff and instantly grasped new material. And Julia seems to be headed for greatness.
See you next Thursday,
Polar
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September 12, 2005
Our gig at the Knitting Factory for Time Out NY was an incredible success! I was in shock when we did the baião outside. I never heard this band sound so good. And the greatness continued inside as well. Even our formerly pathetic tamborim section was hot. Everybody was on point, focused and tight. Tara and Ellen, our only dancers for the day, stepped up and stole the show. They're were little girls when they joined BD, but now they're little girls who are professional quality dancers. They show up for classes, learn the steps and knock everybody out at performances and both have had the guts to dance at different times when each one was the only dancer on the gig. We owe them a lot. We're really proud of our crew. And thanks to Time Out NY for including us in their program, especially Barbara and Brooke. And to Brice Rosenbloom who runs the KNIT.
And our PU's contributed, as usual, by schlepping gear and organizing our propaganda table. We got the word out and some donations in. Battery Drumline is really ready to grow this year. Big thanks to Nick, Steve, Deb, Trish, Teresa, Cezarina who made the spectacular empanadinhas, Helena, Theresa and Katherine.
Our new semester of classes start this Thursday at PS 234 in the cafeteria from 6 - 8PM for bateria and 7 - 8PM for dancers. We'll meet Mariko, our new dance teacher and we'll have a bunch of rookies. We'll suspend our traditional hazing of new recruits. Because we have more visibility now, putting flaming surdos over the heads of newbies might hamper our new fundraising efforts so we'll just treat them with respect and dignity. Sorry guys.
We're going to beef up the surdo section with more beef and new surdos. And the agogo section will be given more status with the addition of new bells that create all kinds of beautiful and strange harmonies. The tamborins will start turning so we can do stuff we could never try before. Rebecca, it turns out, has real skill on ganza and will be the leader of our new shaker section that will include a set of chacalhos -- a rack full of jingles that are loud and jangly. Our drums will now wear our official gold & red colors and the dancers will have better outfits.
Next week we might get a special visit from our friend Vivian Warfield who's an expert tamborim and chacalhos player. She'll show us all how the ladies can kill in the wonderful wild wacky world of samba.
Our bateria will soon be reaching critical mass but our dance troupe has shrunk and we need to recruit more dancers. Mariko will be contributing to our batBLOG so the dancers will get more light, which they deserve.
This year we'll begin working on songs so our players who play other instruments and sing will have the opportunity to contribute those skills. The songs will be accompanied by the bateria. Miles plays kit, guitar and sings, Nile plays kit and guitar, Chris plays guitar; Jonathan, Ruben & Nick play bass; Gaston & Zane play trumpet, Willa plays guitar and sings. If anybody knows kids who can sing, tell them to come by. When we learn the songs and the bateria learns the arrangements we can start thinking about making our official BD CD that we can sell at our gigs and maybe get on the radio if we can find an air molecule that isn't owned by Clear Channel.
We'll also be talking to you about being "drumPals" (pen pals) with kids in Brazil who play samba. You'll get to know your drumPal and then possibly meet them next year and play with them.
Let's give a special call-out to some special friends in Brasil who you'll probably get to meet at some point: Junior Da Mangueira, Fernando Fialho, Juarez Da Seis-Nove, Dinho and the kids from BARRACÃO DOS SONHOS. And a special call-out to our good friends ANDREIA VIZEU and Johannes Galley.
See you Thursday,
Polar
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Welcome to September and a new BATTERY DRUMLINE semester. Our classes begin next Thursday Sept. 15 at PS 234 in the cafeteria. 6-8PM for drummers and 7-8PM for dancers.
We have a gig this Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Knitting Factory on Leonard St. between Church St. and Broadway in Tribeca. It's for Time Out NY. I believe we start playing around 11AM and will probably be finished by noon or earlier. We'll let you know about the time to show up ASAP.
Our next gig is the Halloween Parade. Let's start thinking about costumes for the band. Let's try using Brazilian Carnaval as our format. The costumes are based on a theme. We can have each section wear a different costume based on the main theme. The only requirements are: they have to be affordable, they have to include our colors -- gold and red, they have to allow for easy playing and walking, they have to be pretty light.
Let's start getting the word out to our friends who have talent to join BD. This is the year that we bust wide open. TV! Stardom! Incredible social life! Humiliation of bullies and irritable siblings! Abuse from Curtis and Polar!! Travel to exotic places! That is -- for those who show up regularly, practice and maintain school work.
See you next Thursday!
Polar
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September 4, 2005
It's almost time for our new semester to begin. We'll be back at PS 234 in the cafeteria on Thursdays from 6PM - 8 for the bateria and 7 - 8 for dancers.
Lots of big stuff will be happening this year. For one thing we have a new dance instructor. She's a friend of Katy's who just moved here. She was teaching at a huge samba school in San Francisco called Locobloco. It's mainly for adults but they also have a kids samba school. She has lots of experience working with kids and likes to add hip hop moves to the sambas and samba reggaes. She'll also be communicating over email with dancers and do a dancers blog that will accompany our regularly weekly blog. We all owe much thanks to Silvana who did a great job for us last semester. She was especially fantastic with the Northern Brazilian grooves.
We played the US Tennis Open gig again at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Nile and I had to miss this one because we went to Brazil. I hear our crew did a spectacular job as usual. More on our trip later.
I brought back some new surdos -- they're the same diameter as the wood ones that the first surdo players play but they not so long. They're the same height as the little surdo so they should be easier to carry. Plus we now have brand new surdo mallets in our gold and red colors. Finally I was able to get us new agogo bells -- two kinds. We have 2 great bells from Bahia where the baião and samba reggae come from and also 3 sets of agogos de quatro bocas (agogos with 4 mouths). I picked up a second set of chacalhos -- those amazing shakers with all the jingles. We're trying to get more surdo players so that we have a bigger sound and so we always have enough surdos players for each gig. The agogo section will be truly phat and between our different sized ganzas and 2 chacalhos we should be able to finally develop a shaker section.
We have a gig on September 10 at the Knitting Factory at 11AM. It's for Time Out NY magazine. We may wind up on TV.
One thing we want to do is to get a PA system so we can start working on songs so our members who play horns, guitar, bass, guitar and drum kit can start to use these other skills. Also we'll be able to work on our CD. But we have to raise money first. We're going to try to figure out a way that we all help to raise funds for these things.
With our tamborim section getting up to speed we'll now be able to really start moving ahead so it will be necessary for everybody to show up regularly for classes.
Let's recruit some new members, especially new dancers. This is the year that the world will know about Battery Drumline and we want to bring our friends along for the ride.
We hope to have more kids in this year's Halloween Parade. It's quite possible that many of our PU's (parental units) overestimated the threat of terrorists and local bad guys. Unlike the many ethnic day parades, the Halloween has always, in our experience of many years playing in it, been very benign and high-spitited. Also -- that's where we met Nick, which may or may not be a worse fate than terrorists but so far we think it's pretty good. One thing to consider for those who plan to march -- let's start thinking about special costumes for BD this year. We can have one costume for the whole march or each section can come up with it's own costume that relates to a main theme but with a different aspect of the theme. If you see the film I mentioned above, you'll know exactly what I mean.
The night we got home from Brasil I had a great surprise -- Channel 13 ran a fantastic documentary on how samba schools prepare for carnaval. It featured a samba school from São Paulo that I heard much about when I was there last week. It will be rebroadcast next Wednesday September 7 at 2:30 a.m. (technically Thursday early AM) so you can tape it which I would strongly suggest. There's playing, dancing and showing how the themes are decided upon and how all the costumes and floats are created.
Até logo em 10 Septembro.
Abraços,
Polar
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July 21, 2005
We did a promotional gig for NIKE with a very small group -- Tara, Ellen, Michael, Greg, Justin & Nile. And we were great! Hearing ourselves without all the clatter potentially covering up bad playing is very revealing; and it revealed that BATTERY DRUMLINE is actually a very serious bateria and dance ensemble. What was really exciting is that Justin's incredible moves were really infectious. Nile started moving and so did Greg & Michael. Just a little bit, but it made a huge difference in our look. Thank you Theresa for accompanying our gang.
Everybody in the bateria (all 4 of them) took turns at unaccompanied solos and showed true musicianship developing in our crew. The gig also challenged our endurance -- we played for a solid 45 minutes!
Everybody who attended will be rewarded with free Nike sneakers, not to mention the shirts we wore for the gig.
Miles got accepted for the Converse commercial. This dude is on his way to The Show! Hold on to your pants, dude. Keep it real.
We're really excited about the fall because we now have a band full of veterans. That means that we can absorb lots of new players without losing momentum. It also means that our veterans who have been showing up regularly can start trying out other instruments and digging deeper into what we're working on. We're getting more surdos so we can have a huge phat bottom and we'll be getting those agogos de quatro -- the agogos with four bells -- that we experimented with at the Film Festival gig.
Let's start recruiting new members who we think will add quality to our gang. Justin has a friend who's a great break dancer and a school friend of Nile's is also a great dancer. Justin's cousin, Sabrina, was with us for awhile last year. Let's get her back with us. Dancers -- let's do some recruiting.
Starting in the fall, with a larger group that will be moving along at a much faster pace, it will become very important to show up for classes regularly. Those who miss lots of classes and gigs will not be able to keep up and will not last long. We'll be ready next year for Brasil and maybe only half the group will be able to go. Those who show up and progress the most will be on that plane and all over the CD we'll be recording.
Next event: US TENNIS OPEN AT ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM
August 26 -- orientation
August 27 -- performance
Polar
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June 17, 2005
FLASH!!! We've added a new word to our long list of expletives attributed to our famous tamborim section. And that new word is: TIGHT.
Truth. For the first time since our band started we have a tamborim section worthy of the glorious BD name. And how did this occur? I dunno. But here's my guess. Our crew has settled their priorities in class in our favor. While most of the section was steadily improving, particularly Jason -- the turning point was adding Michael M, a seasoned drummer. He joined section leader, zzzzzZane, in setting the pace for the entire section while Nick and Chris have made gigantic progress in many ways. Rebecca & Willa have not only become solid players, they've added real personality and zip to the section.
We must mention here that not only has Michael M contributed his talent, he's also contributed his super-PU (parental unit) Kathleen to our gallery of slaves. Kathleen and BigMichael schlepped all our gear to Central Park and she and Sara (Ms. Rebecca & Nadia) have literally saved our sorry butts by handling security at PS 234. Thanks too to Bipin (Mr. Vishal) and Liz (Ms. Wolfe) for helping with the schlep last week. LET'S TRY TO GET MORE FEMALE TYPES IN THE BATERIA IN SEPTEMBER.
It was so cool to have Ruben join the surdo section again. His huge personality and willingness to take charge, forming a huddle to work out the section's problem with the baião, has earned him the uniquely exalted status of SECTION LEADER (if he continues to show up). Gaston is now, like Dylan, a prized utility man. He can make the difficult transition from second to first surdo whenever the situation calls for it. He also displayed skill on the tamborim which makes him that much more valuable to our group. Wolfe and Vishal are doing an amazing job of holding down the deceptively difficult role of second surdo. It would take a whole page to give a simple explanation about the difficultly of placing those few notes and the pivotal role second surdo plays.
Also we had to drag out of Wolfe the explanation of a problem he was having at Central Park which concerned his surdo part. LISTEN TO THIS: It's very important to express, IN WORDS, any problems you're having -- even if it concerns those old farts Curtis & Polar. Wolfe expressed himself at Central Park by playing with one hand and looking like a sulking baby. That's not the way to face an audience. When he finally told us what his problem was, it was resolved instantly. Please feel comfortable saying what's on your mind. Curtis and I can get pretty tough over some things but we love every one of you noodles and respect everything (well, almost everything) you have to say.
One very exciting thing that's happening is that a number of our players are volunteering to work with other instruments. The agogo and tamborim players are exploring each other's instruments plus triangle and ganza. There will be more opportunities for that next season. Plus, we'll start working on songs. Any singers out there?
Michael O, Greg and Eric have become superstars in every way as their skills excel and they show interest in other instruments. Eric also brings in cool instruments that he has at home. And did we mention the towering grand slam he hit a couple weeks ago?
Nile has joined Miles and Jonathan in the elite corps of
serious musicians in the band, although he's a junior member. However, everybody knows it but him. Nile has an exquisite talent for not believing in himself so that when it's his turn to solo, he stops playing or forgets which is the drum and which is the stick. Somebody please help flush the turds out of this boy's head.
Silvana has turned out be a fantastic replacement for Katy. She's coming up with the hippest choreography, especially for the baião. She has a great feel for the more African-oriented Northern Brasilian stuff.
Our dancers are a brilliant performing unit unto themselves. Tara, Rebecca, Nadia, Tynisha, Ellen showed up on a rainy day and danced like pros.
UPCOMING EVENTS
This Saturday night June 18 we play the Manhattan Youth/Downtown Little League BBQ. Lot of food and vollyball. It runs from 6 - 9PM. We start playing around 7:30.
Saturday June 25 we're back at Central Park at the same spot. 2:30 to 5:30. Let's try to get the PU's together to organize a picnic so when the players take a break they can chomp and relax.
Next Thursday is our last class of the season. Let's show up and have a great time.
Polar
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July 6, 2005
Our fourth semester (second year) has ended and we have great things to report. After a painfully slow beginning and middle, particularly with our large and largely inept tamborim section, we finally achieved a level of playing that we'd never anticipated. The tamborim section got it together, mainly because our players got their attention and their desire for superbitude on the one. By the end of May the amount of class time wasted on screwing around fell to practically nothing and the tamborim section started playing strong and tight. Our tamborimistas learned how to play and feel the syncopation figures and, as a result, the entire band got lifted. We also saw a glimmering of movement in the statuesque bodies of our players. In September we're expecting big changes in our ability to dance while we play.
Because our focus and playing advanced to higher level, we were able to learn some new grooves and will continue to build a strong repertoire in the fall.
With the addition of Johannes on our team we're hoping to start raising funds to take the whole program to the next level. In the fall we're expecting at least 8 to 10 new members of the bateria so we'll need more surdos and we want to get quad bells for the agogo section so they can play that cool 4-bell part that we tried at the Tribeca Film Festival Street Fair. We want to get a PA system so we can start working on songs that use drumkit, bass, guitars, horns, keyboards, etc. -- not to mention singing. Then we want to get into a recording studio and record a BATTERY DRUMLINE CD.
We want to thank our entire crew of drummers and dancers for a hair-raising and dredlock-raising, but ultimately spectacular year. Also thanks to our amazing PU's who have helped keep us afloat and make sure our band members are fed and bathed, well. . . fed. And special thanks to Katy and Silvana our incredibly talented dance instructors and Johannes who will advance our program into the upper stratosphere of solvency. And, of course, we must thank Michele Bloom and BMCC who gave us our first home and Sandy and Boris who provide our classroom space at PS 234.
Let's try to find new members of the bateria and danceline. We'd like to have at least 12 dancers in the fall.
Have a great summer. Tamborim players -- practice turning now and then and in the fall we'll prepare to take on Brasil.
Polar
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5/22/04
If there's one thing absolutely true about the BAT -- we always amp up at performances. Everybody was fantastic! Curtis, Katy and I are so proud of our crew.
Especially Katy. With her sidelined with a knee injury and most of the dancers absent at the last class, Larissa led a condensed dance troupe consisting of Tara, Claudia and newbie Rolanna to a hot performance! Miranda dealt with her injury by showing up and joining the drumline playing a hot ganza. Tara also joined in on ganza when not dancing. Rolanna, who was a bit overcome Thursday with the pressure of trying to learn so much in one class, rose to the occasion and kept up with the other dancers. An amazing feat for a nine-year-old newbie. She's going to be one of our stars.
The drumline was spectacular! The surdos got their act together and rocked even without the help of Nile and Wolfe. Scott, Troy, Ruben and fearless leader Jonathan drove the band with solid time and much intensity. Troy's huge smiles and very funky moves are a big feature in the band. We're looking forward to the arrival of his pal, Travis this Thursday.
With Harrison and Rafe missing, Zane had to hold down the tamborim section all by himself when Larissa and Claudia were dancing. All my hats are off to the King of Z's.
Lila, Michael, Greg and newbie Eric rode the top of the wave with skin-tight playing. Eric has been a real hero the way he picked up his part stayed focused for the whole show.
The same goes for Newbie BJ who also rose to the challenge and worked seamlessly with Dylan in the timba section. What really shows how professional our newbies were was the fact that neither BJ nor Eric missed a break. We told them that if they weren't confident about the breaks and cues that they should lay out at those points. I saw that they played correctly on some and held back on others. They knew exactly how to deal with each one.
With Lucy missing from action, Miles held down the snare section with Milesian superbitude, as usual.
A truly great gig was had by all.
With so much great stuff to report on our little organization in the field, it's important to mention the way we handle ourselves off the field. And this is very important so listen up:
One of our exalted Large Members helped bring the drums back, as usual, after the last class and then she hung out with Curtis, Katy and I till 9pm. However she neglected to call her parents to let them know where she was and the PU's were reasonably distressed to say the least.
Every kid in the BAT is responsible for maintaining high standards at home and in school as well as in the band. Why??? Because if you slack off -- your PU's will keep you out of band activities and we don't blame them. We blame YOU.
One of our microDudes has been MIA because he's been slacking off in the homework department. We're pissed off. It holds back the band.
You are all expected to manage your homework, school duties, and family stuff with the same focus and high standards that we demand when you're with BATTERY DRUMLINE. Because your standing -- even your membership -- in the group depends on it. Absolutely.
So back to BIZ --
Let's have a great fundraiser tonight!!!!
Polar
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3/18/04
These are the times that try men's souls -- particularly men who direct samba bands for micro humans.
Our band is growing at a fast pace. Our 4:15 class had 20 players and 5 were absent. Our new players have not learned all our moves yet and much of our time is wasted on asking players repeatedly to please be quiet while we tune the drums and explain things to certain people.
We have our first really big performance on April 3. There will be movie and music biz people there. We have just 2 rehearsals to get it together. Here's our current status:
The surdo section is fine. The bells are pretty good at this point but not very tight.
The tamborim section under the new leadership of Zane (congrats Zane!) is finally starting to get their part but after a few bars everybody gets lost. We don't want to go back to that crappy old DA DAA, DA DAA stuff. Rafe finally joined us and showed some great spirit. He'll really help solidify the section. Harrison is really starting to shine now. We're troubled by our pal Alex. We've considered him to be one of our potential all-around stars. But he's been fading out on us and, sadly, chooses not to speak so we're unable to reach him. Maybe some of his St. Ann's pals can talk to him. It would be such a shame to lose a guy with so much natural talent.
Our new hand drum section under the leadership of Emmanuel sounds great but also goes out of time and gets lost. Dustin, who is a brilliant player, often hotdogs which, while impressive, throws off the whole section. The section needs discipline and teamwork. Since they are new to the group, they haven't learned all the breaks and calls yet.
We're confident that we'll get ourselves straight for the performance but we all have to really learn how to be quiet and listen when spoken to.
Lucy, Dylan, Miles, Jonathan, Larissa, Emmanuel and Zoe never create these problems. Is it possible that kids under 12 are too young to be in a band? Maybe Curtis and I have to consider this and make some important decisions. We can not keep on spending a third of our class time trying to maintain order.
By now the microCrew should have had a samba with many variations of parts, the funk groove and the sambaReggae already under our belts. Instead we're still working on the same basic tamborim and bell parts for the samba only. The Large Members class is at least a full year ahead of the younger class. Getting to the next level is always hard but with our amazing crew we didn't expect this much trouble.
Unfortunately in Katy's absence the younger members of our illustrious dance troupe have not had the focus or ambition to work on their dancing during class. Their substitute teacher has not been much better. We made her an offer she couldn't refuse so we won't be seeing her for awhile.
Over the past few weeks our dancers' mallet juggling has been improving. However, mallet juggling is not part of our repertoire. Katy's trip to India was planned before she signed up with us and it's been difficult -- but certainly not impossible -- for the dancers to maintain their progress. Because of this we will not be able to include the dancers in the performance on April 3. There will be many more performances to follow so don't lose heart.
We've decided to suspend the dance classes until Katy returns which should be in a couple of weeks.
This Thursday we will have to make a decision whether or not to do the gig on April 3. If our next class is as rough as our last one, we'll cancel the performance and be very disappointed for the first time.
See you Thursday.
Polar
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12/11/03
We have one more class to go before the holiday break. We worked on a suff and it went greel's little sister, Tara, blew us all away when she joined in and instantly knew what to do. She will be one of our regular dancers along with Larissa and Miranda who looked great in their class.
CLASS 1 is really getting in shape now. Wolfe returned and joined the tamborim section. He likes to play loud -- which is great. He played loud that he broke 2 sticks. No problem. We're getting new unbreakable sticks.
Poor Zane was still kind of distressed because he wants so badly to play a hand drum. I told everybody that the little drums are not the unimportant drums -- they're the high sounding drums that play the lead lines. Kids and politicians generally believe that big is better than small. When I explained that kids have a tough time understanding some of the subtle aspects of the fine arts of drumming and life on planet earth, Wolfe boldly stood up for the kids of the world and called me out for being such an adult chauvinist pig. I corrected myself by explaining that kids are actually student adults and have yet to learn a couple of things. But, yes -- it's true -- kids definitely are beyond reproach as human beans who deserve dignity, respect and a plate full of vegetables. Wolfe is a true revolutionary at heart -- my kind of guy!
Once we got beyond the philosophical part of the class, the playing got better and better. Nile had his first day on surdo. On Wednesday he knew all the calls and his time was real tight. When the class started he was a bit nervous and forgot everything he knew. But then he settled down and he and Jonathan made a kickin' surdo section.
We all had fun when we practiced the entrance call by jumping when we're supposed to come in. Everybody had so much fun that Michael and Greg started laughing and for the first time they really joined our group. And their playing suddenly caught fire.
Lila was very professional taking charge of the bell section. Lilly and Larissa were way ahead of everybody in the way the danced while they played which helped them keep better time and really feel the groove.
Harrison and Zane rejoined the tamborim section and it really rocked. Alex was right on point, as usual. He has great stick technique. Lucy, like Larissa and Jonathan, comes to both classes. She's becoming an amazing snare player and her spirit is always so high that whole room seems happier.
It seems like we keep playing the simple part over and over. That's true. It's called drilling. This is new for most of you. You have to learn how to play in time and to feel the groove. When we get to that point, we'll be moving along much faster and begin to learn more parts and other rhythms. Two things will help a lot: moving to the groove while we play and getting our stick technique together. From time to time pick up a drum stick, chop stick or pencil and practice how we showed you to use the stick.
CLASS 2 had a wild time. We worked on a funk groove and created these great moves where we hit each other's sticks like sword fighting. We have some real tricky breaks down tight. We play a superFast samba then shift gears and go right into superSlow partito alto, and then back to regular samba.
The snare section with Miles and Lucy keeps getting tighter and feels more and more like a Brazilian groove. Jonathan's surdo playing is right on time and he gets a big round tone.
Katy worked with Larissa and Miranda on dance moves that go with what the drummers were playing.
Right now the CLASS 2 players would do well in the adult band -- Manhattan Samba. We have a better funk groove than they do and our moves are cooler.
In the spring, BATTERY will be tearing down Tribeca. By summer -- oy!
Next class we'll have a surprise guest -- a master drummer from Brazil who will teach us a rhythm called maracatu. He hort presentation for the Parental Units. We tried some new stuff and it went great. We’ll play for the old folks on Dec 18. Remember -- all drummers show up at 4:15 and d play for the old folks on Dec 18. Remember -- all drummers show up at 4:15 and dss without our checking him or her off on our list. That way we know that the authorized adult has made the pick-up. Make sure Curtis or I check off our name before you leave.
In CLASS 1 we did some shifting of instruments. We try things out from time to time. We tried an experiment with some hand drums -- some very small conga drums called TIMBAS. Nile, Harrison and Zane played them. We were not surprised to discover that they are not easy to learn. They are very hard on the hands and there are certain techniques that require lots of teaching and lots of practice. We decided that we will not be using them until next year. Like snare drums, hand drums will be played by older kids who already have experience playing them. The one exception fright now will be Alex who has had a particular interest in studying hand drums. He will be practicing at home for the next few months.
In the meantime Zane and Harrison will rejoin the tamborim section and will be joined by Wolfe on Thursday.. Meanwhile the agogo bell section has gotten very strong with Lila, Michael, Greg and the addition of Lilly who also plays piano.
Nile said he wanted more than anything to play surdo. He was kind of afraid to ask. I told him that surdo was for the bigger guys and that keeping time is extremely important because the surdos set the time for the whole band. Nile assured me that he could do it. I gave him a chance for one reason only: because he has lots of experience playing percussion. Well, he completely blew me away! He kept great time -- even when I tried to fool him by playing very tricky stuff. So he will join Scott on the high surdos.
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12/9/03
Every member of the group brings her/his own strengths and weaknsses. We all learn from the strengths and try to help our friends
our younger contingent in the early class that we will sound like a bunch of metal buckets falling down a flight of stairs for the first few weeks. But by 5:45 they were already creating something somewhat reminiscent of a samba. we were expecting that to happen by the third or fourth week.
Zane, Michael and Greg had just gotten off the bus from sleepaway camp and were a very sleepy crew. But they had no trouble learning their parts and it looks like they'll be ready to rock the house this week. The St. Anns contingent was right on point. Alex, Harrison, Lila and Nile were ready and steady. Wolfe is working hard on his conga drum and his dreds. Scott and Jonathan drove the heartbeat on the surdos. We didn't get to meet Casey. I hope we'll see him this week.
Our second group rocked from the start. It was made up of our older crew -- Miles, Lucy and Jonathan. They will be among Battery's superstars who will show our younger players and the great city of New York what time it is.
We're making a slight change in class times: we will run the first class from 4:15 to 5:45 and the second from 6:15 to 7:45. That will give us some time between classes to get to know the parents and to create devious strategies for tormenting CLASS 2
See you Thursday.
Polar
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11/10/03
I WANT THE BIG INSTRUMENT
In CLASS 1 we did some shifting of instruments. We try new things out from time to. We tried an experiment with some hand drums -- some very small conga drums called TIMBAS. Nile, Harrison and Zane played them. We were not surprised to discover that they are not easy to learn. They are very hard on the hands and there are certain techniques that require lots of teaching and lots of practice. We decided that we will not be using them until next year. Like snare drums, hand drums will be played by older kids who already have experience playing them. The one exception right now will be Alex who has had a particular interest in studying hand drums. He will be practicing at home for the next few months.
In the meantime Zane and Harrison will rejoin the tamborim section and will be joined by Wolfe on Thursday. Meanwhile the agogo bell section has gotten very strong with Lila, Michael, Greg and the addition of Lilly who also plays piano.
Nile said he wanted more than anything to play surdo. He was kind of afraid to ask. I told him that surdo was for the bigger guys and that keeping time is extremely important because the surdos set the time for the whole band. Nile assured me that he could do it. I gave him a chance for one reason only: because he has lots of experience playing percussion. Well, he completely blew me away! He kept great time -- even when I tried to fool him by playing very tricky stuff. So he will join Scott on the high surdos.
Curtis and I are very aware that some kids want to play different instruments than the ones they play now. We expected this. All the little kids want to play the biggest drums -- particularly the boys. You all want to grow upbe super heroes and none of you want to be journalists or civil rights lawyers. Curtis and I know this quite well. We also knew that the older more mature kids would that size is not as important as other factors. You little guys will come to understand this in a few years.
Listen, microDudes -- we assign kids certain drums for very specific reasons. Curtis and I use secret, mysterious and very subtle mental techniques based on over 20 years of playing samba to know instinctively what instrument is right for whom.
For instance -- generally the bigger kids will play the surdo. That is because the surdos are very heavy and because older kids have better understanding of music and are better at keeping time. So how come a lean little stringbean like Nile gets to play surdo? Nile has already been in a samba band (along with Lila and Alex) and played a small surdo in a parade and a recital. He also played djembe (an African hand drum) in a performance and studied in Djoniba’s studio. He’s seen samba bands play since he was tiny. If he didn’t already have that experience -- he would not have been allowed to even try surdo.
Alex already has a real passion for hand drums and wants to devote lots of life to it -- even getting through the problem of sore hands. So only he will get a shot at it. Zane got ahot at a hand drum because I know him very well for many years and I know he would put extra energy into what he wants to do -- even if it hurts his hands. Plus, his parents were musicians and so it's kind of in his blood. But this would involve a commitment that we could not expect him to carry out. Harrison has good stick technique already so it was clear that we needed a strong stickman on tamborim and he can handle to difficult parts that will come later on. Curtis and I decided that until the band is in full swing, we don’t have time to teach the very difficult techniques of hand drumming. So hand drums will be brought into the group after the winter holidays. And, like surdo and caixa (snare drum) -- they will be for the older kids with experience playing them.
The agogo bells play the melodic part so we put piano players on those instruments. We also put new players who have not studied percussion in the bell section because there's a special stick technique on tamborim that they would have lots of trouble with. So, younger kids who are percussion students at school are most likely to be tamborim players. We're debating about what's right for Lilly. That's a tough one because she's both a piano player and a percussion student. Lucy and Miles are already kit drummers (the full set that rock bands use) so they already know how to play snare. Theyfore, they are our caixa players.
And so on.
Everybody needs to know this: every instrument we use is a serious samba instrument. All samba bands use surdos, caixas (snare drum), agogo bells, tamborims and repiniques (the little drum that Curtis and Iplay). Some use hand drums and pandeiros and cuicas. You will find out that just because an instrument is little, that does not mean it's less important. It means that it makes the higher sounds. Big instruments play low sounds and little instruments play high sounds. The surdos and caixas play the main groove while the bells and tamborims play the special lines that keep changing — sort of like the singing that rides over the rhythm section in a rock song. The surdos and caixas make people dance and the agogo bells and tamborims grab their attention and add special accents.
As time goes by your parts will get trickier and cooler and you’ll learn lots of cool tricks. It takes time to learn your parts so well that you don’t have to think about them. When you no longer have to think -- that’s when the fun really begins. If you want to know what I mean -- ask Lucy. You can email her at < loopylucy@mindspring.com > If you do, tell her your name and age.
If you have any questions or comments you can email us.
See you Thursday.
Polar
