INTERVIEWS
EL MONSTRO
FAQ/FACTS PAGE/INTERVIEW
The following interview/conversation (?) was done via several emails
and phone calls over a few weeks after answering many questions about
my hybrid set up EL MONSTRO
which has taken on a life of it's own............
THANKS to Aureliano for allowing me to post ........the initial interview
and his subsequent updates........
cg
"I play the silence a lot..."
Christopher Garcia
WHAT IS EL MONSTRO?
EL MONSTRO is a hybrid kit using hand, finger and stick percussion and sometimes electronics.
HOW DID THIS PARTICULAR CONFIGURATION OF INSTRUMENTS COME ABOUT?
That particular photo features North Indian tabla, south Indian kanjira, Mexican olla,
mbwata, Indigenous instruments of Mexico, e.g., ayacaxtli, atecocolli, baa wehai,
huilacapiztli, tetl, gongs, PAISTE cymbals and a MIDI trigger played with my right foot and/or
my hands but El Monstro actually changes depending on the musical situation, sometimes
there are no acoustic instruments other than PAISTE cymbals and a snare drum.
WHAT ARE YOU TRIGGERING?
Usually lower frequency sounds, like a clay drum or a djembe, darbuka or a bayan
as a bass drum sound.
(Bayan = the low drum of the North Indian tabla set)
WHAT ABOUT YOUR CYMBAL SETUP
The cymbals I play are PAISTE ,
played either with my fingers, sticks or mallets.
including
10" PAISTE splashes as high hats
19" PAISTE signature series
16" PAISTE flat ride
16" PAISTE swish cymbal
8" PAISTE splash cymbals
6" PAISTE splash cymbals
21" PAISTE DRY HEAVY RIDE signature series
17" PAISTE SIGNATURE SERIES
12" PAISTE swish
purchased my first PAISTE in 1980 - 81 from Erik Paiste at their factory
and have been an endorsee ever since
www.paiste.com/en/musicians/christopher-garcia
ARE THEY DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED BY THE HANDS ALONE?
No, but they are very responsive to brushes, fingers, sticks or mallets.
IS THE HIGH HAT FOOT OPERATED?
No, it is not foot operated.
WHAT IS AN MBWATA?
It is an LP clay drum from the UDU family, they actually make several different
shapes and sizes. After playing on all of them for a few hours I found this particular
drum to be what I need in regards to pitch and timbre.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR GHATAM?
I don't usually play that instrument on tour as it gets very beat up
going from plain to train to bus etc., the same thing with south Indian
kanjira which I have had for 35 years or so. When on tour I use a
REMO kanjira.....
HOW DO YOU GET THAT SHAKER AND/OR TAMBOURINE SOUND?
IS THAT ELECTRONIC?
No, it is an actual shaker that held between by toes that I can swap out depending
on the composition. Sometimes play 8th notes, sometimes 1/4 notes, sometimes
dotted quarters or dotted eighths, i.e., it depends on what is happening at the time.
HOW DO YOU HOLD A SHAKER BETWEEN YOUR TOES?
Actually it was designed by Terry Bozzio for DW I think, it goes over a bass drum beater
shaft and you can switch them out. It is threaded to hold different types of sonic devices,
I use either a miniature shaker or a tambourine.
WHY DON'T YOU USE A BASS DRUM PEDAL?
It is one more thing to pack up and fly with and adds more weight that I don't need
to be schlepping around. Sometimes I will request a bass drum pedal as part of the backline
depending on the musical situation, but if I can hold it between my toes.........
AND YOU WOULD ALSO HAVE TO PLAY SITTING ON A DRUM THRONE?
Not necessarily.
With a double bass drum pedal you can still play a bass drum over to your right while
still sitting on the floor and playing hand drums. High hat would be a little more difficult
since I am down to 3 limbs and usually play the MIDI pedal with my right foot.
WHY A MIDI TRIGGER IF YOU ARE PLAYING ACOUSTIC MUSIC?
Originally I was not utilizing any MIDI/electronic devices but some music
requires a bass drum sound - like CONTINUUM,
whereas
ANADIS MUSIC
http://anadismusic.weebly.com/
AYA Y MA
ayayma.weebly.com/
FLOWER SONGS MUSIC
flowersongsmusic.weebly.com/
GARCIA/GODINEZ aka MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS
musicbeyondborders.weebly.com/
MANRING GARCIA MUSIC
with special guests either
Pablo Calogero - bass flute, bass clarinet, soprano/tenor sax, ethnic flute
Alonso Arreola Dos - electric bass
Al Garcia - electric and acoustic guitars
Alex de Grassi- acoustic guitars
Jie Ma - Chinese pipa and Ruan
Miroslav Tadic - acoustic and electric guitars
Salomon Maawad - saxophones
manringgarciaduo.weebly.com/
KO MA GA TRIO
with
MOTOSHI KOSAKO - pedal harp
MICHAEL MANRING - fretless and fretted basses
cg - EL MONSTRO
harpmusician.com/komaga-trio
MEXCLA MUZIC
mexclamusic.weebly.com/
definitely do not require a bass drum sound
To play a real bass drum in real time means another 2 things to carry around with me
or backline - a bass drum and a pedal, but with the MIDI availability I can access different
timbres and pitches in real time which is a big plus, the ongoing never ending struggle is getting
it to blend with the acoustic instruments, hopefully where you cannot tell where one ends and the
other begins.
WHAT SOUNDS ARE YOU TRIGGERING?
Right now I am revamping what I trigger for touring, but when I am home,
in Los Angeles, I trigger samples of my own instruments, but the state of the art
changes daily.......
LATELY, WHEN I SEE YOU ON YOUTUBE YOU ARE PLAYING DIFFERENT DRUMS
WITH YOUR RIGHT FOOT . WHEN DID THAT CHANGE AND HOW DID THAT COME
ABOUT?
Yes.....I kept hearing tabla, bayan and ride cymbal in my head at the same time and I kept
trying to figure out how that could be made possible sitting on the floor. At first I played
tabla with my right hand and I put up another ride cymbal on my left side which I would
play with my left hand and I set up my YAMAHA double bass drum pedal which allowed
me to play a bayan either as a bayan or as a bass drum with my right foot.
SO YOU'RE AMBIDEXTROUS?
There are things I hear with my right hand that I don't hear with my left hand and vice versa.
My first thought was to have both hands match, but the ride cymbals on each side
are very different, one has rivets and the other doesn't and they are also different sizes
and they each resonate differently and I hear them accordingly
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IF YOU ARE PLAYING DIFFERENT DRUMS WITH
THE SAME FOOT?
You play what you hear , so the rhythms you hear a bayan play are not the rhythms
you hear when you would be playing a bass drum, or not the rhythms I hear in my
head anyway........
AND YOU ARE STILL SITTING ON THE FLOOR?
Yes
HOW DO YOU PLAY YOUR BAYAN WITH A FOOT PEDAL?
Well, first off you lose the nuance of your fingers when you play a drum with a pedal.
You can still approximate resonant and non resonant strokes but it can never take the
place of the nuance of your hands. But I am sure that when the bass drum pedals were
made that lots of folks who used to play the bass drum standing and playing it with a
beater in one hand and mute it with the other said the same thing.....
IS SITTING ON THE FLOOR UNCOMFORTABLE?
As long as you keep your core straight and keep your balance it is not uncomfortable,
but standing up after playing 2 or 3 hours is usually not very comfortable,
for me anyway.....
IN SOME YOUTUBES YOU ARE PLAYING A MUCH TALLER BLACK WOODEN DRUM
WHAT TYPE OF DRUM IS THAT?
It's a cajon
WHAT BANDS DID YOU USE THAT SETUP WITH?
With CONTINUUM I play cajon more as a bass drum, so the sound is not so resonant
but the attack is there and when I want additional resonance I will play cajon with
my right foot and the bayan with my left hand at the same time.
AT THE SAME TIME?
Yes......sometimes, it depends on the music
I RECENTLY SAW A YOUTUBE WITH YOU PLAYING A METAL DRUM?
That was the bayan, not sure which video you saw.
It might have been either
ANADIS MUSIC
with John Stephens playing either sitar, sarode or surbahar
and Pablo Calogero playing bansuri, bass flute,
bass clarinet, and tenor or soprano saxophone
or
MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS
with pedal harpist Tasha Smith Godinez
or
AYA Y MA
a duo with multi woodwind player Pablo Calogero
ALSO SAW YOU WITH A SNARE DRUM.
WHY A SNARE DRUM NOW?
That is a 10 x 2 inch SONOR tambourine snare, that was given to me as a gift.
Some of the music calls for a snare sound, which I usually don't use, because of
its timbre and frequency, but the drum is a lot less resonant than a traditional
14" snare drum as it is only 10" so it works in that context.
THAT LITTLE DRUM SOUNDS HUGE, IT'S ONLY 10 INCHES?
Yes...
HOW DO YOU GET IT TO SOUND THAT WAY
Not sure, just play it the way I normally would..........
EL MONSTRO
FAQ/FACTS PAGE/INTERVIEW
The following interview/conversation (?) was done via several emails
and phone calls over a few weeks after answering many questions about
my hybrid set up EL MONSTRO
which has taken on a life of it's own............
THANKS to Aureliano for allowing me to post ........the initial interview
and his subsequent updates........
cg
"I play the silence a lot..."
Christopher Garcia
WHAT IS EL MONSTRO?
EL MONSTRO is a hybrid kit using hand, finger and stick percussion and sometimes electronics.
HOW DID THIS PARTICULAR CONFIGURATION OF INSTRUMENTS COME ABOUT?
That particular photo features North Indian tabla, south Indian kanjira, Mexican olla,
mbwata, Indigenous instruments of Mexico, e.g., ayacaxtli, atecocolli, baa wehai,
huilacapiztli, tetl, gongs, PAISTE cymbals and a MIDI trigger played with my right foot and/or
my hands but El Monstro actually changes depending on the musical situation, sometimes
there are no acoustic instruments other than PAISTE cymbals and a snare drum.
WHAT ARE YOU TRIGGERING?
Usually lower frequency sounds, like a clay drum or a djembe, darbuka or a bayan
as a bass drum sound.
(Bayan = the low drum of the North Indian tabla set)
WHAT ABOUT YOUR CYMBAL SETUP
The cymbals I play are PAISTE ,
played either with my fingers, sticks or mallets.
including
10" PAISTE splashes as high hats
19" PAISTE signature series
16" PAISTE flat ride
16" PAISTE swish cymbal
8" PAISTE splash cymbals
6" PAISTE splash cymbals
21" PAISTE DRY HEAVY RIDE signature series
17" PAISTE SIGNATURE SERIES
12" PAISTE swish
purchased my first PAISTE in 1980 - 81 from Erik Paiste at their factory
and have been an endorsee ever since
www.paiste.com/en/musicians/christopher-garcia
ARE THEY DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED BY THE HANDS ALONE?
No, but they are very responsive to brushes, fingers, sticks or mallets.
IS THE HIGH HAT FOOT OPERATED?
No, it is not foot operated.
WHAT IS AN MBWATA?
It is an LP clay drum from the UDU family, they actually make several different
shapes and sizes. After playing on all of them for a few hours I found this particular
drum to be what I need in regards to pitch and timbre.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR GHATAM?
I don't usually play that instrument on tour as it gets very beat up
going from plain to train to bus etc., the same thing with south Indian
kanjira which I have had for 35 years or so. When on tour I use a
REMO kanjira.....
HOW DO YOU GET THAT SHAKER AND/OR TAMBOURINE SOUND?
IS THAT ELECTRONIC?
No, it is an actual shaker that held between by toes that I can swap out depending
on the composition. Sometimes play 8th notes, sometimes 1/4 notes, sometimes
dotted quarters or dotted eighths, i.e., it depends on what is happening at the time.
HOW DO YOU HOLD A SHAKER BETWEEN YOUR TOES?
Actually it was designed by Terry Bozzio for DW I think, it goes over a bass drum beater
shaft and you can switch them out. It is threaded to hold different types of sonic devices,
I use either a miniature shaker or a tambourine.
WHY DON'T YOU USE A BASS DRUM PEDAL?
It is one more thing to pack up and fly with and adds more weight that I don't need
to be schlepping around. Sometimes I will request a bass drum pedal as part of the backline
depending on the musical situation, but if I can hold it between my toes.........
AND YOU WOULD ALSO HAVE TO PLAY SITTING ON A DRUM THRONE?
Not necessarily.
With a double bass drum pedal you can still play a bass drum over to your right while
still sitting on the floor and playing hand drums. High hat would be a little more difficult
since I am down to 3 limbs and usually play the MIDI pedal with my right foot.
WHY A MIDI TRIGGER IF YOU ARE PLAYING ACOUSTIC MUSIC?
Originally I was not utilizing any MIDI/electronic devices but some music
requires a bass drum sound - like CONTINUUM,
whereas
ANADIS MUSIC
http://anadismusic.weebly.com/
AYA Y MA
ayayma.weebly.com/
FLOWER SONGS MUSIC
flowersongsmusic.weebly.com/
GARCIA/GODINEZ aka MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS
musicbeyondborders.weebly.com/
MANRING GARCIA MUSIC
with special guests either
Pablo Calogero - bass flute, bass clarinet, soprano/tenor sax, ethnic flute
Alonso Arreola Dos - electric bass
Al Garcia - electric and acoustic guitars
Alex de Grassi- acoustic guitars
Jie Ma - Chinese pipa and Ruan
Miroslav Tadic - acoustic and electric guitars
Salomon Maawad - saxophones
manringgarciaduo.weebly.com/
KO MA GA TRIO
with
MOTOSHI KOSAKO - pedal harp
MICHAEL MANRING - fretless and fretted basses
cg - EL MONSTRO
harpmusician.com/komaga-trio
MEXCLA MUZIC
mexclamusic.weebly.com/
definitely do not require a bass drum sound
To play a real bass drum in real time means another 2 things to carry around with me
or backline - a bass drum and a pedal, but with the MIDI availability I can access different
timbres and pitches in real time which is a big plus, the ongoing never ending struggle is getting
it to blend with the acoustic instruments, hopefully where you cannot tell where one ends and the
other begins.
WHAT SOUNDS ARE YOU TRIGGERING?
Right now I am revamping what I trigger for touring, but when I am home,
in Los Angeles, I trigger samples of my own instruments, but the state of the art
changes daily.......
LATELY, WHEN I SEE YOU ON YOUTUBE YOU ARE PLAYING DIFFERENT DRUMS
WITH YOUR RIGHT FOOT . WHEN DID THAT CHANGE AND HOW DID THAT COME
ABOUT?
Yes.....I kept hearing tabla, bayan and ride cymbal in my head at the same time and I kept
trying to figure out how that could be made possible sitting on the floor. At first I played
tabla with my right hand and I put up another ride cymbal on my left side which I would
play with my left hand and I set up my YAMAHA double bass drum pedal which allowed
me to play a bayan either as a bayan or as a bass drum with my right foot.
SO YOU'RE AMBIDEXTROUS?
There are things I hear with my right hand that I don't hear with my left hand and vice versa.
My first thought was to have both hands match, but the ride cymbals on each side
are very different, one has rivets and the other doesn't and they are also different sizes
and they each resonate differently and I hear them accordingly
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IF YOU ARE PLAYING DIFFERENT DRUMS WITH
THE SAME FOOT?
You play what you hear , so the rhythms you hear a bayan play are not the rhythms
you hear when you would be playing a bass drum, or not the rhythms I hear in my
head anyway........
AND YOU ARE STILL SITTING ON THE FLOOR?
Yes
HOW DO YOU PLAY YOUR BAYAN WITH A FOOT PEDAL?
Well, first off you lose the nuance of your fingers when you play a drum with a pedal.
You can still approximate resonant and non resonant strokes but it can never take the
place of the nuance of your hands. But I am sure that when the bass drum pedals were
made that lots of folks who used to play the bass drum standing and playing it with a
beater in one hand and mute it with the other said the same thing.....
IS SITTING ON THE FLOOR UNCOMFORTABLE?
As long as you keep your core straight and keep your balance it is not uncomfortable,
but standing up after playing 2 or 3 hours is usually not very comfortable,
for me anyway.....
IN SOME YOUTUBES YOU ARE PLAYING A MUCH TALLER BLACK WOODEN DRUM
WHAT TYPE OF DRUM IS THAT?
It's a cajon
WHAT BANDS DID YOU USE THAT SETUP WITH?
With CONTINUUM I play cajon more as a bass drum, so the sound is not so resonant
but the attack is there and when I want additional resonance I will play cajon with
my right foot and the bayan with my left hand at the same time.
AT THE SAME TIME?
Yes......sometimes, it depends on the music
I RECENTLY SAW A YOUTUBE WITH YOU PLAYING A METAL DRUM?
That was the bayan, not sure which video you saw.
It might have been either
ANADIS MUSIC
with John Stephens playing either sitar, sarode or surbahar
and Pablo Calogero playing bansuri, bass flute,
bass clarinet, and tenor or soprano saxophone
or
MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS
with pedal harpist Tasha Smith Godinez
or
AYA Y MA
a duo with multi woodwind player Pablo Calogero
ALSO SAW YOU WITH A SNARE DRUM.
WHY A SNARE DRUM NOW?
That is a 10 x 2 inch SONOR tambourine snare, that was given to me as a gift.
Some of the music calls for a snare sound, which I usually don't use, because of
its timbre and frequency, but the drum is a lot less resonant than a traditional
14" snare drum as it is only 10" so it works in that context.
THAT LITTLE DRUM SOUNDS HUGE, IT'S ONLY 10 INCHES?
Yes...
HOW DO YOU GET IT TO SOUND THAT WAY
Not sure, just play it the way I normally would..........
WHY SO MANY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS?
Actually I love the colour of sound and changing it according to what is
happening musically at the moment. I now have wood, gourd, skin, clay
and metal(s) and voice and access to MIDI instruments and samples.
HATE TO ASK YOU BUT WHAT KIND OF DRUM STICKS
DO YOU USE, THEY SEEM VERY THIN?
Actually they are not drumsticks, they are Wok cooking sticks.
??????????????????
The first time I saw someone using these as sticks was percussionist Brad
Dutz, and when I started playing with acoustic guitarist Alex de Grassi and
Michael Manring, regular drumsticks were too heavy and chopsticks were not
long enough. Alex plays with a microphone, he does not plug in to an
amplifier. So he is very acoustic and if you keep on amplifying an acoustic
instrument you might as well plug in an electric guitar, which is something
we didn't do in that ensemble (DEMANIA*). It also allows me to play without
over powering the sound of the acoustic guitar and the volume blends well
with the tabla. When I was using regular drum sticks they had to turn the
tabla MIC up, which got us further and further away from being an ensemble.
DE GRASSI/MANRING/GARCIA aka DEMANIA PLAYLIST below
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k4btA1nGZeoDfEsX9JBVrXZPdqtc3Xf90
DOESN'T MICHAEL MANRING PLAY ELECTRIC BASS?
Yes, very much so, but he is an anomaly, isn't he? Michael should be called
'EL MONSTRO". I remember Chick Corea saying that when he plays solo piano
he has a dynamic range of 0 to 10, but as soon as he played with a drum set
player, his dynamic range went from 6 to 10 and all of his quiet stuff
became non-existent. He said that most of the drummers he played with could
not burn at a lower volume and still be ferocious. The only exceptions he
mentioned were Barry Altschul and Maestro Roy Haynes. When playing with an
acoustic guitar the dynamic level goes from -3 to +6 since there is no
snare drum or bass drum being played louder than that.
WHY DO YOU PLAY CYMBAL AND TABLA AT THE SAME TIME
AND HOW DO YOU THAT?
It makes sense as sometimes the music is more harmonic than melodic.
If there is harmonic movement, I usually play a cymbal or hi-hat with
my right/left hand and bayan, so the pitch of the tabla/dayan drum
does not conflict with the harmony or a less resonant instrument like
the bongo cajon or regular cajon. Every drum has a relative pitch
whether tuned to a specific pitch or not.
DOES THE PITCH OF THE LOW DRUM INTERFERE WITH THE BASS?
It can. With north Indian tabla you play resonant or non-resonant
strokes. I don't play resonant strokes on "one" with an electric
bassist, but I do with a harp or woodwind player since I sit below
those instruments frequency wise. I can also play "one" with a closed
non-resonant stroke for percussive effect or cajon with my right foot
and bayan with my left hand if needed.
WHY DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE TABLA FROM NORTH INDIAN TABLA?
I was asked to play tabla for a concert but it turns out they wanted
tablah, i.e., a darbuka or a dumbek, which is a near Eastern drum,
not an East Indian one.
WHAT DID YOU DO?
I explained the difference between the drumming traditions and the
vernaculars of each instrument and recommended a darbuka player.
HOW DID THAT TURN OUT?
They decided to use the Indian instruments. It was for a Western
classical piece in 3 movements so I suggested that I play different
percussion instruments for each movement: ghatam, kanjra, and tabla.
SO YOU PLAYED THE SAME RHYTHMS ON A DIFFERENT INSTRUMENT?
No, there was no notated percussion part. They sent me the orchestral notation and I created
a percussion part for each movement.
CREATED ONE! IS THAT NORMAL OR SHOULD I ASK USUAL
FOR AN ORCHESTRA TO DO THAT?
Not sure about other folks, but it has happened a few times for me.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
They asked me................
YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO PLAY LOTS OF
VERY DIFFERENT STYLES OF MUSIC
WITH LOTS OF VERY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS
AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE
e.g.
DRUMSET, TABLA, KANJIRA, GHATAM, MARIMBA,
INDIGENOUS INSTRUMENTS ETC.,
SEE BELOW FOR A PARTIAL LISTING
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES WITH
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/previous-performances.html
Actually I love the colour of sound and changing it according to what is
happening musically at the moment. I now have wood, gourd, skin, clay
and metal(s) and voice and access to MIDI instruments and samples.
HATE TO ASK YOU BUT WHAT KIND OF DRUM STICKS
DO YOU USE, THEY SEEM VERY THIN?
Actually they are not drumsticks, they are Wok cooking sticks.
??????????????????
The first time I saw someone using these as sticks was percussionist Brad
Dutz, and when I started playing with acoustic guitarist Alex de Grassi and
Michael Manring, regular drumsticks were too heavy and chopsticks were not
long enough. Alex plays with a microphone, he does not plug in to an
amplifier. So he is very acoustic and if you keep on amplifying an acoustic
instrument you might as well plug in an electric guitar, which is something
we didn't do in that ensemble (DEMANIA*). It also allows me to play without
over powering the sound of the acoustic guitar and the volume blends well
with the tabla. When I was using regular drum sticks they had to turn the
tabla MIC up, which got us further and further away from being an ensemble.
DE GRASSI/MANRING/GARCIA aka DEMANIA PLAYLIST below
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k4btA1nGZeoDfEsX9JBVrXZPdqtc3Xf90
DOESN'T MICHAEL MANRING PLAY ELECTRIC BASS?
Yes, very much so, but he is an anomaly, isn't he? Michael should be called
'EL MONSTRO". I remember Chick Corea saying that when he plays solo piano
he has a dynamic range of 0 to 10, but as soon as he played with a drum set
player, his dynamic range went from 6 to 10 and all of his quiet stuff
became non-existent. He said that most of the drummers he played with could
not burn at a lower volume and still be ferocious. The only exceptions he
mentioned were Barry Altschul and Maestro Roy Haynes. When playing with an
acoustic guitar the dynamic level goes from -3 to +6 since there is no
snare drum or bass drum being played louder than that.
WHY DO YOU PLAY CYMBAL AND TABLA AT THE SAME TIME
AND HOW DO YOU THAT?
It makes sense as sometimes the music is more harmonic than melodic.
If there is harmonic movement, I usually play a cymbal or hi-hat with
my right/left hand and bayan, so the pitch of the tabla/dayan drum
does not conflict with the harmony or a less resonant instrument like
the bongo cajon or regular cajon. Every drum has a relative pitch
whether tuned to a specific pitch or not.
DOES THE PITCH OF THE LOW DRUM INTERFERE WITH THE BASS?
It can. With north Indian tabla you play resonant or non-resonant
strokes. I don't play resonant strokes on "one" with an electric
bassist, but I do with a harp or woodwind player since I sit below
those instruments frequency wise. I can also play "one" with a closed
non-resonant stroke for percussive effect or cajon with my right foot
and bayan with my left hand if needed.
WHY DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE TABLA FROM NORTH INDIAN TABLA?
I was asked to play tabla for a concert but it turns out they wanted
tablah, i.e., a darbuka or a dumbek, which is a near Eastern drum,
not an East Indian one.
WHAT DID YOU DO?
I explained the difference between the drumming traditions and the
vernaculars of each instrument and recommended a darbuka player.
HOW DID THAT TURN OUT?
They decided to use the Indian instruments. It was for a Western
classical piece in 3 movements so I suggested that I play different
percussion instruments for each movement: ghatam, kanjra, and tabla.
SO YOU PLAYED THE SAME RHYTHMS ON A DIFFERENT INSTRUMENT?
No, there was no notated percussion part. They sent me the orchestral notation and I created
a percussion part for each movement.
CREATED ONE! IS THAT NORMAL OR SHOULD I ASK USUAL
FOR AN ORCHESTRA TO DO THAT?
Not sure about other folks, but it has happened a few times for me.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
They asked me................
YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO PLAY LOTS OF
VERY DIFFERENT STYLES OF MUSIC
WITH LOTS OF VERY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS
AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE
e.g.
DRUMSET, TABLA, KANJIRA, GHATAM, MARIMBA,
INDIGENOUS INSTRUMENTS ETC.,
SEE BELOW FOR A PARTIAL LISTING
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES WITH
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/previous-performances.html
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
They ask me………….
NO, WHAT I MEAN IS HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT?
My teachers, my mentors, practicing, researching, studying,
rehearsing and hard work, and lots and lots and lots of LISTENING
and PLAYING
BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF PLAYERS WHO HAVE HAVE TEACHERS,
AND TRAINING, AND STUDIED THAT WORK HARD
Definitely.
There is no shortage of great musicians.
Played in 28 countries on 5 continents multiple times
and they are EVERY WHERE
But what we know, think we know, understand and realize,
has absolutely nothing to do with what we actually do
or how we do it
or why we do it.
and I should add you have to be WILLING to do it,
e.g.,
to practice on your own,
to rehearse the music in order to transcend yourself and
your instruments it and make it as ORGANIC as possible
by doing it as often as possible, without a sheet of paper on
a music stand in front of your face, and this can be done by anyone......
ANYONE?
Absolutely!
Anyone at all, that is willing to put the time in,
understanding that the work is its own reward.
What we’re talking about, or trying to talk about, has nothing
to do with financial rewards, or accolades and has everything
to do with INTENTION.
WHY we do what we do
HOW we do what we do EVERYDAY of our livingness,
and beingness.
Not only when you have a paid gig
MUSIC is a sacred thing, an amazing gift to be cultivated and nurtured.
BUT MOST PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE THAT
Or live that, which is fine, as everyone is entitled to believe anything they want
and live the way they want......we have each made our own choices, our own circles
our own decisions and our own worlds.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS,
NOT ONLY PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS.......
Yes, but I don't have doubles of any instruments, don't have multiple drumsets,
multiple tabla etc.,. and lots of the instruments at my studio were given to me,
I do not have "disposable income" and I have a family to support.
To paraphrase Bill Bruford, I have a drumset, 1 set of tabla, 1 ghatam,
a kanjira, 1 marimba, some cymbals, and instruments of Mesoamerica,
most of which were given to me by colleagues or complete strangers,
and they each need to be fed daily, along with composing, researching
and recording which all need to fed as often as possible.
ANOTHER MUSICIAN TOLD TO ME THAT YOU SAID TO HIM
“IF I WOULD’NT DO IT FOR FREE I WOULDN'T DO IT FOR MONEY”
IS THAT TRUE?
Absolutely.
WHY?
There is much more to MUSIC MAKING than starting and stopping at
the same time and playing in time and in tune, and getting paid to do that
or to teach. or I should stress, for me anyway.
HAVE TO SAY THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY MUSICIAN I KNOW WHOSE
SOLE INCOME COMES FROM PLAYING THE MUSIC YOU WANT TO,
PLAYING THE INSTRUMENTS YOU WANT TO, AND VERY RARELY PLAYING
SOMEONE ELSE'S MUSIC AND SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY DOING THAT
AND NOTHING ELSE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
The only one that you personally know.! Really? Well........that's just sad isn't it.
Should add that there are some musicians who are happy just to play their instruments
regardless of the music they are playing and making a living doing that and teaching.
YOU DON'T TEACH? YOU DON'T HAVE STUDENTS?
YOU DON'T WORK AT A UNIVERSITY? YOU DON'T HAVE
LETTERS AFTER YOUR NAME?
AND YOURE ABLE TO SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY?
Most human beings, and some musicians want to have a "normal" life,
a steady income, so they teach, they do sessions, and the path of a musician,
a person who survives playing mostly their own compositions, is not
as financially stable as most human beings and some musicians want.
YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO DO IT
Well...........(long pause) it's a lot of hard work and I never wanted to be Elmer J. Fudd
???????????????
What I mean is that I don't own a mansion or a yacht, don't need one,
never wanted one, just need to be able to take care of MI FAMILIA doing
what I do how I do and continue to be. BLESSED to do just that, AND, I should
add, I wouldn't recommend it as a way of LIFE or LIVING to anyone..............
DO YOU EVER HAVE PRIVATE STUDENTS?
I have an occasional student with a very specific question about a very specific thing,
but I don't have students that show up every week and I don't charge for lessons,
for those with questions. I know what it's like to have no feria for instruments or
lessons when I was a youngster, so I pass on what I can, the same way information
was passed on to me.
WHY?
Because that gift of information, knowldedge and wisdom was passed
on to me and amazing teachers are like amazing human beings.
They definitely exist, but are few and far between,
and I have been blessed to have had a few in my life,
and that bar is very high for me, and I make a living as a
composer/multi instrumentalist/improviser and not by teaching
at a conservatory or university, and lately,
have been giving what little free time I have to folks who understand that
the mechanics of music have very little to do with the BEAUTY OF MUSIC
and it’s effect on a person. LIFE and LIVING are also
about making and keeping that BALANCE between ALL OF IT
which is pretty precarious......at least for me....
BUT YOU CONTINUE TO BE INVITED TO PRESENT WHAT YOU CALL
"INFORMANCES" OR MASTER CLASSES AT VARIOUS COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE AND MEXICO EITHER
AS A COMPOSER OR AS A MULTI INSTRUMENTALIST OR FOR ANTHROPOLOGY,
ARCHAEOLOGY OR HISTORY DEPARTMENTS.
Yes, when I am invited, I do either a 3 day or week long residency
depending on what they ask of me.
WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO IN THOSE SITUATIONS?
It depends on who is asking. Some know my work as a drummer and have
no idea that I play instruments of India, and some only know my work
as a musician who plays instruments of Mesoamerica and have no clue
that I play drumset, marimba or percussion of India, and some only
know my work as a composer and never ask me to play any of the
instruments I play.
YOU DON'T CONSIDER THAT TEACHING?
Sharing what I do, what I learned, how I learned to MAKE MUSIC
comes from playing music everyday with somebody. Teaching someone
how to play an instrument, doesnt mean they are learning how to
MAKE MUSIC. There are lots of players who play their instruments
well, technically, but MAKING MUSIC in real time with real people
is COMMUNAL. Has nothing to do with sitting in a room gaining facility
on an instrument. Anything and everything worthwhile comes ORGANICALLY
the more you do it, communally, the better the ensemble gets i..e.,
we don't meet someone we never met and tell them one day we will be friends
and visit each other for the holidaze etc., that comes with TIME
.............but, that is by T.B.S.O.
TBSO??
my Totally Biased Subjective Opinion
They ask me………….
NO, WHAT I MEAN IS HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT?
My teachers, my mentors, practicing, researching, studying,
rehearsing and hard work, and lots and lots and lots of LISTENING
and PLAYING
BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF PLAYERS WHO HAVE HAVE TEACHERS,
AND TRAINING, AND STUDIED THAT WORK HARD
Definitely.
There is no shortage of great musicians.
Played in 28 countries on 5 continents multiple times
and they are EVERY WHERE
But what we know, think we know, understand and realize,
has absolutely nothing to do with what we actually do
or how we do it
or why we do it.
and I should add you have to be WILLING to do it,
e.g.,
to practice on your own,
to rehearse the music in order to transcend yourself and
your instruments it and make it as ORGANIC as possible
by doing it as often as possible, without a sheet of paper on
a music stand in front of your face, and this can be done by anyone......
ANYONE?
Absolutely!
Anyone at all, that is willing to put the time in,
understanding that the work is its own reward.
What we’re talking about, or trying to talk about, has nothing
to do with financial rewards, or accolades and has everything
to do with INTENTION.
WHY we do what we do
HOW we do what we do EVERYDAY of our livingness,
and beingness.
Not only when you have a paid gig
MUSIC is a sacred thing, an amazing gift to be cultivated and nurtured.
BUT MOST PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE THAT
Or live that, which is fine, as everyone is entitled to believe anything they want
and live the way they want......we have each made our own choices, our own circles
our own decisions and our own worlds.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS,
NOT ONLY PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS.......
Yes, but I don't have doubles of any instruments, don't have multiple drumsets,
multiple tabla etc.,. and lots of the instruments at my studio were given to me,
I do not have "disposable income" and I have a family to support.
To paraphrase Bill Bruford, I have a drumset, 1 set of tabla, 1 ghatam,
a kanjira, 1 marimba, some cymbals, and instruments of Mesoamerica,
most of which were given to me by colleagues or complete strangers,
and they each need to be fed daily, along with composing, researching
and recording which all need to fed as often as possible.
ANOTHER MUSICIAN TOLD TO ME THAT YOU SAID TO HIM
“IF I WOULD’NT DO IT FOR FREE I WOULDN'T DO IT FOR MONEY”
IS THAT TRUE?
Absolutely.
WHY?
There is much more to MUSIC MAKING than starting and stopping at
the same time and playing in time and in tune, and getting paid to do that
or to teach. or I should stress, for me anyway.
HAVE TO SAY THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY MUSICIAN I KNOW WHOSE
SOLE INCOME COMES FROM PLAYING THE MUSIC YOU WANT TO,
PLAYING THE INSTRUMENTS YOU WANT TO, AND VERY RARELY PLAYING
SOMEONE ELSE'S MUSIC AND SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY DOING THAT
AND NOTHING ELSE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
The only one that you personally know.! Really? Well........that's just sad isn't it.
Should add that there are some musicians who are happy just to play their instruments
regardless of the music they are playing and making a living doing that and teaching.
YOU DON'T TEACH? YOU DON'T HAVE STUDENTS?
YOU DON'T WORK AT A UNIVERSITY? YOU DON'T HAVE
LETTERS AFTER YOUR NAME?
AND YOURE ABLE TO SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY?
Most human beings, and some musicians want to have a "normal" life,
a steady income, so they teach, they do sessions, and the path of a musician,
a person who survives playing mostly their own compositions, is not
as financially stable as most human beings and some musicians want.
YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO DO IT
Well...........(long pause) it's a lot of hard work and I never wanted to be Elmer J. Fudd
???????????????
What I mean is that I don't own a mansion or a yacht, don't need one,
never wanted one, just need to be able to take care of MI FAMILIA doing
what I do how I do and continue to be. BLESSED to do just that, AND, I should
add, I wouldn't recommend it as a way of LIFE or LIVING to anyone..............
DO YOU EVER HAVE PRIVATE STUDENTS?
I have an occasional student with a very specific question about a very specific thing,
but I don't have students that show up every week and I don't charge for lessons,
for those with questions. I know what it's like to have no feria for instruments or
lessons when I was a youngster, so I pass on what I can, the same way information
was passed on to me.
WHY?
Because that gift of information, knowldedge and wisdom was passed
on to me and amazing teachers are like amazing human beings.
They definitely exist, but are few and far between,
and I have been blessed to have had a few in my life,
and that bar is very high for me, and I make a living as a
composer/multi instrumentalist/improviser and not by teaching
at a conservatory or university, and lately,
have been giving what little free time I have to folks who understand that
the mechanics of music have very little to do with the BEAUTY OF MUSIC
and it’s effect on a person. LIFE and LIVING are also
about making and keeping that BALANCE between ALL OF IT
which is pretty precarious......at least for me....
BUT YOU CONTINUE TO BE INVITED TO PRESENT WHAT YOU CALL
"INFORMANCES" OR MASTER CLASSES AT VARIOUS COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE AND MEXICO EITHER
AS A COMPOSER OR AS A MULTI INSTRUMENTALIST OR FOR ANTHROPOLOGY,
ARCHAEOLOGY OR HISTORY DEPARTMENTS.
Yes, when I am invited, I do either a 3 day or week long residency
depending on what they ask of me.
WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO IN THOSE SITUATIONS?
It depends on who is asking. Some know my work as a drummer and have
no idea that I play instruments of India, and some only know my work
as a musician who plays instruments of Mesoamerica and have no clue
that I play drumset, marimba or percussion of India, and some only
know my work as a composer and never ask me to play any of the
instruments I play.
YOU DON'T CONSIDER THAT TEACHING?
Sharing what I do, what I learned, how I learned to MAKE MUSIC
comes from playing music everyday with somebody. Teaching someone
how to play an instrument, doesnt mean they are learning how to
MAKE MUSIC. There are lots of players who play their instruments
well, technically, but MAKING MUSIC in real time with real people
is COMMUNAL. Has nothing to do with sitting in a room gaining facility
on an instrument. Anything and everything worthwhile comes ORGANICALLY
the more you do it, communally, the better the ensemble gets i..e.,
we don't meet someone we never met and tell them one day we will be friends
and visit each other for the holidaze etc., that comes with TIME
.............but, that is by T.B.S.O.
TBSO??
my Totally Biased Subjective Opinion
a few weeks later, the conversation continued and re focused
on a specific concert
YOU RECENTLY DID 30 HOURS OR REHEARSALS FOR A DUO PERFORMANCE
Yes
WHY?
In order to know the material as there was no notation.
SO IT WAS IMPROVISED?
The music had opportunities for improvisation but we were
playing actual compositions that had no notation.
30 HOURS?
Yes, the music demanded it
THE MUSIC?
Definitely the music and not the musicians
THAT SEEMS……CRAZY?
Very much so. But that is what we had to do, or rather what I had to do, in order
to be comfortable with the material for that particular concert. It is a very different
kind of responsibility when playing duo as we are equal in regards to responsibilities
and we are playing for a LISTENING audience. Folks who paid to come in and EXPERIENCE
MUSIC MAKING in real time with real people.
WERE YOU READING MUSIC?
Oh no, it was for a classical Indian music concert, no notation onstage
I HAVE RARELY EVER SEEN YOU WITH A MUSIC OR A MUSIC STAND
IN ANY ENSEMBLE OR WHEN PLAYING WITH A CHAMBER GROUP
OR ORCHESTRA OR ON YOUTUBE OR WHEN WE FIRST MET IN EUROPE.
I FIRST SAW YOU PLAYING DRUMSET WITH FRANK ZAPPA ALUMNUS
THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION WITH AN ORCHESTRA AND YOU WERE
THE ONLY MUSICIAN ONSTAGE WITHOUT A MUSIC STAND FOR A 2 1/2 HOUR
CONCERT.
That is because I do my best to internalize and learn the music
I need to be able to sing it back in my head from beginning to end
in order to transcend the page.
There are lots of folks who have amazing sight reading skills
but they never take their eyes off the stand, which has very little
to do with being in the moment at the moment every moment.
John Bergamo told me “you have ears,”
and “sight-reading is a skill that you can develop… but you can’t teach EARS….”
Each type of music has its own demands physically, technically AND spiritually.
I need to be able to close my eyes and be fully engulfed in the music,
and not worrying about cues,
or cueing or anything remotely like that,
I want to be completely free when I play and not worry or be concerned
about what is coming up, might come up, or might not come up
when I know the music that well anything, can and does happen.
But it all takes time, and music, which is communal,
only happens NOW and NOWHERE else
BUT THE STYLES YOU PLAY .........
The folks who ask me to MAKE MUSIC with them are not playing a style,
they are playing their LIFE,
they are playing THEMSELVES,
every music and musician has developed themselves,
their own SOUND,
their own vernacular,
whether it be
Avant,
Chinese,
Classical,
folkloric,
Funk,
fusion,
indigenous,
Indian,
Italian,
Japanese,
Jazz,
Rock,
Salentese,
Sicilian,
you approach each situation and each musician
as yourself because each person and their music is unique and
should be treated as such.
Usually when people play stylistically they are playing peripherally...
What would be the point of saying the same thing over and over again
to different people in different situations.
Lots of folks bring the same thing to different tables
instead of bringing something different to each table and being there
In the moment in the present, and transcending our limitations
because as musicians we only exist in the NOW,
and now comes and goes, comes and goes...........
THE RHYTHMS YOU PLAYING ON THE CYMBALS,
SOMETIMES THEY SEEM "NORMAL" AND OTHER TIMES
THEY SEEM..... "DIFFERENT".
I am incorporating hand and/or finger rhythms on the cymbals instead of the
traditional patterns associated with cymbal playing in jazz and/or rock contexts,
e.g., straight 8ths, swung 8th's etc.
When playing hand or finger type patterns on the cymbals the rhythms are part
of a larger rhythm instead of an ongoing rhythm with accents with and against it.
CAN YOU ELABORATE MORE ON THIS?
Usually when you are playing a drum set grooves, the cymbal or high
hat pattern is typically repetitive
This includes rhythms like straight or swung 8th's or 16ths
In rock music, hand and foot patterns often align, in jazz
drumming, however, features more independence between the
hands and feet . The cymbal or high hat pattern can be repetitive
or varied, essentially creating one rhythm played against another [1].
In contrast, when playing the tabla, the hands generally collaborate
to create a single rhythm. You typically won't find one hand
playing a continuous, repetitive figure like straight eighths while
the other plays a contrasting rhythm, although it might appear that
way in certain cycles
WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO SIT ON THE FLOOR INSTEAD OF ON A CHAIR?
In order to sit on a chair I would have to schlep stands to elevate everything, by sitting
on the floor that problem is alleviated and I usually, never run out of floor....
BUT ONCE AGAIN ISN'T THAT UNCOMFORTABLE?
No. The only thing that is uncomfortable is being relegated to 3
limbs instead of 4 like a drummer, which is my first instrument.
You are able to cover a lot of ground with 3 limbs sonically and
rhythmically . The only sonic issue I have with this set up is
going from fingers or hands to sticks and vice versa, especially
in recording situations which are done in real time [1]. When I
put sticks down or pick them up I have to be careful to avoid
additional noise and not miss a beat.
I NOTICE WHEN YOURE PLAYING LIVE SOMETIMES STICKS,
MALLETS AND BRUSHES GO FLYING OUT OF YOUR HANDS
that does happen ..... sometimes .....especially when I am hearing
a change of color in that moment, as the goal is to not disturb the
groove whether you are playing it or not.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
time continues ...... whether we play it or not
(he stops and we sit in SILENCE, he then points to the second hand
on the clock on the wall)
see.......time is still going, whether we play or don't play
some cats think the drummer is a glorified CLICK, but those are not
the kind of folks who invite me to MAKE MUSIC with them
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING THIS SET UP?
Since 1988 but it is always changing - contracting and expanding
depending on the musical situation. Michael Manring always comments
that it has never been the same way once......
on a specific concert
YOU RECENTLY DID 30 HOURS OR REHEARSALS FOR A DUO PERFORMANCE
Yes
WHY?
In order to know the material as there was no notation.
SO IT WAS IMPROVISED?
The music had opportunities for improvisation but we were
playing actual compositions that had no notation.
30 HOURS?
Yes, the music demanded it
THE MUSIC?
Definitely the music and not the musicians
THAT SEEMS……CRAZY?
Very much so. But that is what we had to do, or rather what I had to do, in order
to be comfortable with the material for that particular concert. It is a very different
kind of responsibility when playing duo as we are equal in regards to responsibilities
and we are playing for a LISTENING audience. Folks who paid to come in and EXPERIENCE
MUSIC MAKING in real time with real people.
WERE YOU READING MUSIC?
Oh no, it was for a classical Indian music concert, no notation onstage
I HAVE RARELY EVER SEEN YOU WITH A MUSIC OR A MUSIC STAND
IN ANY ENSEMBLE OR WHEN PLAYING WITH A CHAMBER GROUP
OR ORCHESTRA OR ON YOUTUBE OR WHEN WE FIRST MET IN EUROPE.
I FIRST SAW YOU PLAYING DRUMSET WITH FRANK ZAPPA ALUMNUS
THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION WITH AN ORCHESTRA AND YOU WERE
THE ONLY MUSICIAN ONSTAGE WITHOUT A MUSIC STAND FOR A 2 1/2 HOUR
CONCERT.
That is because I do my best to internalize and learn the music
I need to be able to sing it back in my head from beginning to end
in order to transcend the page.
There are lots of folks who have amazing sight reading skills
but they never take their eyes off the stand, which has very little
to do with being in the moment at the moment every moment.
John Bergamo told me “you have ears,”
and “sight-reading is a skill that you can develop… but you can’t teach EARS….”
Each type of music has its own demands physically, technically AND spiritually.
I need to be able to close my eyes and be fully engulfed in the music,
and not worrying about cues,
or cueing or anything remotely like that,
I want to be completely free when I play and not worry or be concerned
about what is coming up, might come up, or might not come up
when I know the music that well anything, can and does happen.
But it all takes time, and music, which is communal,
only happens NOW and NOWHERE else
BUT THE STYLES YOU PLAY .........
The folks who ask me to MAKE MUSIC with them are not playing a style,
they are playing their LIFE,
they are playing THEMSELVES,
every music and musician has developed themselves,
their own SOUND,
their own vernacular,
whether it be
Avant,
Chinese,
Classical,
folkloric,
Funk,
fusion,
indigenous,
Indian,
Italian,
Japanese,
Jazz,
Rock,
Salentese,
Sicilian,
you approach each situation and each musician
as yourself because each person and their music is unique and
should be treated as such.
Usually when people play stylistically they are playing peripherally...
What would be the point of saying the same thing over and over again
to different people in different situations.
Lots of folks bring the same thing to different tables
instead of bringing something different to each table and being there
In the moment in the present, and transcending our limitations
because as musicians we only exist in the NOW,
and now comes and goes, comes and goes...........
THE RHYTHMS YOU PLAYING ON THE CYMBALS,
SOMETIMES THEY SEEM "NORMAL" AND OTHER TIMES
THEY SEEM..... "DIFFERENT".
I am incorporating hand and/or finger rhythms on the cymbals instead of the
traditional patterns associated with cymbal playing in jazz and/or rock contexts,
e.g., straight 8ths, swung 8th's etc.
When playing hand or finger type patterns on the cymbals the rhythms are part
of a larger rhythm instead of an ongoing rhythm with accents with and against it.
CAN YOU ELABORATE MORE ON THIS?
Usually when you are playing a drum set grooves, the cymbal or high
hat pattern is typically repetitive
This includes rhythms like straight or swung 8th's or 16ths
In rock music, hand and foot patterns often align, in jazz
drumming, however, features more independence between the
hands and feet . The cymbal or high hat pattern can be repetitive
or varied, essentially creating one rhythm played against another [1].
In contrast, when playing the tabla, the hands generally collaborate
to create a single rhythm. You typically won't find one hand
playing a continuous, repetitive figure like straight eighths while
the other plays a contrasting rhythm, although it might appear that
way in certain cycles
WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO SIT ON THE FLOOR INSTEAD OF ON A CHAIR?
In order to sit on a chair I would have to schlep stands to elevate everything, by sitting
on the floor that problem is alleviated and I usually, never run out of floor....
BUT ONCE AGAIN ISN'T THAT UNCOMFORTABLE?
No. The only thing that is uncomfortable is being relegated to 3
limbs instead of 4 like a drummer, which is my first instrument.
You are able to cover a lot of ground with 3 limbs sonically and
rhythmically . The only sonic issue I have with this set up is
going from fingers or hands to sticks and vice versa, especially
in recording situations which are done in real time [1]. When I
put sticks down or pick them up I have to be careful to avoid
additional noise and not miss a beat.
I NOTICE WHEN YOURE PLAYING LIVE SOMETIMES STICKS,
MALLETS AND BRUSHES GO FLYING OUT OF YOUR HANDS
that does happen ..... sometimes .....especially when I am hearing
a change of color in that moment, as the goal is to not disturb the
groove whether you are playing it or not.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
time continues ...... whether we play it or not
(he stops and we sit in SILENCE, he then points to the second hand
on the clock on the wall)
see.......time is still going, whether we play or don't play
some cats think the drummer is a glorified CLICK, but those are not
the kind of folks who invite me to MAKE MUSIC with them
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING THIS SET UP?
Since 1988 but it is always changing - contracting and expanding
depending on the musical situation. Michael Manring always comments
that it has never been the same way once......
COLLIN WALCOTT
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS SET UP?
I didn't.
The first person that I saw with a set up that incorporated hand and stick
percussion while sitting on the floor was Collin Walcott, the percussionist
from the group OREGON.
He had north Indian tabla and cymbals but usually did not play them
at the same time, it was usually one or the other.
He also played sawed off congas and sitar.
Latin percussionists have been doing this for years, bongo players,
conga players etc., but they usually use 2 limbs, sometimes 3, some
of them now utilize a bass drum pedal to play clave and /or a cowbell.
But the biggest difference is that they are usually not the prime
time keeper, but an auxiliary percussionist working as part of a
rhythm section. Collin was the first musician that I experienced
being the only percussionist to supply rhythm and color without
the use of a drummer and being BEYOND musical with it.
(There is 1 Oregon record where the musical guest is drummer
Elvin Jones.)
COLLIN MOUNTED HIS CYMBALS ON CYMBAL STANDS,
BUT YOU MOUNT YOURS STRAIGHT UP INSTEAD OF GOING
OUT ON EITHER SIDE.
WHY DO YOU SET UP THAT WAY?
That is because of MAESTRO John Bergamo. One time we were in a music
store looking at a cymbal tree, and he said, "Wouldn't it be great to
have access to different cymbals that you could just take off or put
on depending on the music. You could pull the cymbals forward or push
them back without having to have a bunch of extra stands, just a
cymbal bag." Much like an electric guitarist has access to different
pedals to colour his or her sound. So the idea comes from Guru John
Bergamo and it makes sense
SOMETIMES YOU PLAY ONLY CYMALS AND NOTHING ELSE.
Sometimes............
AND SOMETIMES YOU STOP PLAYING COMPLETELY
I try my best to play what I hear, instead of what I want to hear and
when I don't hear it I don't play it.............John Bergamo used to
say "when in doubt, leave it out" but sometimes I stop playing because
the music does not require me laying down a groove as every second of
every minute has a groove ........ you dont have to play it, you just
have to ride it
HOW DO YOUR MUSICAL COLLABORATORS FEEL ABOUT YOU STOPPING?
When you stop playing all kinds of frequencies, timbres, and sound opens up,
but the GROOVE is always there whether I am playing it or not.................as
everyone on the bandstand is required to be in time whether anyone is playing
time at all and we are each required to be in what is now called "PRESENT TIME"
but ALL MUSIC is in PRESENT TIME and nowhere else.
YOUR SET UP, YOUR RACK, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
Actually it is not a rack it is an an old ultimate support keyboard stand that I bought for $20
and cut up.
It is aluminum and is 1/3 the weight of stainless steel and very light. I can actually pick up
El Monstro with everything on it and move it. The IDEA, the germ came from when
I EXPERIENCED the music of OREGON with musician Collin Walcott.
WHERE DID YOU SEE OREGON?
In Los Angeles at Hop Singhs, and at the Beverly Theatre (now both defunct venues.)
I actually got a chance to meet Collin backstage, the band had been touring without him
because he had some rare form of pneumonia, I think, that was not responding to medication
and he was not up for touring, but he finally got his health back and was able to tour.(1980?)
They even made some jokes about him not being on the first part of the tour and worrying
about performing as a trio.
DID YOU EVER SEE OREGON WITH TRILOK GURTU?
I saw them at the PALACE upstairs with Trilok Gurtu the first time they played in Los Angeles
with him and I have also seen them with drummer Mark Walker when they played at the Jazz
Bakery in Culver City, and of course I have seen Trilok when he was in the McLaughlin Trio.
HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE DIFFERENCES?
I wouldn't.
Each musician is very unique and brought themselves and their musicality to the table.
But Trilok is amazing in a whole different sense, his set up is basically a smaller version
of the drumset, with a low drum below and to his left and another low drum up and to the
right. It makes for some very interesting sound and groove combinations that are not readily
apparent to a traditional drumset set up. Obviously no other person sounds like him when
they play on a "regular" drumset sonically or rhythmically.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN TRILOK PLAY CYMBALS WHEN HE PLAYS TABLA THE WAY
YOU DO WHEN PLAYING WITH A BAND. USUALLY WHEN HE PLAYS CYMBALS IT
IS WHEN HE IS PLAYING HIS DRUMSET OR IN A SOLO CONTEXT AND NOT WHEN
HE PLAYS TABLA AS ACCOMPANIMENT.
He is obviously playing what he hears or wants to hear, it is a musical judgment not a technical one.
If he wanted to hear tabla and cymbals at the same time I am sure he would not have a problem doing
that or any idea similar to that, he is an excellent musician.
CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW FOR AN EXAMPLE OF HIS PLAYING
TRILOK GURTU SOLO ON ZILDJIAN DAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZCeCYL_v8A
DID YOU EVER SEE OREGON WITH JAMEY HADDAD?
No, I never caught them with Jamey Haddad. I spoke to Collin and told
him that I had just started taking tabla lessons with Pandit Tarnath
Rao in 1979. He pointed to his bayan and told me that Tarnath had
given it to him and that he had met him previously. (Pandit Tarnath
Rao was Christopher's first tabla teacher; he also studied with
Leonice Shinemann, John Bergamo, and Swapan Chaudhuri at California
Institute of the Arts.)
TABLA, TEACHERS and LIFE
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/tabla---teacherslife.html
WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR TABLA?
I was 14 or so in East Los Angeles (same planet, different world) playing
garage band rock
e.g.,
Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Edgar Winter, Cream, Beatles, Yes, Gentle Giant,
Flash, etc., and it was 1973 and my bass players mom played a record for me
(Black petroleum based circle with a hole in the middle) called, I think, Ravi
Shankar's Festival from India which featured Alla Rakha who performed a tabla
solo on the record where he recited and played.
His son is of course, the other great MAESTRO Zakir Hussain who I would eventually
hear and see with John McLaughlin's SHAKTI whenever they played Los Angeles a few
years later.
DID YOU WANT TO PLAY NORTH INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC?
No, I just wanted to learn how to play the instrument and learn
the rhythmic concepts.
I knew of no musicians who played the music and/or owned the
instruments in East Los Angeles, let alone Los Angeles that I
could play with and learn from at that time (1978)
You have to understand that it is 1977 when I realized that I
could actually study the instrument.
The concept of "world music" and "New Age" music did not exist
at that time. Record stores had the "international" section
which usually consisted of 8 records, music from Africa, China,
India and that's about it, usually "traditional and/or
folkloric" music.
Telling my parents that I wanted to study the drumming traditions
of north India was not considered the wisest career move for a
Mexican American kid growing up in EAST LOS (Angeles.)
There was no genre blending on the scale that it is now, there
were no DVDs, videos, internet, or YOUTUBE.
You had to look for stuff, go to concerts, and go to the library,
find other kindred spirits that were not only into the music but
actually attempting to perform it or maybe owned the records or
instruments.
Oregon and Shakti were my main inspirations in regards to
acoustic music and blending different forms of improvisation
with world instruments. Of course there are now many others who
do that but they are the pioneers and did the groundwork and kept
developing their concepts.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS SET UP?
I didn't.
The first person that I saw with a set up that incorporated hand and stick
percussion while sitting on the floor was Collin Walcott, the percussionist
from the group OREGON.
He had north Indian tabla and cymbals but usually did not play them
at the same time, it was usually one or the other.
He also played sawed off congas and sitar.
Latin percussionists have been doing this for years, bongo players,
conga players etc., but they usually use 2 limbs, sometimes 3, some
of them now utilize a bass drum pedal to play clave and /or a cowbell.
But the biggest difference is that they are usually not the prime
time keeper, but an auxiliary percussionist working as part of a
rhythm section. Collin was the first musician that I experienced
being the only percussionist to supply rhythm and color without
the use of a drummer and being BEYOND musical with it.
(There is 1 Oregon record where the musical guest is drummer
Elvin Jones.)
COLLIN MOUNTED HIS CYMBALS ON CYMBAL STANDS,
BUT YOU MOUNT YOURS STRAIGHT UP INSTEAD OF GOING
OUT ON EITHER SIDE.
WHY DO YOU SET UP THAT WAY?
That is because of MAESTRO John Bergamo. One time we were in a music
store looking at a cymbal tree, and he said, "Wouldn't it be great to
have access to different cymbals that you could just take off or put
on depending on the music. You could pull the cymbals forward or push
them back without having to have a bunch of extra stands, just a
cymbal bag." Much like an electric guitarist has access to different
pedals to colour his or her sound. So the idea comes from Guru John
Bergamo and it makes sense
SOMETIMES YOU PLAY ONLY CYMALS AND NOTHING ELSE.
Sometimes............
AND SOMETIMES YOU STOP PLAYING COMPLETELY
I try my best to play what I hear, instead of what I want to hear and
when I don't hear it I don't play it.............John Bergamo used to
say "when in doubt, leave it out" but sometimes I stop playing because
the music does not require me laying down a groove as every second of
every minute has a groove ........ you dont have to play it, you just
have to ride it
HOW DO YOUR MUSICAL COLLABORATORS FEEL ABOUT YOU STOPPING?
When you stop playing all kinds of frequencies, timbres, and sound opens up,
but the GROOVE is always there whether I am playing it or not.................as
everyone on the bandstand is required to be in time whether anyone is playing
time at all and we are each required to be in what is now called "PRESENT TIME"
but ALL MUSIC is in PRESENT TIME and nowhere else.
YOUR SET UP, YOUR RACK, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
Actually it is not a rack it is an an old ultimate support keyboard stand that I bought for $20
and cut up.
It is aluminum and is 1/3 the weight of stainless steel and very light. I can actually pick up
El Monstro with everything on it and move it. The IDEA, the germ came from when
I EXPERIENCED the music of OREGON with musician Collin Walcott.
WHERE DID YOU SEE OREGON?
In Los Angeles at Hop Singhs, and at the Beverly Theatre (now both defunct venues.)
I actually got a chance to meet Collin backstage, the band had been touring without him
because he had some rare form of pneumonia, I think, that was not responding to medication
and he was not up for touring, but he finally got his health back and was able to tour.(1980?)
They even made some jokes about him not being on the first part of the tour and worrying
about performing as a trio.
DID YOU EVER SEE OREGON WITH TRILOK GURTU?
I saw them at the PALACE upstairs with Trilok Gurtu the first time they played in Los Angeles
with him and I have also seen them with drummer Mark Walker when they played at the Jazz
Bakery in Culver City, and of course I have seen Trilok when he was in the McLaughlin Trio.
HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE DIFFERENCES?
I wouldn't.
Each musician is very unique and brought themselves and their musicality to the table.
But Trilok is amazing in a whole different sense, his set up is basically a smaller version
of the drumset, with a low drum below and to his left and another low drum up and to the
right. It makes for some very interesting sound and groove combinations that are not readily
apparent to a traditional drumset set up. Obviously no other person sounds like him when
they play on a "regular" drumset sonically or rhythmically.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN TRILOK PLAY CYMBALS WHEN HE PLAYS TABLA THE WAY
YOU DO WHEN PLAYING WITH A BAND. USUALLY WHEN HE PLAYS CYMBALS IT
IS WHEN HE IS PLAYING HIS DRUMSET OR IN A SOLO CONTEXT AND NOT WHEN
HE PLAYS TABLA AS ACCOMPANIMENT.
He is obviously playing what he hears or wants to hear, it is a musical judgment not a technical one.
If he wanted to hear tabla and cymbals at the same time I am sure he would not have a problem doing
that or any idea similar to that, he is an excellent musician.
CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW FOR AN EXAMPLE OF HIS PLAYING
TRILOK GURTU SOLO ON ZILDJIAN DAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZCeCYL_v8A
DID YOU EVER SEE OREGON WITH JAMEY HADDAD?
No, I never caught them with Jamey Haddad. I spoke to Collin and told
him that I had just started taking tabla lessons with Pandit Tarnath
Rao in 1979. He pointed to his bayan and told me that Tarnath had
given it to him and that he had met him previously. (Pandit Tarnath
Rao was Christopher's first tabla teacher; he also studied with
Leonice Shinemann, John Bergamo, and Swapan Chaudhuri at California
Institute of the Arts.)
TABLA, TEACHERS and LIFE
christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/tabla---teacherslife.html
WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR TABLA?
I was 14 or so in East Los Angeles (same planet, different world) playing
garage band rock
e.g.,
Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Edgar Winter, Cream, Beatles, Yes, Gentle Giant,
Flash, etc., and it was 1973 and my bass players mom played a record for me
(Black petroleum based circle with a hole in the middle) called, I think, Ravi
Shankar's Festival from India which featured Alla Rakha who performed a tabla
solo on the record where he recited and played.
His son is of course, the other great MAESTRO Zakir Hussain who I would eventually
hear and see with John McLaughlin's SHAKTI whenever they played Los Angeles a few
years later.
DID YOU WANT TO PLAY NORTH INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC?
No, I just wanted to learn how to play the instrument and learn
the rhythmic concepts.
I knew of no musicians who played the music and/or owned the
instruments in East Los Angeles, let alone Los Angeles that I
could play with and learn from at that time (1978)
You have to understand that it is 1977 when I realized that I
could actually study the instrument.
The concept of "world music" and "New Age" music did not exist
at that time. Record stores had the "international" section
which usually consisted of 8 records, music from Africa, China,
India and that's about it, usually "traditional and/or
folkloric" music.
Telling my parents that I wanted to study the drumming traditions
of north India was not considered the wisest career move for a
Mexican American kid growing up in EAST LOS (Angeles.)
There was no genre blending on the scale that it is now, there
were no DVDs, videos, internet, or YOUTUBE.
You had to look for stuff, go to concerts, and go to the library,
find other kindred spirits that were not only into the music but
actually attempting to perform it or maybe owned the records or
instruments.
Oregon and Shakti were my main inspirations in regards to
acoustic music and blending different forms of improvisation
with world instruments. Of course there are now many others who
do that but they are the pioneers and did the groundwork and kept
developing their concepts.
DO YOU STUDY ANY OTHER HAND DRUM TRADITIONS?
Yes and no, some of the other drums I learned from playing and/or sitting
next to master musicians, playing with them, watching them play, and asking
a million questions.
musicians like
George Abe - taiko, or shimedaiko
Cyro Baptista - hand and stick percussion
John Bergamo (multi focus percussionist),
Erick Barraza, Gabriel Castaned, Belen Gallardo, Gallardo, Raymond Ramirez,
(MEXICA Danzante drummers)
Enzo Fina - Mediterranean folklorist
Houman Pourmehdi (multi-instrumentalist - breath/string and percussion from Persia),
Souhail Kaspar (Egyptian Darbuka player from Lebanon),
Malik Sow - (Senegalese drummer),
Mochizuki Takinojo (traditional Japanese percussionist from Japan), etc.,
but I am not a virtuoso on those instruments which takes another lifetime of playing and studying,
and of course we are specifically speaking of drummer percussionists,
not all of the musicians I continually learn from by MAKING MUSIC with them.
I have enough problems with drumset, marimba, tabla, kanjira, ghatam, and percussion
of indigenous Mexico and Mesoamerica, and composition to keep me busy and yet I have been
very fortunate to have opportunity after opportunity to be sitting next to these gentlemen and
make music with them at rehearsals and on stage, which is priceless.
There is no better experience than the actual experience of doing it. I should stress, for me
anyway.
Once you learn the basics of those instruments the different techniques may apply to other drums,
but the bottom line for me though has always been music, making music with the people
I am with on stage, it has never been about chops to me, but the music, the rhythms and the colors.
YET YOU DO HAVE SOME INCREDIBLE CHOPS.
Not really, or I should say I don't think so.
Music is communal and to me it is about THE SOUND OF THE MUSIC - frequencies,
harmony, melody, rhythms, timbres and of course THE SILENCE between the notes,
and not how many notes I can play .
There are many other percussionists who can run circles around me technically speaking,
but that is not how or why I do what I do.
DO YOU EVER PLAY RHYTHMS FROM ONE HAND DRUM AND PUT THEM ON THE OTHER?
Each hand drum has very specific things that are idiomatic to each instrument, I don't learn
stuff on one instrument and then apply it to another drum, unless I hear it that way. That is
a little too academic for me. I tend to hear the instrument when I pick it up.
The way your hand works playing South Indian kanjira is very different from your
hands playing a darbuka or North Indian tabla, let alone going from hands, to fingers
to sticks.
A musician playing a banjo wouldn't hear it like a guitar when he goes from banjo to guitar, even
though they both have necks and strings and are plucked instruments. They are tuned differently
and resonate differently and I am sure when they pick it up they hear it. Same thing for horn players
who go from soprano saxophone to tenor saxophone, or a piano player who also plays synthesizers,
you can play the same notes but in different octaves and with different colors, each instrument has
its own resonance and creates its own space and mood. It just comes from playing and playing some
more.
BUT YOU CAN APPLY CERTAIN TECHNIQUES FROM ONE DRUM TO ANOTHER?
Yes of course you can, whether it be finger, hand, stick or mallet percussion. Each has its
own beauty and limitations. I just try and play what I hear, or don't hear. Sometimes the
silence is more musical than anything else I could possibly play and I play the silence a lot.
YOU STILL PLAY DRUMSET CORRECT?
Yes, that is my first instrument. I play as much music on drumset as I do playing EL MONSTRO.
WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER PLAYING EL MONSTRO IN AN ELECTRIC ENSEMBLE?
There are a lot of factors that have to be addressed in order for that to work efficiently. I would
either have to play with headphones to hear myself over an electric guitar or the guitarist would
have to be physically far away for us to work musically. When you have to amplify a hand drum
to the point where it is no longer in an acoustic environment,
i.e,.
where I can't hear myself without monitors or headphones I would rather play samples.
But working with CONTINUUM again recently they are getting used to burning at lower
dynamic levels than they are used to, as the sound of an electric instrument emanates from
a speaker as opposed to the f hole of an acoustic bass, the soundboard of a grand piano or
the bell of a horn.
Usually I don't hear EL MONSTRO sounds in that context but that has been changing the
last 4 years or so as the musicians I play with get their ears attuned to playing between -2
and +6 , instead of zero to +10
HOW MANY ENSEMBLES DO YOU PLAY WITH NOW?
4 groups that are trio or more, 4 duos and solo repertoire
each with different instrumentation and each meets weekly
or bi monthly
HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO DO THAT?
I don't do anything else........
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND BEST OF LUCK IN ALL YOUR WORK,
I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT YOUR NEXT MUSICAL SURPRISE WILL BE
Me too....constantly striving to rise to the occasion.
THANK YOU for your kindness and your interest.........
GEORGE ABE
talesfromthesilkroad.weebly.com/biosreviewsmedia.html
ABHIJIT BANERJEE
banerjeeabhijit.com/153-2/
CYRO BAPTISTA .
www.cyrobaptista.com/
JOHN BERGAMO
www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/john-bergamo
SWAPAN CHAUDHURI
http://www.swapan.com/
OREGON BAND
http://oregonband.com/
MBWATA mbwata link
http://www.lpmusic.com/products/subpage/?modelNo=LP1400-MB
COLLIN WALCOTT
http://www.collinwalcott.com/
SOUHAIL KASPAR
http://www.neareastmusic.com/about.htm
HOUMAN POURMEHDI
http://www.lianrecords.com/pgs/houmanp.html
PANDIT TARNATH RAO
http://davidphilipson.com/pages/Taranath.html
MALIK SOW
http://www.actaonline.org/content/malik-sow
MOCHIZUKI TAKINOJO
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~takinojo/profile_e.html
Yes and no, some of the other drums I learned from playing and/or sitting
next to master musicians, playing with them, watching them play, and asking
a million questions.
musicians like
George Abe - taiko, or shimedaiko
Cyro Baptista - hand and stick percussion
John Bergamo (multi focus percussionist),
Erick Barraza, Gabriel Castaned, Belen Gallardo, Gallardo, Raymond Ramirez,
(MEXICA Danzante drummers)
Enzo Fina - Mediterranean folklorist
Houman Pourmehdi (multi-instrumentalist - breath/string and percussion from Persia),
Souhail Kaspar (Egyptian Darbuka player from Lebanon),
Malik Sow - (Senegalese drummer),
Mochizuki Takinojo (traditional Japanese percussionist from Japan), etc.,
but I am not a virtuoso on those instruments which takes another lifetime of playing and studying,
and of course we are specifically speaking of drummer percussionists,
not all of the musicians I continually learn from by MAKING MUSIC with them.
I have enough problems with drumset, marimba, tabla, kanjira, ghatam, and percussion
of indigenous Mexico and Mesoamerica, and composition to keep me busy and yet I have been
very fortunate to have opportunity after opportunity to be sitting next to these gentlemen and
make music with them at rehearsals and on stage, which is priceless.
There is no better experience than the actual experience of doing it. I should stress, for me
anyway.
Once you learn the basics of those instruments the different techniques may apply to other drums,
but the bottom line for me though has always been music, making music with the people
I am with on stage, it has never been about chops to me, but the music, the rhythms and the colors.
YET YOU DO HAVE SOME INCREDIBLE CHOPS.
Not really, or I should say I don't think so.
Music is communal and to me it is about THE SOUND OF THE MUSIC - frequencies,
harmony, melody, rhythms, timbres and of course THE SILENCE between the notes,
and not how many notes I can play .
There are many other percussionists who can run circles around me technically speaking,
but that is not how or why I do what I do.
DO YOU EVER PLAY RHYTHMS FROM ONE HAND DRUM AND PUT THEM ON THE OTHER?
Each hand drum has very specific things that are idiomatic to each instrument, I don't learn
stuff on one instrument and then apply it to another drum, unless I hear it that way. That is
a little too academic for me. I tend to hear the instrument when I pick it up.
The way your hand works playing South Indian kanjira is very different from your
hands playing a darbuka or North Indian tabla, let alone going from hands, to fingers
to sticks.
A musician playing a banjo wouldn't hear it like a guitar when he goes from banjo to guitar, even
though they both have necks and strings and are plucked instruments. They are tuned differently
and resonate differently and I am sure when they pick it up they hear it. Same thing for horn players
who go from soprano saxophone to tenor saxophone, or a piano player who also plays synthesizers,
you can play the same notes but in different octaves and with different colors, each instrument has
its own resonance and creates its own space and mood. It just comes from playing and playing some
more.
BUT YOU CAN APPLY CERTAIN TECHNIQUES FROM ONE DRUM TO ANOTHER?
Yes of course you can, whether it be finger, hand, stick or mallet percussion. Each has its
own beauty and limitations. I just try and play what I hear, or don't hear. Sometimes the
silence is more musical than anything else I could possibly play and I play the silence a lot.
YOU STILL PLAY DRUMSET CORRECT?
Yes, that is my first instrument. I play as much music on drumset as I do playing EL MONSTRO.
WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER PLAYING EL MONSTRO IN AN ELECTRIC ENSEMBLE?
There are a lot of factors that have to be addressed in order for that to work efficiently. I would
either have to play with headphones to hear myself over an electric guitar or the guitarist would
have to be physically far away for us to work musically. When you have to amplify a hand drum
to the point where it is no longer in an acoustic environment,
i.e,.
where I can't hear myself without monitors or headphones I would rather play samples.
But working with CONTINUUM again recently they are getting used to burning at lower
dynamic levels than they are used to, as the sound of an electric instrument emanates from
a speaker as opposed to the f hole of an acoustic bass, the soundboard of a grand piano or
the bell of a horn.
Usually I don't hear EL MONSTRO sounds in that context but that has been changing the
last 4 years or so as the musicians I play with get their ears attuned to playing between -2
and +6 , instead of zero to +10
HOW MANY ENSEMBLES DO YOU PLAY WITH NOW?
4 groups that are trio or more, 4 duos and solo repertoire
each with different instrumentation and each meets weekly
or bi monthly
HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO DO THAT?
I don't do anything else........
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND BEST OF LUCK IN ALL YOUR WORK,
I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT YOUR NEXT MUSICAL SURPRISE WILL BE
Me too....constantly striving to rise to the occasion.
THANK YOU for your kindness and your interest.........
GEORGE ABE
talesfromthesilkroad.weebly.com/biosreviewsmedia.html
ABHIJIT BANERJEE
banerjeeabhijit.com/153-2/
CYRO BAPTISTA .
www.cyrobaptista.com/
JOHN BERGAMO
www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/john-bergamo
SWAPAN CHAUDHURI
http://www.swapan.com/
OREGON BAND
http://oregonband.com/
MBWATA mbwata link
http://www.lpmusic.com/products/subpage/?modelNo=LP1400-MB
COLLIN WALCOTT
http://www.collinwalcott.com/
SOUHAIL KASPAR
http://www.neareastmusic.com/about.htm
HOUMAN POURMEHDI
http://www.lianrecords.com/pgs/houmanp.html
PANDIT TARNATH RAO
http://davidphilipson.com/pages/Taranath.html
MALIK SOW
http://www.actaonline.org/content/malik-sow
MOCHIZUKI TAKINOJO
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~takinojo/profile_e.html
KO MA GA TRIO
MOTOSHI KOSAKO - PEDAL HARP
MICHAEL MANRING - FRETLESS BASSES
CG - EL MONSTRO,
MOTOSHI KOSAKO - PEDAL HARP
MICHAEL MANRING - FRETLESS BASSES
CG - EL MONSTRO,
JOHN STEPHENS - SARODE, SURBAHAR, SITAR
CG - EL MONSTRO,
PABLO CALOGERO - BANSURI, BASS FLUTE, BASS CLARINET, TENOR SAXOPHONE
AL GARCIA - ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC BASS
CRAIG OCHIKUBO - PIANO, SYNTHESIZERS
CG - EL MONSTRO
PABLO CALOGERO -BASS FLUTE, BASS CLARINET, TENOR SAXOPHONE
DANIEL WEIDLEIN - SOPRANO AND TENOR SAXOPHONE
MICHAEL MANRING - BASS,
CG - EL MONSTRO,
ALEX DE GRASSI - GUITAR
MICHAEL MANRING - BASS
CG - EL MONSTRO
MIROSLAV TADIC - ACOUSTIC GUITAR
MICHAEL MANRING - BASS
CG - EL MONSTRO
TIM FARRELL - STEEL STRING GUITAR
