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Volume 1
Subscription & Unsubscription Information, Posting Guidelines,
Archives, Help, etc.
Please send any and all "off the wall" Mail List questions to any or all of the Moderators including UNSUBSCRIBING problems.
Alan Tauber Alan@drumconnection.com
HappyShel happy@drums.org
Janet Planet jplanet@j2k.com
R Clark clark@acceleration.net
Amanda Pickering boumboum@talk21.com
Become a Moderator of your Djembe-L
This volume also covers some Djembe-L cultural questions regarding notation, advertising to the list, and links to sources of drum rhythms.
When sending email to
the Djembe-L Mail List, NEVER send attachments: NO GIFS, JPGS, WAV, etc. NEVER send email in RTF (Rich Text Format). When posting an email to djembe-L,
please turn off all HTML formatting in your email application.
Go into your Preferences/Settings/whatever and turn off the automatic HTML. Those who
receive the list in Digest form can't interpret the HTML; it comes out as garbage. Thank
you for your consideration.
POSTING
GUIDELINES
Please familiarize yourself with our Posting Guidelines
Djembe-L is a moderated list [since its birth on December 26, 1998] and
is here to facilitate discussion and education related to West African percussion and to
the music of the African Diaspora. Djembe-L is not a Newsgroup and does not welcome the
unrestrained verbal 'free-for-all' that often occurs in them. The current Moderators are
committed to maintaining an atmosphere that welcomes a wide range of discussion and
opposing opinion, but is also very strongly committed to making sure that atmosphere on
the list is respectful and civil, even during heated exchanges. If you can communicate
your opinions and ideas while remaining open to opposing views, Welcome to Djembe-L.
Djembe drumming is a very passionate art form and in the past has
raised the ire of many drummers. The previous Djembe-L, an unmoderated list serv,
started by djembe drummers, in 1994, under the direction Dr. Eric Charry, then assistant
professor of music at University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and later
transferred to the University of Washington, went down in a very destructive, internet
flame war, during the Fall and Winter of 1998. This NEW Djembe-L was birthed, to be
moderated by list volunteers, on December 26, 1998 with the assistance of Robert Freur, R
Clark and HappyShel, so as to never again, witness such a tragedy again. The
demise of the original Djembe-L is like a library burning. Our intentions are to
continue to promote and foster West African drum and dance in a truly, positive way, by
moderating Djembe-L.
Remember that the 'tone' of your words is not easily discernible in email. Please take
some time to re-read your post (or your reply to an existing thread) to assure yourself
that it does not insult, demean or slander others. Do make your point, or offer a counter
argument, but do it with civility and respect for the opinion of others. Address the topic
please, not the personality or behavior of the author.
Please refrain from name calling or the cyber equivalent of SHOUTING
[typing in ALL CAPS] or mudslinging during a heated discussion. Demanding that
people do something is not a productive way of communicating your wishes. Inflammatory
posts, slurs, and verbal intimidation are not conducive to open discussion and the free
flow of ideas and will not be tolerated in list discussion. Humor is appreciated but
please remember that it is often difficult to convey via
email and can easily be misinterpreted as an insult.
It is generally considered appropriate to send off-topic comments privately, but do not
write privately to anyone who has asked you not to. Do not publish private mail to
the list without the express permission of all parties to that mail. The listowner may
request that you continue discussion of what may have begun as a public topic via private
mail, if it becomes apparent that the issue has dwindled to involve only a tiny group of
list members.
WARNING / CONSEQUENCES
Your inclusion in this discussion group is a privilege, not a right; it can be revoked at
any time by the Moderators. Your subscription to Djembe-L indicates acceptance of these
Guidelines.
If you fail to follow the Posting Guidelines you will be contacted privately by the
Moderators and given one (and only one) warning. Failure to heed that warning will result
in your posting privileges to Djembe-L being revoked for up to 30 days. There is no
appeal to this action; it is at the sole discretion of the Moderators. Cooperation with the
Posting Guidelines will, within a few months time, expunge a previous warning or
suspension.
If you persist in attempting to reach the list by posting from any other address during
your suspension, including having your posts forwarded to the list by another subscriber,
your actions will be considered harassment of the members of the list, and the
Moderators
will take immediate action to block those addresses as well and will report your actions
to the Postmaster or System Administrator of your Internet connection.
Should you continue to be unable to follow these Posting Guidelines after your suspension
of posting has been lifted, you will be allowed one last warning to amend your posting
manner. Failure to change your approach after this last warning will result in your immediate and permanent removal from list
membership.
You can find our early messages, announcing our
birth, in our archives,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/djembe-l/message/
There is a free translation service on the web
at:
http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/translate
it only translates so much at a time so you'll have to feed in the
message in parts if you really want to know what it's about.
New experimental search engine called Google, which
uses weighted-link ranking techniques, thereby producing not the huge result lists
with 75385 matches to your question.
Google - http://google.com
Google seems to work pretty well, but it is still a research project at Stanford
University and its index covers only about 3/4 of the Web right now.
IBM is working on a similar search engine "Clever", not released yet. Info about
"Clever" is to be found at:
CLEVER - http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/k53/clever.html
This FAQ is maintained by
HappyShel with a lot of help and input from many other members of your DJEMBE-L List.
Errors, suggestions & additions to happy@drums.org.
PC software used: MS Publisher 2000, MS Word 2000,, Adobe PhotoShop 7.0.
US Mail address for scanned photos on 3 1/2" disk or CD-ROM:
DJEMBE-L FAQ, PO BOX 141354, Dallas, TX USA 75214.
Tel: 214.823.3786
FAX: 214.887.0386
Revised 12-28-02
Read the answer to question #5 How can I subscribe to the DJEMBE-L? for information.
2. What is a djembe?
A djembe (pronounced " gem-bey ") is a unique
goblet or chalice shaped drum, usually carved from a single piece of wood. It originated
in West Africa and is generally considered to have roots in the Manding people of the
early Mali Empire. It stands approximately 20-30" high and is covered with goat or
antelope skin, usually held on and tuned a by lacing of cord in a pattern called the Mali
weave. .
3. Is this FAQ, and the mailing
list itself, ONLY about Djembes?
The information in this FAQ and the correspondence on the
DJEMBE-L is not only about djembes or the music related primarily to that particular drum,
though that is the central focus and intent. Congas, Batas, and other drums related to
West African, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music are also discussed. Various other topics with
an ethnic hand drum focus are also considered. .
4. Can anyone subscribe?
Yes, anyone can subscribe to the list. Please, though, before you
do, carefully read the sections on this FAQ regarding how the mailing list works. Keep in
mind that 'subscription' means sending a command to http://www.yahoogroups.com/subscribe/djembe-l. You must understand the command to 'unsubscribe' to successfully stop
mail from coming to you should you decide not to continue to participate. Once you
subscribe you will immediately begin receiving email directly to your mailbox, either as
individual messages or in a single digest of the mail for each day. You will continue to
receive mail until you unsubscribe to the list. .
5. How can I subscribe to the DJEMBE-L?
Send a blank e-mail to this address: Djembe-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
[Return to Questions]
6. Do I have
to always capitalize the word DJEMBE-L?
No. The word DJEMBE-L is only capitalized in this FAQ to make a
clear distinction from the number "1", which is virtually indistinguishable from
a lower case "L" when viewed on the screen.
8. What's the difference between the two
address, http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/djembe-l and djembe-l@egroups.com ?
Once you have subscribed, mail intended for ALL members of the
list will be addressed to djembe-l@yahoogroups.com. Mail requests for information from the server or commands to unsubscribe or
be set to digest mode need be sent to http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/djembe-l.
9. How can I unsubscribe to the DJEMBE-L?
From the email address you subscribed to Djembe-L, send a blank
email to djembe-l-unsubscribe@egroups.com.
Co - List Administrators are HappyShel <happy@drums.org> and R Clark <clark@acceleration.net>.
Please send any and all "off the wall" questions to them. If you are having
difficulty in UNSUBSCRIBING, address the Moderators ONLY, not the entire list.
10. How do I read the header on my DJEMBE-L
email?
Depending on your mail software and what options for the display of Headings you'll be
confronted with a long list of data or basic To: & From: information.
Essential information begins with the line titled "Date".
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 09:54:51 -0500
Reply-To: djembe-l@egroups.com
Sender: djembe-l@egroups.com
From: bigbill@whatsit.com
To: "Djembe-L drumming / hand percussion"
Subject: [djembe-l] Recording djembes for video
Line by line, the IMPORTANT headings
are the following:
Date: This is the date and time the
message was sent by the person on the "From" line
Reply-To: This is the address to use
when replying to a message carried in the body of the mail. Note: If you select the common
"Reply" or "Reply to All" function of many email programs, your reply
will be mailed to ALL members of the list, NOT to the one person who wrote the mail who is
listed on the "From" line. See Question #12 to reply privately.
Sender: This indicates that the
message was sent from the directly from the individual on the "From" line.
From: This is the email address (and
account name) of the person who sent the message to the listprocessor.
To: Person to whom the mail was sent.
In this case it was sent to all recipients of the list
Subject: [djembe-l] distinction which
list the mail is from & the topic that follows in the body of the email.
11. How do I send mail to the list?
To send mail to the list simply address your mail to DJEMBE-L@egroups.com. The ListProcessor will receive it and send a copy of it to ALL of the other
members on the list. .
12. How do I send "private'"
mail to an individual or a small group on the list?
If you wish to send mail privately to an individual on the list
in response to a post or simply to make private contact you must take care to use the
"From" address on the mail header. Most mail packages (Eudora, Outlook,
Netscape, etc) have a "Reply To" function. If you use this function your reply
will be automatically directed back to the ListProcessor, which will send it to ALL the
members on the list.
13. Must I identify myself when sending mail
to the list?
The members of the DJEMBE-L are part of the greater community of
world drummers, and as such, share a common desire to promote trust and closer connections
with others. How you identify yourself is a personal matter, some members indicate
address, phone and fax numbers, others only a nickname. It is helpful if you add some clue
as to your physical location such as city, county, state or country. This saves time and
bandwidth when members send mail asking for help or references to resources. .
14. Can I get the DJEMBE-L mail condensed?
Yes, the ListProcessor will recognize a command to organize each
day's mail into a "digest" and send it out once a day. To activate digest mode
you must send a request to the ListProcessor (not to the DJEMBE-L) in the following
format.
To SET DIGEST MODE, Click this URL:
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/djembe-l. Click on "User Center," enter your e-dress and password and
click on "Digest."
Your mail will continue in this format until you notify the ListProcessor to set you out
of digest mode by sending another command to the ListProcessor (not the list itself).
15. Is there an archive of old posts from the
DJEMBE-L that I can access?
Yes. There are actually several archives available. The most
recently available is located at FINDMAIL.
As of December 16, 1998, Djembe-l@yahoogroups.com is archiving
As of September 27, 1999, a new archive is added, LISTCOM.
From there, rather than doing a search, you click on "Browse Archives" and are taken to this page. Alternately, you can go there directly by Clicking HERE
You are then presented with a list of
the most recent messages sent to the List, numbered from 1 to 25, in reverse order of when
they arrived. (Further pages give you more messages, continuing in reverse order.) From
there, you can click on and read individual messages. Messages sent to the List seem to
arrive at Reference.com very quickly--usually within the hour of when they were sent.
(Reloading the page re-orders the listing with any new messages that have come in.)
Obviously, this gives Djembe-L the
functionality of a newsgroup, on the Web, and allows you to access Djembe-L without having
an overstuffed mailbox (although you could also use Digest Mode). Those who don't want to
subscribe or receive these posts as e-mail (or who have unsubscribed) could still
participate by reading on the web and mailing to the List, even if you leave Djembe-L and
join the new newsgroup. I get my messages in Digest Mode at home, but since discovering
Reference.com, I use it to preview the postings when I have a few spare minutes at work.
So try it, and see if you like it!
--Jim Banks, Chicago "
Another archive can be reached at The Drum and Percussion Page. It is organized by month beginning with July 1995. The archived mail is arranged by thread within each month.
Clicking this URL http://www.onelist.com.
Once there, click on User Center and follow the instructions.
17. I forgot my password and/or mail settings.
How do I find them?
If you forget your password that you were given when you first
subscribed, the one you changed it to, or wonder what mail setting mode the djembe-l Mail
List 'thinks' you're in, you can find out by contacting http://www.onelist.com and
clicking on User Center. This is helpful to confirm successful switches in or out of
digest mode.
18. Can I advertise percussion related products or
services on the list?
There is the FAQ STORE to Advertise products on the FAQ to
members of Djembe-L and visitors. ADS can be sent thru the Mail List ONLY when the
subject line clearly sattes "ADS" and the Ad is limited to 75 words or less PLUS
have a link to a URL where more info is posted. Members of the list recognize that many
small business have products and services of value to the drumming community and want to
stay informed. On the other hand, we are all sensitive to the impact of advertising.
19. What type of notation system is used on
the list?
There are several well known systems for notations of rhythms.
Please refer to the section below for more details. The system most clearly preferred by
members of the list is that used by Larry Morris in his Rhythm Catalog. The key to that
system (and part of one rhythm )is reproduced below.
KPANLOGO, Larry Morris lam@eng.tridom.com
'94 from informal sources
4/4 |: . * . * . * . | . * . * . * . :|
- - - - - - - -
Tumba O O O O B . s s O . s s B . s s
- - - - - - - -
Conga B . s s O . s s B O O . O O . O
20. Is there a collection of rhythms
available?
Yes. Larry Morris maintains a page with both ftp and http links
to his Rhythm
Catalog . See Volume 17, Web Links for
Larry Morris' new FTP site. It is also posted periodically to the list. (Note: Be sure
that, once downloaded, you view and print the notation in an equal space
(non-proportional) font such as Courier. Failure to do so
will prevent proper alignment.