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The following is a reprint of an exchange on the List by various members during the Spring of 1997 discussing the consequences of cycling the 6 / 8 Bell Pattern from various points of the common phrase. In addition to this material you might want to check out The Woodshed at Eric Stuer's RhythmWeb site. His Seven Wheels of Bembe section has box notations of the patterns discussed below along with General Midi sound of each variation.
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 14:11:11 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: Gongkoqui@aol.com
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Re: Seven Wheels of Bembe Explored
X-Cc: TIMKENNEY1@aol.com
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Although I have not met him, Gary Harding, <gharding@uswest.net>, Seattle, Washington,
teaches the concept of the Bembe Wheels. For those Djembe-L readers who haven't seen it,
imagine the typical 6/8 bell pattern heard so often in African and Cuban music: Again with
thanks to Gary Harding. Please refer to his books "Ritmos de la
Patria", "Cuban and Brazilian Hand Drumming" and "Atabaques de
Ngola" for
further information on percussion and ethnomusicology.
x . x . xx . x . x . x and the bell recycles. Call this Bembe 1, others call it the 6/8 short bell. Imagine the first note that you strike is the second x which changes the orientation and creates a new sound relative to the pulse; this is bembe 2. You can keep doing this by starting at different points in the bell pattern. If you start the pattern on the 4th x, you end up with what people call the 6/8 long bell. If you start the pattern on the 7th x, you end up with a bell pattern used in jazz a lot. As you probably know, the appearance of the lst and 4th pattern in one song is quite popular and creates tension as well as melody as the first "doublet" of each pattern now sit side by side and create a roll of 4 contiguous notes between two bell players. The same effect can be created with hand drums, tom-toms, cymbals, etc.
Now imagine the 1st Bembe on the Wheel is written like this: O . X . OO . X . X . O where O = tone (or TANG or low or bell mouth) and X = slap (or KI or high or bell body). Now rotate through the seven bembe wheels and see what you have created. You will probably find that changing the tones and slaps for certain wheels make a better sound such as for bembe wheel 2, try
O . XX . O . O . XX
One could spend a lifetime on Bembe Wheels.
All my rhythm, Gonky
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Date: Sat, 8 Mar 97 13:40:02 -0600
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From:
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Seven Wheels of Bembe & Modes
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Hello, everyone. Gonky's recent explanation of the Seven Wheels of Bembe links up with and
extends a fascinating analogy I ran across on the web. Richard Hodges, the Webmaster for
C.K. Ladzekpo's web site, has posted an interesting article on African music called
"Drum is the Ear of God" at his own site. It includes these observations on the
"standard" African/Afro-Cuban bell pattern:
"It is of some interest that the pattern between strokes in this bell pattern is the same as that of the whole- and half-steps in the diatonic major scale. Here we are comparing patterns in time and pitch, which might be considered apples-to-oranges; but it illustrates the idea that African music is projected upon a richly interconnected rhythmic organization that repeats indefinitely in the dimension of time, analogous to the organization of tonal music in the dimension of pitch, with tonal pitch conceived as repeating in octaves.
<--------o n e p e r i o d-------->[repeat ...
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B [C ... chromatic octave
do . re . mi fa . so . la . si[do ... diatonic scale
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|_____| whole steps
|__| |__| half steps
^ ^ "intervals"
x x x x x x x [x ... strokes of bell pattern
X . . X . . X . . X . . [X ... Main beats and pulses
"The bell pattern can be heard as two distinct sections which connect to each other through the "intervals." This creates a sense of alternation between outward and inward movements, evocative perhaps of breathing or of the two directions of consciousness. The same device is also used at a larger scale. A rhythm may have a "front section" and a "back section" each of which is constructed upon a similar rhythmic idea, but with mutations of weight and syncopation that express movement out and return home."
Now, here's what Gonky posted in explanation of the Wheels of Bembe:
"Although I have not met him, Gary Harding of Seattle, Washington, teaches the concept of the Bembe Wheels. For those Djembe-L readers who haven't seen it, imagine the typical 6/8 bell pattern heard so often in African and Cuban music:
x . x . xx . x . x . x and the bell recycles. Call this Bembe 1, others call it the 6/8 short bell. Imagine the first note that you strike is the second x which changes the orientation and creates a new sound relative to the pulse; this is bembe 2. You can keep doing this by starting at different points in the bell pattern. If you start the pattern on the 4th x, you end up with what people call the 6/8 long bell. If you start the pattern on the 7th x, you end up with a bell pattern used in jazz a lot. As you probably know, the appearance of the lst and 4th pattern in one song is quite popular and creates tension as well as melody as the first "doublet" of each pattern now sit side by side and create a roll of 4 contiguous notes between two bell players. The same effect can be created with hand drums, tom-toms, cymbals, etc."
If you know western music theory, you know where I'm going: The procedure of cycling through starting points to create different bell patterns is exactly the same as shifting to different modes in western harmony:
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B [C ... chromatic octave
C . D . E F . G . A . B [C ... C major (diatonic) scale
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|_____| whole steps
|__| |__| half steps
Above is a major scale in the key of C--the Ionian mode. However, if you use the same collection of notes to form a scale (still going upwards) with D as the root, you get the D-Dorian mode, which is a minor scale. Start on A, you get the A-Aeolian mode or natural minor scale. Each starting note creates a different mode which sounds and feels different, to a greater or lesser degree. (Alternately, you can leave C as the root note for all modes/scales and slide the sequence of whole and half steps around. Same scales or modes, different root notes or keys.)
C.K. Ladzekpo has provided a lot of information from his ethnic background as an Ewe about the meaning and life-lessons contained in African rhythmic principles. Hodges is probably thinking about these same ideas in this footnote to his article:
"According to Ouspensky, following the teaching he received from Gurdjieff, the diatonic scale is the survival of a very ancient metaphysical symbol representing the structure of a process of any nature: cosmic, psychological, organic, etc. The pattern of long and short steps has a specific significance which is at the heart of the meaning of this symbol. The short steps, which Ouspensky calls the "intervals" of the octave, represent the points at which a process can change its direction, or at which a new influence can enter."
Making that little change at the "interval" changes your direction, but paradoxically leads you back where you began--only at a higher level. (Betcha didn't think "do-re-mi" had any life lessons in it...)
Also, I'm going to plug Ladzekpo's video again, because I think he uses some of the same concepts as "Wheels of Bembe" to create that incredible group bell pattern. Check it out!
Here are all the URLs:
Richard Hodges Home Page:
http://www.bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/rhodges/html/
"Drum Is The Ear Of God" article:
http://www.bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/rhodges/html/Ear.html
C.K. Ladzekpošs Home Page:
http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/~ladzekpo/
--Jim Banks, Chicago
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Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 13:09:02 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: Gongkoqui@AOL.COM
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Re: Seven Wheels of Bembe Revisited
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An inquiry was made by the Barkman about scales and intervals. To my dismay, I missed the original posting which looks very interesting. Doubtless the originator will respond with a suitable explanation, but here's my simple 2 cents worth to simplify matters. Here's the reference:
<< comparing patterns in time and pitch, which might be considered apples-to- > oranges; but it illustrates the idea that African music is projected upon a > richly interconnected rhythmic organization that repeats indefinitely in the > dimension of time, analogous to the organization of tonal music in the > dimension of pitch, with tonal pitch conceived as repeating in octaves. >
<--------o n e p e r i o d-------->[repeat ...
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B [C ... chromatic octave
do . re . mi fa . so . la . si[do ... diatonic scale
|_____|_____| |_____|_____|_____| whole steps
|__| |__| half steps
^ ^ "intervals"
x x x x x x x [x ... strokes of bell pattern
X . . X . . X . . X . . [X ... Main beats and pulses
If you look at the diatonic scale he/she has indicated, you see the organization of tones into whole and half steps that our culture easily recognizes as melodic. Remember Julie Andrews singing this in "Sound of Music?"
If you compare the arrangement of these whole and half steps to the strokes of the 6/8 Bembe Wheel #1 (aka 6/8 short bell), you will notice that the organization is the same. The intervals (wholes and halves) between tones are the same as the temporal sequencing of the stokes of the bell pattern. Viola! An obvious interpretation of this is that our Western/European concept of "scale" derives from organizational elements deeply rooted in African musical systems that go so far into the past that we can't readily see them. Since the Darwinian theory of evolution and anthropological evidence from archeological digs place human origins firmly in Africa, this can come as no surprise that the earliest musical sensibilities come from there as well.
Rhythmically, Gonky
*************************************
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 13:50:56 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: Gongkoqui@AOL.COM
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Re: Seven Wheels of Bembe & Modes Oops and Addenda
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For those of you who have glimpsed this thread about Bembe Wheels but have not grokked it from an experiential point of view, sit with thine own djembe, conga, etc. and work through the 7 possibilities and interchange tones, slaps, and bass sounds. You will find that this dramatically enhances your possibilities to create leads while playing in 6/8 while maintaining the same "structure" of the bell pattern. Here's my challenge to you for when you play with your next group or on your next gig: merrily play along in 6/8 using either the short (Bembe 1) bell or long (Bembe 4) bell pattern. This works best when you are the bell player and the group is hanging on to you. When the groove is well established and rock solid (!!!), spring into Bembe 7 which actually starts the 6/8 bell on the pick-up note by placing it on the "One." Hang here for just a few bars and watch what it does with your fellow/fella rhymatists. A lot of tension gets created but it takes a few seconds to realize the bell pattern shifted. Before the eyeballs start drifting your way, make sure you have returned to the original short or long pattern. They'll know something was up but may not be able to identify it. The groove will still be happening and you just boosted your ear-training and pattern generation abilities to the next level
P.S. there are more than 7 possibilities but that's another posting
Gonky
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Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 04:16:02 -0600
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: "stucreative@rhythmweb.com"
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: These Bembe wheels. . .
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These Bembe wheels are great! After you go through them in 4:
1..2..3..4..
You can go through them in three:
1...2...3...
and they feel completely different.Fourteen wheels actually, depending on your paradigm. Then you can add various combinations of those... Very deep stuff. Thanks for some very valuable info.
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Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:18:17 -0600 (CST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: kgoertz@mail.utexas.edu (karein k. goertz)
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Re: More bembe bell arcana
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John wrote:
>The "long" bembe bell is the "short" bembe bell backwards. Anyone
else >notice this? (And I challenge anyone to perceive this without >notation!)
> >JM
I'm not up to wading into the notation vs. not controversy but the relation of these to patterns is pretty obvious when one is played against the other, as is pretty common agbe or bembe rhythms, and a feature of Haitian rhythms as well.
It becomes REAL clear when one plays them together, right and left hand. Thinking of these patterns in terms of clave (why I usually like to see notation in 6/8 rather than 12/8-but that's not to say that I "like" notation)-one bell pattern spread out of two measures, with a "front" and "back" that relation becomes even more apparent.
What is lovely about the analogy of the "wheel" in this discussion is that as the rhythm revolves where one chooses to begin to measure makes all the musical difference, the pattern or wheel remains the same. Think of the upbeat boule pattern Barky was speaking of last week played against either the "short" or "long" bell as you refer to them. Quite different energy is produced by each. (Now try the boule in one hand and the different bell patterns in the other.)
All this "structure" is great for the architect in me.
Thanks,
********************************************************************
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 01:47:22 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: Gongkoqui@aol.com
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Bembe Wheels: 7 Begets 12
X-Cc: TIMKENNEY1@aol.com
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A quick reiteration: the 7 Bembe Wheels can be visualized by "notating" the seven strokes of the bell pattern in a circle rather than a straight line. Note that since this is a l2/8 rhythm, the 7 stokes lie within the 12 possible moments that a stroke could happen. The linear representation of the Bembe Wheel #1 would be:
X . X . X X . X . X . X ^ ^
Imagine this circled up so that the 2 indicated X's rest side by side. Now as you rotate the wheel counter clockwise so that the 2nd X rests on the beginning of the 4 pulse, you now have Bembe Wheel #2. Keep rotating and you get all 7 Bembe Wheels. Notably, #1 and #4 are the ones we commonly hear and are sometimes called the Short and Long Bell respectively. #7 is pretty cool too.
Last week, I suggested bell players ( or drummers ) to rotate
through the wheel and use different tones at different strokes to create new melodies.
For example,
Bembe #2 could be played thusly to create a nice melody where 0 = mouth of the bell and X = body of the bell:
0 . X X . 0 . 0 . X X . | | | | for your pulse orientation.
Any rocket scientist can see that there really are 12 Bembe Wheels rather than just 7 if you rotate the wheel counter clockwise one space at a time instead of one stroke at a time. Therefore there is a Wheel #1A, #2A, #4A, #5A, and #6A.
Each of these new Wheels would not have an acoustic event happening on the 1st pulse since you haven't struck the bell yet. There are no #3A or #7A Wheels because of the "doublets." This accounts for all 12 possibilities and probably exceeds your need to actually apply them very often. Just knowing they exist adds new meaning to life.
Try #5A like this for example when you want to bend the ears of your fellow/fella players.
. X . 0 0 . 0 . X X . 0 | | | |
Hang there one or twice and then zip back to your #1 or #4 pattern. You'll find that you can extend an interesting bell melody over 2 or 3 bars while still keeping the integrity of the pattern but shifting its orientation to the pulse.
Actually, this is more than just an exercise in mental masturbation of musical elements. This can be a very good way of introducing variations in your bell playing ( conga playing, jaw harp playing, spoons playing, etc.) that creates tension and resolution that has a "relationship" to the bell pattern and is not just random generation of unrelated sounds and possibly cacophonous.
Chris the K. (Aka Gongky)
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Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 11:18:43 -0600 (CST)
Reply-To: djembe-l@u.washington.edu
Sender: DJEMBE-L-owner@u.washington.edu
From: Luis M Nunez
To: "Djembe drumming/hand percussion"
Subject: Re: More bembe bell arcana
X-To: Djembe drumming/hand percussion
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Common bell starts:
|1 2 3 4 5 6|1 2 3 4 5 6|
|x x x x| x x x| straight
|x x x |x x x x| backwards
|x x x x| x x x | starting on the middle "5" of the straight
(your example)
|x x x x|x x x | starting on the last "6" of the straight
starting on the middle "6" is the same as backwards
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Luis Nunez offers this last observation:
One interesting thing is that, if the beat is played as a slap, all the permutations resolve to:
|1 2 3 4 5 6|1 2 3 4 5 6| |S O S O O|S O S O| and a variation |1 2 3 4 5 6|1 2 3 4 5 6| |S O S O O|S S O|
(of course you can drift the slaps along the measure to give the phrase different "starting points" in relationship with bell or other drummers. It's fun.)
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