Musical Magic
| Unveiled Light - Into the Depths | Live, improvisation handpan and tabla, NWR session. | | At Worlds Edge | Live, improvisation handpan, framedrum, swan, brushes NWR Session | | Inner Calling | Live, improvisation, handpan, tabla, swan +++ | | Ten Thousand Eyes | Curious studio music and poetry from Joshua in the early 2000s. Frame drum + | | Let the Way Be Open | Free track from Abbi's much beloved album, Enter the Center.
Check out her whole catalog at here. |
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Drum and Dance practice tracks for New World Rhythmatism Ensembles
The following rhythms are included in the NWR guidebook, and are used as a starting point in the ensembles led by Joshua Levin and Deborah Nervig. Other NWR ensembles may use different rhythms. If you are a middle-eastern dancer or musician, you will recognize many of these rhythms as interpretations of their traditional counterparts.
The rhythms in the following MP3s have been stripped to their bones. They no longer reflect the flavor of a living groove. They are unadorned, unaccompanied, and lack any of the intricate phrasing that makes these rhythms musically interesting. In this bare state, they are perfect for learning the basic features of each rhythm, and for practicing the development of ornaments, rhythmic phrases, and counterpoint.
The rhythms have been played at a moderate tempo so that all skill levels will be able to engage them. Most of the tracks are four minutes long.
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Free MP3s of core rhythms from the NWR guidebook:
TontinKAN- Audio breakdown of West AFrican Rhythms, with intro. cultural notes (Great Resource)
Djembe Boom Boom (some useful West African Notation)
Drum Solo Bellydance Practice Tracks:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 (Isolated combinations, 2 min/per track, 850kb per).
Click on the # to play, or right click to download.
Amira's Bellydance 101 Instructional DVD
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For your practice, here are two straight forward dance practice tracks composed for Amira's DVD:
Track 1: Beladi (2.02MB)
Track 2: Masmoodi (4.68MB) |
Demonstrations
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"Weave" of Malfuf
An improvised "weave" of the Middle-Eastern rhythm often referred to as Malfuf. Malfuf is a two beat rhythm that contains an archetypal structure found in music around the world. The accents are divided into microbeat packets of 3-2-3 or 3-3-2. In SWAT notation this is D..T.T.. or D..T..T.
"Weave" is a term used in New World Rhythmatism to describe a series of techniques used to embellish or ornament a rhythm while still maintaining the core structure. The sustained effort to maintain the core identity of the rhythm helps to distinguish it from a solo or taksim.
This weave is developed in three movements. The first movement introduces the core structure and some thematic phrasing, as well as exploring the spaces between the notes. The second two movements elaborate on the theme by introducing new textures that create distinct branches of the core idea. |
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Tabla composition on frame drum
Translation of a "kaida" to frame drum. The theme comes from Aloke Dutta. I've substituted some of the vistars and made adjustments for frame drum. The piece is still a bit rough, but I thought that it was an interesting reflection of my practice at the end of 2009.
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| | Live at Wonderground: Abigail talks through some of the communication
cues used by the dancers to create in the moment. |
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Basic exercises for developing and keeping time.
For those who think of themselves as rhythmically challenged and those who know that learning to keep good time is an endless practice.
Full size video: here
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Basic Bell Archetypes
This video introduces the beginning set of Bell Archetypes that are used in NWR, and are common to cultures around the world. They are some of the fundamental subdivisions of the pulse in common time. Learning to play these "bell parts" while keeping the pulse helps to develop one's sense of musical time while also learning parts that are excellent contributions to group music making. These bell parts are foundation exercises for New World Rhythmatism.
The video introduces each part and then puts them together in a cycle. Downs, Ups, Double-Downs, Double-Ups, Shuffle, Gimmes
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Bell Archetypes - Part II
Further into the bell archetypes. This video introduces bells one, two, and three, and connects them to the pulse based archetypes introduced in the previous video, "Basic Bell Archeyptes."
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How to Read Rhythm Notation
New World Rhythmatism instructional resource. Easy to understand instruction, primarily for hand-drummers, on how to read rhythm notation in T.U.B.S. and S.W.A.T. format. Many "world-rhythms" have been transcribed with these systems and are available online and in print.
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Basic Frame Drum in Standing Position
+ Tones for Cha and Grab |
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Basic Frame Drum in Seated Position |
| | Link to Layne Redomond teaching basic seated positionLink to David Kuckhermann teaching basic lesson in seated position. Link to David Kuckhermann teaching basic lesson in standing position. |
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