"Dun Dun Basics"-or-"Zen and the Art of Dun Dun" -or-
"The Way of the Peacful Dun Dun" -or- "Chicken Soup for the Dun Dun Player"
By: Christopher Austin

Introduction

In my younger days of drumming I, as many, was drawn towards the very apparent power of the Jembe and Ashiko. Two percussion instruments that often take the lead role in American drum circles. These drums, when tuned properly, have a fire and a force and a fame that all participants of a drum circle can not help but notice. I noticed. I was enamored. I learned the instrument and I blazed, often without regard for the other components of a sonic structure. I was the Rooster.

This is not to say that the Jembe and Ashiko are only capable of domination. As I grew, I began to explore the more subtle applications of the instruments. Things like playing a simple fill only every once in a while, or a single note placed in an interesting space, or the power of playing a heavy groove, the "Pocket". Much of the time these concepts were employed only as a means to "juice" up the circle and create a foundation for me to blow, or solo, over. As I became much more inclined to play the Pocket I started recognizing an instrument that had been more at the periphery of my awareness, the Dun Dun's.

Egad!! The dun's. What a magnificent instrument. As I began to really invest in the dun's I began to truly understand not only the function of the instrument, but also the power and responsibility it carried with it. The dun's ARE the Pocket. Not to the exclusion of other instruments, of course. A jembe or a shekere can play a deep pocket, but the duns, when played well, create the "bottom" that seems to originate from within you. They are the bedrock upon which everything else is built. Their frequency travels the furthest and is felt by nearly everybody. This means that every member of the circle feels your success and notices your mistakes, and this means that your mistakes directly effect the entire circle. This is no small responsibility.

I am not saying that other instruments do not effect the circle dramatically. A soloist on a Jembe can, also, charge the circle or bring it to a grinding halt though this usually requires the player be "sittin on top" of the sonic structure. The dun's are at the bottom and are ever present. They do not have to push volume or intesity to easily alter the course of the circle. I can not stress enough that you must take great care when you are the dun player.

2 handed excercises

Learning to play an idiophone with one hand and the djun's with the other creates a beautiful continuity between the upper frequensies and the lower frequensies, the "bookends" of the sonic structure. The 2 seperate instruments being played by one mind gives the sound a more intentional direction and decreases, in some ways, the possibility of accidental tension or conflicting ideas. As one of the roles of a good djun player, aside from laying a phat ass bottom, is to support, augment and respond to that which a soloist or lead instrument is playing, the ability to move fluidly from a more static part into a more improvisational part and back again without falling off the horse is crucial. Furthermore, being able to interact in the moment using both hands and, subsiquently, both frequency ranges adds to the continuity and satbility of the circle during the process of building tension and resolving it.

The following 4 practice patterns are good for developing in internal awareness of the fundamental building blocks that you can use to be "in the moment".

Practice Patterns for 1 djun and 1 idiophone to help develope hand seperation. The djun pattern is the same in each example. It is a series of dotted eighth notes the catch up to the 4 pulse measure with a sixteenth note on the 4-a. The 4 different bell patterns are straight up quarter notes or derivatives. By learning and feeling the relationship between the quarter note and dotted eighth, you will have an easier time creating and playing improvised parts. First, learn each of these patterns individually. Then string them together playing one measure of each in time, without stopping.

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Cow Bell Dominant Hand

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Djun Non-Dominant Hand

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Cow Bell Dominant Hand

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Djun Non-Dominant Hand

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Cow Bell Dominant Hand

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Djun Non-Dominant Hand

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Cow Bell Dominant Hand

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Djun Non-Dominant Hand

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Some things to think about after you feel you understand the patterns:

1. Keep in mind that the cow bell and other high frequency instruments can be horribly destructive. Specifically in regards to volume. While playing remember that the cow bell should be heard withoug dominating the entire sound. experiment striking the bell with different parts of the stick on different sections of the bell. Be sensative to volume.

2. Do not think that these are patterns to memorize and play in a circle or musical setting. As they might work in some situations, you should think of them as building blocks leading to more creative applications of sound. YOUR creative applications.

3. Get a metronome and practice with it. Tempo and time are very important. We can deal with feel and groove as creativity becomes more fluid. And if you are really wanting to start "feeling" the groove, listen to a lot of Stevie Wonder or funk from the 70's. Don't listen, as much, to WHAT is being played, instead listen to HOW it is being played.

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