Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Musicians Union was fine. Maracas Union dues were exhorbitant.

Well, I wrote a long and carefully reasoned response to this which then failed to post somehow. Hmmm...

So rather than try to reconstruct it, I'll just say this, Dave... on behalf of Dom Um Romao, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Pancho Sanchez, Jaime Muir, Badrena, Airto, David Van Tieghem, a quarter of a million gamelan musicians on the island of Bali, and myself: take that back...

It's OK we're just having a bit of fun. Drummers are musicians we know that.

The truth is maracas are not easy to play well unless you are a percussion player. Mick did do a fine job on "Not Fade Away" though, even when performed live.

I tried maracas once and gave up in disgust. I could give a reasonable facsimile but it was a lot harder than I had imagined to get it just right. Maybe I am too much of a perfectionist.

Thanks Brian...I needed that...

The Balinese shadow play group I'm in is playing at an art gallery tonight...two hours of music, with the latest addition to our 'set list', a piece called 'Slendro' which has taken us the past solid year to learn. The instruments are so much more difficult to play than guitar, the only thing I 'can't do' is put it into words...

I wish I could take in one of your sets Dane. I love music like that. It is so enchanting, to use an archaic expression.

I love music from other cultures. Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Latin music resonates well with me for some reason.

I also like classical music. You know Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky etc.

I guess I am just a music lover at heart.

That's the way to be, Brian...

Michael Tenzer, one of the most knowledgeable Western scholars and players of Balinese music, relocated to Vancouver a few years ago. He was a founding member of Sekar Jaya in San Francisco, led the orchestra at Yale for a few years, and has written two of the best books available on the subject. If you ever get down that way, you might have an opportunity to hear his gamelan in person, which is the best way to experience it. He's teaching at the University there, and I believe his group is a combination of students and community players.

Peter Allen was great on the Maracas.

"When my baby, when my baby smiles at me I go to Rio.......... De - Janeiro...."

Maracas don't kill people. Maracas players kill people.
Hey -- just kidding. I saw the Drummers of Burundi at Womad and was fascinated. I also love Peter Gabriel's "The Rhythm of the Heat," which he used to do live in concert with everyone except the keyboardist playing drums. As Lawrence Welk once said, "Tango you boyz, the drumz're wunnerful, wunnerful."