Date: Sat, 8 Mar 97 13:40:02 -0600

From: <jebanks@ix.netcom.com>

To: "Djembe List" <Djembe-L@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Seven Wheels of Bembe & Modes

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 alot. 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 contiuous 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

x . x . x x . x . x . x [bembe1

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. Ladzekpo=B9s Home Page:

http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/~ladzekpo/

--Jim Banks, Chicago