Instrumental Of Songs Make A Beat

A pageantry of color, drums, crafts and food unfolded at the 20th Monacan Indian Nation Powwow on Saturday near Elon.

By 10:20 a.m., organizers already had gathered three pages of dancers who signed up to participate by the time the grand procession stepped off at noon, and hundreds sat around the dance circle listening to storytelling beforehand.

“It’s amazing to see all these people come to dance,” said Wagitci Gear, 14, an Amherst County High School freshman and Monacan who was wearing a smart Navy uniform. Gear, whose name is pronounced wah-JEET-say, is an E2 seaman apprentice in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets in Lynchburg, similar to ROTC programs.

Dozens of native military veterans typically attend the powwow.

Dance styles included traditional, jingle, grass, fancy, men’s traditional and women’s fancy. Also planned were Aztec dance exhibitions by the Salinas family from Mexico. Dancers and participants come from throughout Virginia’s six tribes: the Chickahominy Tribe; the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Eastern Division; Upper Mattaponi Tribe; the Rappahannock Tribe Inc.; the Nansemond Indian Tribe; and the Monacan Indian Nation.

They also come from throughout the United States, sometimes from as far as South Dakota.

Various tribal cultures were on display through for-sale crafts, including Iroquois crafts and Pamunkey traditional pottery and a booth with items on sale by the Monacans, among a dozen more.

Native food was on hand: fry bread and Indian tacos, which have beans, beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, salsa and cheese.

“I do the fry bread every year,” said Sarah Branham, first cousin of the tribe’s chief, Sharon Bryant. “It’s a family affair.” Also served were buffalo burgers, and a buffalo stew was planned.

The powwow became an annual Amherst County tradition. The late George Branham Whitewolf, or “Papa George,” who was assistant chief and the Monacans’ spiritual adviser, created it.

Whitewolf focused on the tribe’s children, patiently teaching them about Monacan culture, which the young ones embraced.

“I’m traditional and I don’t change,” announced Destiny Hamilton, 6, of Elon, referring to her dance style and sister of one of the most prolific child dancers, Adam Hamilton, 7, who dances men’s traditional. She wore a light-blue costume and Adam wore traditional trousers.

“They’ll be at home, dancing without music,” said their mother, Jessica Hamilton.

Taima Branham, the first-grader daughter of Crystal and Aaron Branham, performs a jingle dance. Her intricate costume contains dozens of silver jingles. “It’s a healing dance, it heals the spirit,” Crystal Branham said.

As is common in Monacan life, the children make their own costumes, sometimes with the help of parents and others. This year, Taima added a small satchel that had authentic bear fur and an arrowhead.

The tribe’s Bear Mountain Dancers include numerous Monacan children.

After Whitewolf’s death in 2010, some feared that cultural awareness would wane. But the opposite occurred: More people began attending cultural classes at the Monacan’s tribal center on Bear Mountain. The Monacans trace their lineage 10,000 years in that area, tribal officials say.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 6,” said Jeff Branham, of Glasgow, a men’s traditional dancer who was there with his wife, Sabrina, and three daughters, Monica, 7, Kaitlyn, 4, and Harmony, 2. “I dance in competitions up and down the East Coast,” said Branham, wearing an elaborate and intricate costume and a backward gray New York Yankees cap.

Organizers hold a traditional bonfire on Saturday nights before the gates are closed at 9 p.m.

The powwow continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, culminating with a closing ceremony and an award ceremony is held for the dancers, performers and guests.

For more information, visit www.monacannation.com.

Article source: http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2012/may/20/3/monacans-meet-color-drums-and-dancing-ar-1927688/

Knifing through whitewater and swooshing around gates in a canoe takes a blend of strength and technique that Casey Eichfeld hopes to exhibit just in time to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.

Eichfeld, 22, who grew up in Drums, will compete next month to represent the United States in the one-man and two-man canoe slaloms. He is the only American on the canoe and kayak team seeking two Olympic slots, but said the benefits from training for one event carry over to the other.

The two-man canoe or C-2 boat is heavier so paddling boosts his strength for the one-man or C-1 races. In contrast, the technical skill that he hones while piloting a one-man canoe helps in the C-2 competition.

“Sometimes racing in two classes is a bit taxing on my body, but typically the large races split the two classes apart so that I have time for rest. Besides, my technique becomes better when I am tired because I no longer have the strength to just push the boat where I want,” Eichfeld said in an email sent from Cardiff, Wales.

He is in Cardiff while practicing for the World Cup No. 1 scheduled for June 8 to 10.

His performance in the World Cup will determine whether he returns to the Olympics.

Four years ago, when he was 18, Eichfeld and another Pennsylvanian, Rick Powell, represented the United States in C-2 at the Beijing Olympics.

Since then, Powell switched to kayaking, but narrowly missed qualifying for the American team in the World Cup.

Eichfeld and his new partner, Devin McEwan of Falls Village, Conn., rank second in America in C-2. Eichfeld also ranks second in C-1 in the nation.

Because the United States only qualified to send one canoe to the Olympics in each event, however, Eichfeld has to move up to repeat as an Olympian.

His competitors are Ben Fraker of Peachtree, Ga., who is top-ranked in C-1, and the No. 1 tandem in C-2, Eric Hurd of Gastonia, N.C., and Jeff Larimer of Marietta, Ga. They amassed points toward qualifying for the Olympics based on their finishes at the Pan Am Games in Brazil in March and the U.S. qualifying races for the World Cup last month in Charlotte, N.C.

To capture an Olympic spot, Eichfeld not only has to beat Fraker in C-1 at the World Cup, but he must finish three slots ahead of him. Similarly, Eichfeld and McEwan have to place three spots higher than Hurd and Larimer to go to the Olympics in C-2.

“I am not too concerned, though, because in 2008 Ricky and I were the underdogs and came up to take the Olympic position for ourselves,” Eichfeld said.

The Americans in Cardiff will go to London on May 28 to train on the Olympic course for about a week before returning to Cardiff for the World Cup.

“At this point,” Eichfeld said, “my training is mostly on the water. We get at least one session on the water a day and then fill in the rest with a run. I tend to avoid weight lifting this close to major competition.”

When not racing with the national team, Eichfeld trains in Charlotte with his coach, Rafal Smolen, at the U.S. National Whitewater Training Center. Eichfeld also works at the whitewater center and at a YMCA in Charlotte.

In January, the U.S. Olympic Committee began sponsoring Eichfeld to train.

“It’s not everything he needs, but it allows him to be more comfortable and not so stressed about funding,” his father, Steve Eichfeld, said.

Steve and his wife, Kathy Eichfeld, live in Drums with Casey’s brother, Devon, 17, a senior at Hazleton Area High School, and sister, Erin, 19, who just finished her first year as a musical theater student at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City.

For Casey, training in North Carolina and traveling for competitions – he went to Australia in January before going to Brazil for the Pan Am Games and Wales for the World Cup – leaves little time to visit his family.

“But when I do, I tend to spend my time resting and eating mom’s cooking. It’s nice to do the family outings that we used to do before I left home,” he said.

kjackson@standardspeaker.com

Article source: http://standardspeaker.com/drums-athlete-seeks-to-paddle-back-to-olympics-1.1317502

Like with any instrument, there was a learning curve for the tubano, a conga-like drum, said Barbieri Elementary School fifth-grader Alex Sinesi.

“You have to pay attention,” she said. “But once you’re doing it, you get lost — you get sucked into it.”

African and Latin drum rhythms will be echoing through the halls of the Dudley Road school next week when Barbieri plays host to Africa West Trio, a percussion band from Cleveland that will help students prepare for a school concert on Friday. The group is coming as part of a new grant-funded artist-in-residence program at the school.

“The whole group is really looking forward to it,” said member Ryan Korb. “We’re excited to work with the students and give them the best experience we can.”

The effort to bring in the trio was led by Barbieri music teacher Cindy Moore, who also wrote a grant two years ago to buy 19 tubanos for the school. Moore studied under one of the band’s members, Josh Ryan, at a drumming class for educators in Pittsburgh, and saw hosting them as an artist-in-residence as a way to compensate for the loss of the elementary band program cut two years ago.

“I know (students) are missing out,” she said. “It’s such a valuable experience to play with a group, and with that cut, I know they weren’t getting that.”

African drumming in particular emphasizes teamwork, as players bounce rhythms off each other. “It’s like a conversation between the drummers,” Barbieri third-grader Peter Sinesi said.

Drums are a little different from more classical instruments in that they don’t have a tradition of learning by reading, Korb said.

“It’s more oral tradition,” he said. “Part of the appeal of what we do is that it’s folkloric music — it’s been developed over thousands of years of playing and social interaction.”

In addition to performing at concerts around the Midwest, Africa West Trio also teaches drumming to students from kindergarten to college age. Next week, they’ll be at Barbieri every day helping students learn African and Caribbean drumming techniques.

“We’re stressing the Latin (drumming), because we’re a bilingual school,” Moore said.

Students have already been learning drum patterns in Moore’s classes this past year. Barbieri’s recorder club is also “slowly morphing into recorders and drums,” she said, and Moore hopes to one day have an entire class dedicated to drumming.

Korb said African drumming is accessible to children, who can be “pretty exuberant with the instruments and not break them.”

“They can let loose, and just have fun with it,” he said.

It’s also a challenging musical form that demands focus, Moore said.

“The amount of concentration it takes is awesome,” she said.

Students in all grades at Barbieri will show off their skills at next Friday’s concert. They’ll also be singing, dancing and playing other percussion instruments, including maracas and claves.

Africa West Trio, which flew in yesterday, will put on a show of its own tonight at Barbieri’s Multicultural Night. The event, which will celebrate the culture of Cuba, is aimed at families at the school and their friends, and runs from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door for adults, $4 for students.

(Scott O’Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article source: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/education/x1040012056/Drumming-group-to-teach-students-at-Framingham-elementary

WEDDINGTON On a typical day, Misty Meadows Farm in Weddington remains quiet enough to hear the beat of horses galloping through fields.

But on Saturday afternoon, in the open pastures of the horse farm, a different beat could be heard. Hundreds of drummers gathered for the sixth annual DRUMSTRONG, a festival that aims to raise awareness and funds for local cancer initiatives.

Scott Swimmer, whose parents own Misty Meadows, created DRUMSTRONG in 2007 following his son Mason’s diagnosis with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. At age 16, Mason developed a tumor in his knee in 2004 and underwent chemotherapy for treatment.

“As a parent going through my son’s cancer experience, I was digging and digging for resources,” Swimmer said. “You hear the word tumor and your world is turned upside down.”

Swimmer developed the idea of using drumming as a platform to aid cancer research. DRUMSTRONG is produced by DrumsForCures, a nonprofit organization Swimmer created to raise awareness and funds for cancer programs through rhythm events.

Participants at the first annual event held at the Weddington farm in 2007 drummed for 25 consecutive hours. The event has since grown beyond the farm and last year, more than 50 cities in 15 countries hosted DRUMSTRONG events. Swimmer said he expects more countries to drum this year.

At this year’s event in Weddington, which will continue until 6 p.m. Sunday, participants are drumming nonstop for 30 hours in an attempt to break the record for world’s longest continuous drum circle. Swimmer expects that more than 5,000 people will attend the event over the weekend and $150,000 will be raised for cancer research.

Swimmer kicked off the drum session at noon on Saturday with advice to the crowd, saying, “Drum with intention. Let your heartbeat take you to new places.”

Amy Efird of Albemarle said she attended the event because it is a unique opportunity to support cancer research.

Just before Swimmer introduced drummers and belly dancers to the event’s main stage, he directed the audience to look at the sky, where a complete rainbow formed a ring around the sun. He choked up and said, “I am grateful to be part of the most solid family imaginable. My family flat out rocks.”

For those unable to attend the festival because of poor health, organizers streamed a live webcast so individuals in hospitals could join in on the drumming. On Saturday, drummers participating in the event in Rome were broadcast live on a television screen in the drum tent in Weddington.

In between jam sessions, individuals can practice yoga, get henna tattoos, visit health expos or grab a bite to eat.

Ann Moreland, 70, of Waxhaw, said she attended to support others battling cancer. She was diagnosed three months ago with tonsil cancer and is now in remission.

“The biggest thing is to always maintain a positive attitude from the start and open up and talk to people,” Moreland said.

Echoing Moreland’s thoughts, Mason Swimmer, now 23 and seven years cancer free, said his greatest advice to those battling cancer is, “Know that you’re going to be fine. Stay positive.”

Article source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/19/3252265/drummers-find-rhythm-for-cancer.html

A pageantry of color, drums, crafts and food unfolded at the 20th Monacan Indian Nation Powwow on Saturday near Elon.

By 10:20 a.m., organizers already had gathered three pages of dancers who signed up to participate by the time the grand procession stepped off at noon, and hundreds sat around the dance circle listening to storytelling beforehand.

“It’s amazing to see all these people come to dance,” said Wagitci Gear, 14, an Amherst County High School freshman and Monacan who was wearing a smart Navy uniform. Gear, whose name is pronounced wah-JEET-say, is an E2 seaman apprentice in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets in Lynchburg, similar to ROTC programs.

Dozens of native military veterans typically attend the powwow.

Dance styles included traditional, jingle, grass, fancy, men’s traditional and women’s fancy. Also planned were Aztec dance exhibitions by the Salinas family from Mexico. Dancers and participants come from throughout Virginia’s six tribes: the Chickahominy Tribe; the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Eastern Division; Upper Mattaponi Tribe; the Rappahannock Tribe Inc.; the Nansemond Indian Tribe; and the Monacan Indian Nation.

They also come from throughout the United States, sometimes from as far as South Dakota.

Various tribal cultures were on display through for-sale crafts, including Iroquois crafts and Pamunkey traditional pottery and a booth with items on sale by the Monacans, among a dozen more.

Native food was on hand: fry bread and Indian tacos, which have beans, beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, salsa and cheese.

“I do the fry bread every year,” said Sarah Branham, first cousin of the tribe’s chief, Sharon Bryant. “It’s a family affair.” Also served were buffalo burgers, and a buffalo stew was planned.

The powwow became an annual Amherst County tradition. The late George Branham Whitewolf, or “Papa George,” who was assistant chief and the Monacans’ spiritual adviser, created it.

Whitewolf focused on the tribe’s children, patiently teaching them about Monacan culture, which the young ones embraced.

“I’m traditional and I don’t change,” announced Destiny Hamilton, 6, of Elon, referring to her dance style and sister of one of the most prolific child dancers, Adam Hamilton, 7, who dances men’s traditional. She wore a light-blue costume and Adam wore traditional trousers.

“They’ll be at home, dancing without music,” said their mother, Jessica Hamilton.

Taima Branham, the first-grader daughter of Crystal and Aaron Branham, performs a jingle dance. Her intricate costume contains dozens of silver jingles. “It’s a healing dance, it heals the spirit,” Crystal Branham said.

As is common in Monacan life, the children make their own costumes, sometimes with the help of parents and others. This year, Taima added a small satchel that had authentic bear fur and an arrowhead.

The tribe’s Bear Mountain Dancers include numerous Monacan children.

After Whitewolf’s death in 2010, some feared that cultural awareness would wane. But the opposite occurred: More people began attending cultural classes at the Monacan’s tribal center on Bear Mountain. The Monacans trace their lineage 10,000 years in that area, tribal officials say.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 6,” said Jeff Branham, of Glasgow, a men’s traditional dancer who was there with his wife, Sabrina, and three daughters, Monica, 7, Kaitlyn, 4, and Harmony, 2. “I dance in competitions up and down the East Coast,” said Branham, wearing an elaborate and intricate costume and a backward gray New York Yankees cap.

Organizers hold a traditional bonfire on Saturday nights before the gates are closed at 9 p.m.

The powwow continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, culminating with a closing ceremony and an award ceremony is held for the dancers, performers and guests.

For more information, visit www.monacannation.com.

Article source: http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2012/may/19/monacans-meet-color-drums-and-dancing-ar-1927688/

FORT LAUDERDALE – They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but for the volunteers who showed up at Port Everglades on Saturday, it was all about the trash cans.

Under a big, white canopy, about 100 volunteers grabbed some paint and some paintbrushes, and with a little elbow grease, transformed recycled petroleum drums into bright and colorful garbage cans that will be stationed around the port.

The third annual volunteer effort was in honor of Maritime Day. Port Everglades spokeswoman Maisy Alpert said the goal is to keep the bins out of landfills and to spruce up the port with the bins’ artistic designs.

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Some volunteers painted onto their drums beach and ocean scenes featuring vibrant colors and images. Others went for eye-catching abstract designs.

“I’m going for a forest look,” said Nicole Clarke-Johnson, of Fort Lauderdale, while painting trees against a sky-blue background.

Clarke-Johnson, who brought her four kids and a friend along to take part on Saturday, said the event provided another outlet for their creativity.

Her son Christopher Johnson, 15, chose to paint his drum red, white and black with the message “Get Simple” scrolled across the middle.

He said he wanted people to take away the message that you don’t need much to be happy.

Brad Poyet, a youth minister at the Griffin Road Church in Southwest Ranches, arrived with a group of about 18 kids and their parents. He heard about the event online.

Poyet painted his drum with plenty of red, yellow and black, and wrote the word “Dream” inconspicuously on the side of the bin.

He said he wanted people to have to stare at the drum for a while to get the message.

“Everyone has a dream,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to work to find it.”

Organizers planned to give an award for the most-creative drum.

Luann Garnett, of Davie, said her family took the most-creative prize last year. This time around, they were going for a camouflage look on their bin that they hoped would help them hold onto their title.

“This is a wonderful turnout for something that is greatly needed,” Garnett said.

Geast@tribune.com or 954-572-2078.

Article source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-new-drums-20120519,0,6755953.story

Are you one of those who had a fine collection of old records but one day in a fit of spring cleaning threw them all out? Maybe you thought you would never ever need them again. Big mistake.

Records are in and a craze for vinyl is once again sweeping the world of music buffs. What is more, many old records are now in great demand and sell for stratospheric prices on eBay and in specialist shops. What is guaranteed to make you feel worse is that there is a good chance you had those records with you all along.

In 1967, the Mustangs, the well-known beat group of Madras, released their first-ever vinyl record. It was a “single,” i.e. a 45 rpm record with one song on each side. The Mustangs were an instrumental band, on the lines of the Shadows and the Ventures and they chose the latter’s popular number ‘Escape’ for one side. The record was a sell out.

Almost five decades later, it is almost impossible to get copies of that single. That Mustangs single, which could not have cost more than Rs. 25 at the time, now sells for 249 Euros (Rs. 15,000) on a specialist website. Or take another one by Mena Kava, a Bombay musician, with the Hellions, another Madras group. That goes now for 499 euros, which is almost Rs. 30,000. A single by Usha Iyer (now Uthup) can be picked up for a mere 99 Euros.

Don’t think it would be cheaper to get them in India. Dealers of second-hand records in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and elsewhere have figured out the craze for these recordings and jacked up their prices. LPs by the Savages, a Bombay-based group of the 1970s, now retail for up to Rs. 20,000, while Obsession 77, the sole album produced by Atomic Forest could go for even higher. A canny entrepreneur in California digitally re-recorded Obsession and is selling the music on iTunes, but real collectors are not as much interested in the songs as the actual piece of vinyl.

These are the records young Indians danced to in the 1960s and 1970s and heard at home on gramophones, which is another old technology that faded away. Records became redundant in the 1970s and 1980s once cassettes became cheaply available and those too had to be chucked out after CDs offered good sound quality at low prices. Now, of course, everyone listens to music digitally and 1,000 or more songs can be stored on an iPod which is convenient to handle. Most people held on to their LPs and singles out of sentiment but eventually it became cumbersome, so out they went.

It is not as if there is only demand for western pop music. A great favourite of DJs is R.D. Burman, whose funky renditions in kitschy 1970s are being played in clubs from Munich to Melbourne. Many of his peppy tunes, along with songs by other music directors such as Bappi Lahiri and Kalyanji Anandji have been digitally re-mastered and released in new collections called the Bombay Connection by a producer from Amsterdam. He is now said to be working on funky music from Tamil films.

Why this sudden upsurge of interest? Is this nostalgia, this attachment to retro objects, a way of harking back to the past when things appeared to be simple and uncomplicated? Or are oldies trying to recapture their youth? Or perhaps vinyl music sounds warmer, especially when played on a high quality record player, which are now available easily and cheaply? All these factors may apply, but many also feel that it is time to rediscover old music. The sudden craze for some of R.D. Burman’s songs shows that he was ahead of his times; at the time he was creating them he was considered totally outlandish; today they are considered mini-masterpieces.

As far as Indian pop music of the 1960s and 1970s is concerned (as opposed to Indi-pop), collectors and dealers say that they find the sound very attractive and unusual. This is because of the reverb effect and often the self-made instruments that Indian musicians used at the time, since buying foreign guitars was very difficult. Many Indian pop bands (such as The Cavaliers from Calcutta) also used sitars in their songs. Such sounds have caught the fancy of European music lovers.

Whatever the cause, better start rummaging in your attic and in that old suitcase you are planning to discard. Check out that dusty pile that you had so lovingly built up during your youth. There may be real treasure stored in there.

(The author is a Bombay-based journalist and author currently writing a book on ’60s-’70s rock groups.)

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article3436782.ece

Published on Friday 18 May 2012 13:10

FOR thundering rhythms and breathtaking choreography, an evening with the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers really does take some beating.

The huge taiko drums will get your blood pulsing in time to this spirit-rousing sound when the show arrives at the Peterborough Key Theatre on Sunday.

Through years of touring as Europe’s leading taiko drum group, Mugenkyo have developed a passionate style of their own.

It retains the traditional spirit of taiko while creating a contemporary sound and a modern stage show.

It also maintains an element of dance within the show, in addition to the graceful movement of the drummers themselves.

Mugenkyo was set up by Neil Mackie in 1994.

He said: “There’s no one else doing it on this scale

“We are trying to take this to a new level.

“Although we keep to the roots of this, we are always trying to push the boundaries.”

For this tour the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers will be joined by New York-based flautist Nobuko Miyzaki, who will break up the beat with her very delicate bamboo flute playing.

Tickets for Sunday’s show cost £18 from 01733 207239.

It starts at 7.30pm.

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Article source: http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/lifestyle/the-guide/music-going-out/taiko-drum-group-set-the-beat-in-peterborough-1-3860225

An estimated 11,000 Santa Clarita Valley sixth- and seventh-graders, local educators, business people, dignitaries and residents converged on College of the Canyons’ Cougar Stadium Friday morning, in an apparently successful attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest percussion ensemble.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame drummers Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead, The Other Ones, the Mickey Hart Band) and John Densmore (The Doors), along with Grammy-winner Poncho Sanchez, Rikki Rockett (Poison, and a Santa Clarita resident), Gordon Campbell (George Duke, Mary J. Blige), Eric Hernandez (Bruno Mars) and Mike Phillips (Janelle Monae) were among the celebrities on hand to help lead the attempt, which called for all hands playing their Remo “sound shape” percussion devices continuously for five minutes.

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More than 7,500 students with sound shapes were on the stadium field, seated in sections designated for each school, and wearing colorful “Rock the Rhythm, Beat the Odds” commemorative T-shirts imprinted with their school’s name. Braving the bright sunshine and temperatures in the upper 70s, the students followed the “BOOM-a-bump-a-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM” rhythm set down by Hart, who directed the huge ensemble from a riser on a stage set up in front of the home spectator stands, where another 3,500-4,000 local residents joined in the jam.

Poncho Sanchez, Remo Belli and John Densmore.

Delivered from their respective schools by a fleet of buses, the students represented five local school districts — Castaic Union, Newhall, Saugus Union, Sulphur Springs and Wm. S. Hart.

After percussing for the five minutes, the students, artists and organizers were elated.

“With more than 7,500 students and the thousands in the stands on the home side, we’re confident we broke the record,” said Jesse Munoz of COC’s Public Information Office. Guinness representatives were on hand to observe the attempt. “They have to review all the video and stills, and even have an accountant working on it,” he said. “We hope to have an answer sometime next week.”

Mickey Hart leads the ensemble.

According to the Guinness website, the current record for largest percussion ensemble (not drum circle) is 10,102, set in Hong Kong in 2002.

Friday’s world record attempt at COC was the culminating event in the “Rock the Rhythm, Beat the Odds” music in education program taught to local sixth- and seventh-graders during the past school year by the COC Performing Arts Center’s K-12 Arts Education Outreach Program, in association with the city of Santa Clarita and local drum/percussion instrument manufacturer and rhythm educator Remo Inc. The Valencia-based company’s founder and CEO, Remo Belli, is a major proponent of “Beat the Odds” and music in education, and donated all the sound shapes for the event.

“Rock the Rhythm, Beat the Odds” is a hybrid music and rhythm course that emphasizes the process of learning over performance. The program integrates activities from contemporary drum circles and group counseling to teach skills in focusing and listening, team building, positive risk taking, self-esteem, awareness of others, leadership, expressing feelings, managing anger/stress, empathy and gratitude.

Rikki Rockett, Mickey Hart, Poncho Sanchez, John Densmore and Remo Belli.

The world record attempt was also designed to boost public awareness of how important the arts and especially music are in the development of a well-rounded child, and to encourage creative solutions to budget crises that have gutted arts and music education in schools in recent years.

After the event, as the students headed back to their buses, a number of the artists hung out with the large crew from Remo in the stadium’s Cougar Den and spoke with reporters.

“Oh, it was just splendid,” Hart said of the experience. “It was good, it was great, it was moving. It got me vibrating. It did what it’s supposed to do. It’s supposed to affect you in the best of ways. I feel very uplifted, very happy. All is well on the planet, I assure you. The planet is in rhythm. ‘We have tuned your world, human!’

“You don’t get 12,000 people in rhythm every day, and (it’s great) to turn the children on to something we as musicians have known our whole lives, and the wonders of vibration, of music, of being in rhythm together,” Hart continued. “Drummers know this, but passing it on to the kids is really what’s important, because that’s where the new rhythms are going to come from, from those people right out there, in that field. Who knows what we birthed today? It’s not just about drums and drumming, it’s about a good life.That’s what drums are really all about. Drums are just a great way of laying down rhythm. It’s not about the drum. It’s about the rhythm of things.”

From the home-side stands, John Densmore surveys the approximately 7,500 Santa Clarita Valley students gathered on the Cougar Stadium field.

Rhythm is the basis of life, Hart said. “Rhythm is responsible for us becoming human. It’s human specific and human defining, so it’s the rhythm, stupid! When you get down to it, it’s the movement of things, the rhythm of things. From the micro to the macro world, the physics, all brain-wave neurology is all coming down to the vibratory world. In my contact with the neurology of music, they’re just getting around to understanding this.”

“This is an important event, because I think art and music define our culture,” Rockett said. “I think it defines periods of time. It gives us an idea of what that time was like, what people were feeling and thinking, what it felt like, and that’s expressed by art and music. If we eliminate that, we’re not going to have a record of history of our culture except video tapes and it’s going to be meaningless without that heartfelt interpretation of what artists say.”

Remo Belli displays one of the 11,000 sound shapes his company provided for the world record attempt.

“It was awesome,” Densmore said as he exited the stadium, observing the scene on the field below. “It’s hard to have thousands of people play together, and they did, and that’s the whole point. Music teaches tolerance, and it should be the last thing cut from the (school) budget.”

Read the preview stories below for more background on “Rock the Rhythm, Beat the Odds” and Friday’s world record attempt, and check this story later for more photos from the event.

And for even more information about the “Beat the Odds” outreach program and the “Rock the Rhythm, Beat the Odds” world record attempt, visit www.rocktherhythm.org. Find out more about the PAC’s K-12 Arts Education Outreach Program at www.canyons.edu/Offices/PIO/CanyonsPAC/k12arts.html.

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04-26-12: Peeples Place at KHTS: Densmore of The Doors To ‘Rock The Rhythm’ At COC May 18
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All photos: Stephen K. Peeples.

Article source: http://hometownstation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29502:thousands-drum-in-world-record-attempt-at-coc&catid=26:local-news&Itemid=97

A Drums man was airlifted to a trauma center after his motorcycle crashed with a Hazleton Police Department vehicle driven by Chief Frank DeAndrea on Friday morning at West Broad and Laurel streets.

Walter Bloss was transported to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville in a helicopter after the 9:51 a.m. crash, city police said. Bloss was in critical condition as of 8 p.m. Friday, according to a nursing supervisor at the hospital.

The crash left Bloss prone on the pavement, and his motorcycle stopped a few feet away against a parked car.

When describing what happened, the owner of the parked car twirled his finger in circles to demonstrate the motion that he saw the motorcycle make.

Because the crash happened so fast, the man said he didn’t notice the color of the traffic signals. Although the man didn’t give his name, police listed Francisco Correa of Hazleton as another person involved in the incident.

While Bloss lay on the pavement, DeAndrea, three medical technicians and a city firefighter administered first aid to him.

Then the medical technicians placed Bloss on a gurney and moved him inside an ambulance of American Patient Transport Systems, which took him to Hazleton General at 10:05 a.m.

A helicopter leaving Hazleton General flew just above the roof of the Markle building and headed north at 10:25 in view of people at the scene, including police officers taking photographs and of gouges in the road and two men loading the motorcycle onto a tow truck.

Pieces of the motorcycle, including parts of the clear windscreen, were scattered along the street.

A sport utility vehicle of the Hazleton Police Department was parked in the intersection with its lightbar flashing. The front end of the police vehicle had minor damage. Later, DeAndrea drove the vehicle to the curb.

Police said in a report issued to the media that DeAndrea also suffered injuries in the crash. Contacted Friday night, DeAndrea said he was “sore” and also “saddened to hear about injuries” that Bloss suffered.

The chief said he could not share his recollection of the crash, citing the ongoing investigation. He did say that the airbags in his vehicle did not deploy, and that “speaks to the low speed of his vehicle in the accident.”

State police at Hazleton and Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis did not immediately return telephone messages about whether they had been asked to join the investigation.

DeAndrea, however, said he doesn’t “see any reason why the city police wouldn’t investigate” the crash, despite the fact that the chief was involved.

Hazleton Sgt. Robert Zientek is listed as the lead investigator on the police report. Officer Kevin Wagner, who is doing accident reconstruction, studied evidence at the scene and inspected the two vehicles after they were impounded, DeAndrea said.

“The physics are the physics,” the chief said in explaining why city police will stay on the case. “You can’t change things like skid marks.”

After the crash, city firefighters, police and fire police helped clear the scene and control traffic. Police closed the block of Broad Street to traffic with yellow tape for more than three hours after the crash.

Hazleton police ask anyone who witnessed it to telephone 911.

kjackson@standardspeaker.com

Article source: http://standardspeaker.com/news/drums-man-critical-after-cycle-collides-with-police-vehicle-1.1317422