Miami drums

Police showed up last night at 11PM on the dot to send eveyone home =
10 police cars. Sure made us feel important! Here’s tonight’s Ft
Lauderdale option for the late night crowd:

Title: Full Moon Drum Circle on the beach

Date: Friday February 2, 2007
Time: 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
Repeats: This event repeats every month.
Location: South Ft Lauderdale Beach Park
Street: A1A – 2 Long Block south of Las Olas Blvd, across from Bahia

Thanks Mark for the update!

I guess that this is mainly because of the super bowl being held down here…All Miami police gets a little touchy when events like this are held on their ground…I wish they could play along with everyone else…

But as you might know, the drum circle loudness starts always a day earlier…
That’s right drum beaters, Thursday night, 1st of February is drum circle night.
It’s going to be chilly, you know it’s gonna…So bring your dancing partner, or just your drum, to keep you warm and play the night away on the, not sunny, but shiny night on South Florida, North American continent…
Same place, same time….85th st. on the beach, close to the big and blue ocean that you guys love so much…
yes, working so late can affect your braincells…I know…

Coconut Grove – 2900 block of Grand Ave (right across the street from The Mayfair), on the sidewalk. All are welcome. It is on the sidewalk, so you may want to bring your own seating if you’re going to play. There may be a few of extra drums available.

There is a small chance that the above site may not be available, in which case, we’ll be around the corner and down the street in Peacock Park.

Tuesday is Full Moon Eve – today

Wednesday is Full Moon Night – tomorrow

Drum circles both nights on the beach at 85th & Collins. Things usually
heat up about 9-10 PM; but weeknights can sometimes start a little
earlier.

I’m still out of town, so go and drum without me 🙂

I want to wish everyone a very happy 2007, and not only for the south Florida people but to all drummers and non-drummers out there in the big, big world.
2007 should be filled with more hand drumming events, not to mention all the miami beach drum-circles and perhaps a steady drum circle everyweek.
Best regards to all of you!
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Next Sunday (12/10/06) at noon, another STREET DRUM CIRCLE in Coconut Grove, on Grand Ave in front of the Mayfair, right down the street from “Out of Africa”. We can play throughout the afternoon. Bring your drum, bring your dancing feet. I’ll have some extra drums.

Take advantage of the last Miami & South Florida drum circles of 2006!

also:

The following weekend Dec 16, 17 (Sat & Sun) 10AM – 6PM, at Coral Castle -28655 South Dixie Highway Homestead, FL 33033 (305) 248-6345- in South Dade, the “Moonfaire” invites drummers to come and drum anytime during the event. It is a pay-to-play event, as the entrance fee to Coral Castle is ~$10. The tribal belly dancers from Lotus Dance Studio will be at the drum circle Saturday afternoon.

The Thursday following that, there’s the Winter Solstice Tequesta Drum/Dance/Fire Circle Celebration from 6-12pm on Thursday, December 21, 2006 (Rain Date for the event Friday December 29, 2006) at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park (Primitive Camp area), 3109 E. Sunrise Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale FL. (954) 468-2791 (954) 564-4521. They are planning a potluck buffet, so people who might like to participate may want to bring a little something to share.

Thanks Mark again for the info…
I’m afraid I’m going to be out of town for both events, but all drummers in the area should check them out!

This Saturday at 5PM at the AHCAC at 6161 NW 22nd Avenue in Miami, Saidou Ba presents West African Drum and Dance followed by an open drum circle. Bring your drums!

This Sunday at noon, a STREET DRUM CIRCLE in Coconut Grove, on Grand Ave in front of the Mayfair. We can play throughout the afternoon. Bring your drum, bring your dancing feet. Right down the street from “Out of Africa”.

See you guys over there!

Thanks again to Mark Richards from the Miami Drums yahoo group!!!

Full Moon Dates

[December – 2006]:
Sunday, Dec 3 – Full Moon Eve
Monday, Dec 4 – Full Moon Night

The address remains the same, 85th st and Collins Ave. on the beach. Since full moon eve is a Sunday, drum circle will start around 8:30

Last Friday we did a small drum circle at Peacock park. I’m posting some pictures. I played for about two hours. Thanks again to Mark Richards that organized the event and also showed me how to create a djembe strap with some nylon webbing I got online. [I’m going to comment on this in the following days, I try to get nylon webbing locally and I end up ordering it online]

Anyway, here’re the upcoming dates for the next moon drumcircle in miami beach, Fl:

Upcoming Full Moon Dates [December – 2006]:
Sunday, Dec 3 – Full Moon Eve
Monday, Dec 4 – Full Moon Night

The address remains the same, 85th st and Collins Ave. on the beach. Since full moon eve is a Sunday, drum circle will start around 8:30

Couple days back I got a comment from Marizel and Armando from the The Witch’s Garden They’re going to have an event next month, with a lot of interesting topics. There’s also going to be a drum circle at the closing of it. Here’s their invitation:

“We wanted to invite you and any of your readers to our next production called Moonfaire.This is an event that will be held on December 16th and 17th 2006 at the Coral Castle in homestead Fl. and it will feature a huge drum circle for all to enjoy.The event itself is metaphysical in nature and is focused on feeling the energies of this powerfull place. There will be vendors selling from a wide spectrum of metaphysical and spiritual products and services.
For more info go to our website and click on the Moonfaire image. “

A few weeks back, while reading the Djembe-L Yahoo! Group Lydia asked the group population about how to record a Djembe. I’m not a recording engineer, but I like music and have some equipment to record the instruments that I play. While I replied to her, I realized that my answer was somewhat abstract if you are not directly involved with recording techniques, microphones, preamps, and so forth. So I created a small series of posts, that I’ll publish in the next couple of weeks, about how to record and set-up a recording rig for percussion instruments.

In this first post, I’m including this mp3, that I recorded last night, while trying a CAD that I have purchased on ebay for about $30 dollars. [You can see the mic on the top of my Djembe – by the way, its name is Buda! 🙂 ]
[audio:http://www.oneblueprint.com/miamidrums/wp-content/uploads/djember_recording_mic_test1.mp3]
The Recording was performed with two mics. Both from CAD. One is a Condenser microphone and the other one is a dynamic one, used for toms and kick drums.
On the next post of the series, I’ll explain the setup of the mics, plus the volume settings.

PS: Please have in mind that computer speakers don’t make a lot of justice with the low sounds. More on that later!