December 29, 2004
Workshop beats winter blahs
Colorado drummer leads workshop on Cuban and African styles
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Steeped for years in the gentle and refined sound - the precision - of the violin, musician Carlos Silva decided to step out of the box Monday afternoon.
A senior at Interlochen Arts Academy, Silva and two friends attended a Cuban Drumming workshop at Sun Radius Music. There, he learned the basic hand motions, how to vary tones and ways to muffle, sharpen or prolong a sound. He also tackled the complex rhythms of three different parts of a classic Cuban number called Gaga Makuta.
"I just wanted to learn a little bit how to play the conga," said Silva, a native of Venezuela who has been studying the violin for ten years. "I kind of got it but the most difficult thing is to produce the different sounds, that is really hard."
Silva was one of eight students who attended the workshop taught by Scott Parker Mast of Boulder, Colo. Mast, who visits family in the area every year at Christmas, has taught workshops at Sun Radius for the past six years. Mast also offered a workshop on Zimbabwe drumming after the Cuban session.
Mast has been drumming for 13 years and has studied with a range of master drummers, including some from Africa. He will immerse himself in Cuban drumming next year during a two-week educational tour to the island, a trip he is very excited about for both the cultural and drumming opportunities.
During the workshop, Mast coached the students about how to transition between rhythms of Gaga Makuta, using a distinctive series of tones to signal the change.
"There is no big transition but you all have to do it together," he said to the group. "What's cool about this is that you are going from one distinctive feel to another distinctive feel without stopping."
"If you pull this out at a dance and it works, it's just really great and the audience will love it," he added. "It seems like you're doing something fancy but you're not."
Mast also talked about the intricacies of playing for an audience as part of an ensemble. While he encouraged the attendees to practice on their own the rhythms and techniques he taught Monday afternoon, he also stressed the importance of drumming regularly in a group or drum circle.
"Try to find other people to play with because it really helps the learning," he noted.
Veteran percussionist Juan Manuel Lopez, 18, attended the drum circle with Silva and another friend. Also a student at Interlochen Arts Academy, the Costa Rica native was staying with the same host family as Silva during Christmas break.
Although he has been studying percussion instruments for five years, Lopez has never delved into Cuban drumming.
"I didn't know about the rhythms before, it was a challenge to play new stuff," he said.
Didi and Marc Alderman, fixtures on the local drumming scene and owners of Rhythmic Adventures, attended both workshops. As he has done during most of Mast's workshops, Mark Alderman carefully transcribed the rhythms for later use.
Acknowledging the African and Cuban drumming is rooted in an oral tradition, with musicians passing on their knowledge and songs through playing, Alderman nevertheless has compiled a collection of songs. He uses these transcriptions when teaching and also to refresh his memory when playing.
"Over the years, you pull out the transcription and use it as a memory trigger because it gets the light bulb to go off and, 'Oh, yeah, that's how it went,' and you make the subtle adjustments in the sound," he said. "These rhythms are meant to be taught in an oral tradition and by reading them off the page you don't get the same feel as you do in person."