The always innovative team at RAV Labs has put together some fine new product for us pan drum lovers. It’s new F# In Sen scale is mystical yet melodic, and likens to the vibe of their B Onoleo model. According to the makers, the F# In Sen scale is based on the tuning of a traditional Chinese string instrument. Check out the free improvisation played by Jerry Walsh in the video here:
The G Humayun RAV Vast drum is one of the most distinct scales RAV Labs has ever released. Harmonically it is a major scale with a flat two, which gives it a very eerie number of half steps all over the range. Check out the Matt Bazgier’s playing in the video here:
The other exciting new release from RAV is their hardshell flight case. This thing is solid as a rock and will now give us no fear of checking in our bags on the plane, confidently knowing that our instrument will come out unscathed. Photos here:
All of these new products are available in the USA from Didge Project. Hit the links below for the latest pricing and shipping info. Thanks for checking in and we will see you in the next one!
The Chromatic Mallet Harp may very well be the only xylophone a musician ever needs. This is AJ from Didge Project here, and I have been playing the Chromatic Mallet Harp now for over a year and I am very excited to make it available to the public. Throughout the past four years or so, I’ve been spending a lot of time playing handpans and RAV Drums, which I still love to this day. However, I have found that as a trained pianist, I am always desiring to be able to play in any key on a single instrument and to be able to transpose any chord changes onto my instrument. With handpans this is quite limited, as you are basically relegated to the scale that the pan is in and the chords that you can create with it. Now there are some “mutant” handpans on the market now, which give players more harmonic options by having a wider variety of notes to choose from, however, the Chromatic Mallet Harp is a much more elegant solution to this issue.
For example, if I am playing with a group of guitarists and they are playing in one key, say A minor, but then all of a sudden to change the key to say, C minor, by using a capo and going going up a few frets, I can easily transpose the chord changes, either by writing them down or by doing the transposition in my head. Once I figure out the new cord changes, I can continue playing along in the new key with no need to change instruments. This would not have been possible on a handpan.
There are many other benefits to this instrument as well, including that quintessential Mallet Harp sound. As many of you may know from our portable 11-note A minor pentatonic model that we have been selling for a while, the sound of these mallet harp xylophones is just incredible. For an acoustic instrument to get that quality of sound with such simple materials is pure genius.
So again, I’m very happy to welcome the Chromatic Mallet Harp to the Didge Project family and I invite you all to check out the video and enjoy. For the full specs on this instrument and ordering info visit the Chromatic Mallet Harp product page.
If you are trying to learn music then it’s more than likely that you’ve gotten to a place with your practice, at least at some point, or you feel like you’re practicing the same thing over and over without making progress. Well there’s good news: there’s a lot of great practices out there and this article and video will show you some great options that you have to keep your practice interesting while at the same time effectively using your practice time and continuing to push you forward as a musician.
Here are six practice techniques that will help spice things up and get you excited about learning music:
1. Learn music by Practicing the Rudiments
This is an obvious one. Practicing skills such as arpeggios, chords and the very basics of whatever instrument that you’re practicing should go without saying and most to you, if you’re watching this video, probably that’s what you mostly do. However there is always more to study in terms of the basics, you can always find new skills to learn, you can always find new chords to play, you can always find new rhythms to study. You might want to check out the 40 snare drum rudiments which can be applied to any instrument.
2. Learn music by using a play-along app or tool to give your music more context with a drone, drumbeat, and/or chord changes
There are some great apps out there like iTablaPro, iReal Pro and others. With iTabla Pro you can put on a steady drone and improvise and add a drum beat. This app is based on a practice of Indian classical music but it has such a wide application for all musicians. I used to practice didgeridoo with this a lot as well as many vocal exercises. If you are playing a melodic instrument you can use an app like iReal Pro to put on a series of chord changes and you can practice actually making the car changes. iReal basically has preset chords to a lot of jazz standards and you can also purchase more packs of songs. Another great option is to get an app like Drum Beats+, Which gives you a whole range of really good drum beats in many different styles. With all of these apps you can control the tempo and practice faster or slower, depending on what you need. See the video which accompanies this article for demos of all three of these apps.
3. Learn music by picking up an instrument that is different from your normal instrument or practice regimen
For example if you are a piano player pick up a rattle or a hand drum. If you are a wind instrumentalist, like a trumpet player, then also you should try a drum. If you’re a drummer than pick up a melodic instrument like a guitar or keyboard or piano or melodica. The main idea here is to learn some of the basics of a different facet of music. Maybe try getting a pair of sticks and learning some snare drum rudiments and just improving your rhythm by exposing yourself to the playing of a different instrument. If you are an instrumentalist try practicing some singing. Then you will diversify your music and get some insight into some other ways to play.
4. Learn music by trying to write a piece of music
If you don’t have much experience writing music then forcing yourself to write something is a great exercise for you. Writing music could start in many ways, including but not limited to starting with chord changes, or starting with a melody or starting with lyrics. Just giving yourself the space to create may result in you actually putting some music together. Honestly there’s so much knowledge out there about how to write a song. If you play guitar, it could be as simple as picking some guitar chord changes and trying to put some lyrics over them. If you play a melodic instrument like a flute, you may start with a melody and then later harmonize it by sitting at the piano. There’s a lot of ways to go about writing music. The main thing is just to give yourself the space to create.
5. Learn music by playing phrases and songs in multiple keys
Taking any simple melody that you know and learning to play it in all 12 keys is one of the best exercises for developing musical fluency on your instrument. This is especially true for chromatic instruments (those that have all 12 tones), however it can also be applied in certain ways to other instruments. Another great thing to learn if you play Aquilo instrument like guitar or piano, is how to play the chord changes to a song in all 12 keys. For example if you learn the cord changes to when the Saints go marching in, which often starts an F, learn to play those same relative chord changes in the key of C or G or D, and so on until you’ve learned it in all 12 keys.
6. Learn music by transcribing or studying a transcription of a musician you like
One of the best practices for developing fluency as a musician is to transcribe music by ear. Listen to a song that you like and try playing the melody on your instrument. Even if it’s like a simple pop song, say a Michael Jackson song like “Man in the Mirror.” Just learn to play that melodic phrase By playing the notes that he sings on your instrument. Just that process of training your ear how to play what you hear is going to give you A lot of tools to be able to better improvise on your instrument. Transcribing by ear is too much, you can also look up transcriptions or guitar tabs of many famous songs and solos. There’s plenty of jazz transcriptions. For example just google Louis Armstrong trumpet transcriptions and you will find all sorts of free sheet music of transcriptions that people have done of his playing. Learning to play the phrase is that the masters have played is one of the best things for helping you build your musical vocabulary.
I hope this has been helpful to guide you towards a more fruitful musical practice. Thanks so much for tuning in and definitely watch the video at the top of this article to see examples of a lot of the techniques discussed here.
These two video tutorials by Tripp Dudley will get you off to a great start playing frame drums and frame percussion. By learning the basic strokes you will be playing frame drum rhythms and jamming with your friends in no time. The Frame Drum Tuning Tutorial will also give you a valuable skill which you can use any time you encounter a tunable frame drum and can be applied to other tunable drums as well.
Frame Drum Rhythms Tutorial:Â
Frame Drum Tuning Tutorial:Â
The main rhythm tutorial was taught on our new 18″ Tunable Frame Drum which is now available in the Didge Project store. This is an amazingly versatile instrument that can be tuned to a wide range of tones. It features a cedarwood body, goatskin head and durable metal tuning hardware.
Diameter of drum is 18″ across and depth is 3.5″
Includes beater, tipper and tuning wrench
Instrument manufactured by Roosebeck
Tunable 18″ Middle-Eastern/Shamanic Frame Drum with Beater, Tipper and Tuning Wrench
The Hokema Sansula Kalimba is a must-have instrument for anyone involved in sound healing, sound meditation, shamanic music and other meditative music making. Incredibly fun to play too! There is no wrong combination of notes. Check out the 3 models in this video: Hokema Sansula Basic, Hokema Sansula Renaissance & Hokema Sansula Deluxe.
Wa-wa sound effects are also possible. See video to hear samples of this super cool effect.
Aboriginal Artist Lewis Burns welcomes the audience at the Heart & Mind Festival with the traditional welcome song of his people.
*Join Lewis Burns at Heart & Mind Festival Presents: Peace-IN, June 23-26, 2020. Full details and registration at https://heartandmindfestival.org
heart and mind festival peace-in
Lewis Burns is a Tubba-Gah Wiradjuri man born and living in Dubbo, NSW Australia. He has been learning about his Aboriginal culture for as long as he can remember. He continues to practice and respect these life skills each day and still learns and grows from this ancient knowledge. Lewis’ love of his heritage is evident when you speak with him, and depicted even more in his Aboriginal crafts, traditional dancing, didgeridoo performances, mural paintings and teaching. He is very dedicated to sharing what he knows with others to help keep these customs alive. Lewis paints in traditional Aboriginal and contemporary styles. He has exhibited globally and performed globally with his handcrafted didgeridoos. Each piece of Lewis’ artwork tells a story…..a story that will live on forever through the generations, as the artwork is handed down from one family to another.
Learn the key to recording a good handpan sound with recording engineer and recording artist Matt Bazgier (https://mattbazgier.bandcamp.com). Handpans, RAV Drums, and other pan drum instruments can all benefit from the microphone set up suggested in this video.
Ricky Hillson demonstrates the same composition on a B Celtic Minor RAV Vast and a B Celtic Minor RAVpan. This video is an excerpt from the RAV Drum and Handpan Composition Course, a 2 hour and 40 minute course taught by Ricky Hillson and now available as a Didge Project course.
*Song featured at the end of the comparison video:
About Ricky Hillson:
Richard Hillson is a Multi instrumentalist, teacher and artisan, performing on Guitar, Handpan, Rav and a variety of World Instruments. As a Middle School teacher, he has witnessed, first hand, the power of introducing handpans and Ravs to a young audience. His core musical belief is that we are all inherently musicians and awakening our individuated abilities is often a life changing experience. While busking and performing over the last ten years, Ricky has developed a unique playing style, focusing on composition, and inspired by his passion for world music. He performs frequently in Massachusetts venues and offers lessons and musical performances electronically and in person.
Tripp Dudley is a drummer, tabla player and percussionist based out of Brooklyn, NY. His deep groove and virtuosity across multiple instruments have paved the way for his many journeys around the world with many different musicians. At the age of 10 he started playing guitar, and not long after that he began playing classical percussion with his school band. He soon learned how to play drum set and then started the all day playing sessions that would fill his life for many years to come. At 20 Tripp began attending Berklee College of Music, specializing in drum set performance and frame drums. He quickly started studying Indian rhythmic systems which began a very big part of his future path through music. At 22 he started playing tabla, which has been at the core of his musical practice ever since. Tripp moved to New York City in 2007 to pursue his journey into the professional musical world. During his years in New York, Tripp worked with musicians from many different genres – prog-rock/metal, hip hop, funk, jazz, singer-songwriter, Indian classical, many different world-fusion groups and even the occasional off-Broadway musical. In 2009 he met his Guruji, tabla maestro Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Tripp currently tours the world over with many different artists. When not on tour he spends his time in the magical bustle of New York. He remains a disciple of Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Some of the artists that Tripp has shared the stage and recorded with are: Simrit, Jai Jagdeesh, Bolé, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Snatam Kaur, PHWG, Mirabai Ceiba, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Dan Weiss, Ezra Landis, Shannon Hayden, Jared May, Maartin Allcock, John Ragusa, Kevin Nathaniel, Salieu Suso, Salif Bamakora, Adam Rudolph’s GO: Organic Orchestra, Matthew Schoening, The Guruganesha Band, Copal, Letha, Highly Kind, and Tablaphilia, to name a few. He also has his own Afro-Indian fusion project called Kaleidhaphonic. 
