Djembe: Tone vs Slap
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- Опубликовано: 23 фев 2014
- Difference between the tone and the slap on the Djembe.
After looking through most international djembe forums, watching loads of RUclips instructional videos and reading online publications (e.g. Physics of the Djembe) - here is the result. Even though as comprehensive and universaly true as I could make it, it will probably still spark debate.
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This video finally teached me how to do slap on djembe! Thanks a lot, no one can explain it so well like you.
THANK YOU! I really appreciate all the thought and effort you put into this
Tone and slap are played from the same distance on the surface. Slap is played somewhat more loosely. The tone done in the video is done wrong, because it stays to long on the surface and the angle should not be completely in line with the surface, therefore killing the sound. To learn playing the tone and slap correct you need long practice and dedication with coaching from a good teacher. It is not learned on forums or via a video.
Well why are you on here then if its "wrong" and "can't learn" from a video??!
Geez, not everyone has a "good teacher" that can personally train them for "a long time". This man is a good teacher in my opinion and people can learn a lot from watching videos and reading.
Wout Blux is right. That is the technique he describes is the proper technique and it is not that difficult with a little practice. You are simply not letting your palm to hit the rim in order to get the tone. When you slap, your hand is in the same position, but you allow your palm to hit the rim as well. The rim is what gives it the high end ring. It helps to lean the drum away from you for this reason.
That being said, the proper drum shape goes a long way here. West african djembes have a more square shaped shell, and they get a really good tone and slap sound. The good crisp tone sound is actually the sound waves bouncing off the surface parallel to the surface of the head
Many people have conical shape drums. Remos, pretty much all synthetic djembes, and djembes from other regions of africa have a more conical shape. The tones sound really muddy and dead from this shape of drum.
I would recommend a drum like a Wula if you can afford it. They have the right shape, but in general, a square drum is going to have decent bass, and great tones, and slaps. Conical drums will have a great bass, bad tones, and ok slaps. This is just my two cents, but have been playing for 15 years and own 5 djembes, and sold many more than I currently own. It took me a while to zero in on what I was looking for.
In case you are wondering what a drum like I am describing may sound like. Check this out. These are both Wula drums -
ruclips.net/video/G1czfBkxbBk/видео.html&ab_channel=Howcast
ruclips.net/video/Gq0OwkvJPYQ/видео.html&ab_channel=Howcast
This constructive criticism is helpful. Thank you!
Thank you! Very helpful for someone who is not at all familiar with drums.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. Very clarified!
Fantastic analysis! Really helpful for teaching others.
You are really good at making your videos (technically). Great teaching too.
Thank you for the video. I am a new player and the information you offer is quite helpful. I appreciate it. Thanks again.
Hi, I got a great and pricey djembe for christmas, although I didn't ask for it. I'm a classical musician but why waste such an instrument? It could be good to practice rhythym outside of my strings and bow. Fun. I read and watched many djembe instructions, but I didn't know how to exactly distinguish tone from slap technically. Everyone seems to roughly say how they do it and I had to try to find it. You are the first one who quickly explained WHERE IT IS. Thank you.
Great video! Thank you!
Excellent explanation!
dude, what a beast of an explanation. thank you so freaking much!!!!!
THE BEST TUTORIAL. THANK YOU MAN
Good stuff. Especially like the notation
Bardzo dobre wytłumaczenie, proste i kròtkie...dzięki!
Very good explanation. I am an absolute beginner and have a question for you. In this pattern there are five strokes, when I play it I alternate the hand starting the pattern but I guess you don't do so. How should I do? thank you for your video. Francesco
I finally did it! Thank you☺️
Najlepsza instrukcja na necie. Dzieki!
Very helpful.
Is there a name for a strike whereby the 'heal' of your hand hits the rim and whips your fingers tips more into the centre of the drum, creating more of a slap to the sound?
Thank you For this, finaly i can hear the diference between the Tone an slap. ! ;))
Nice thank you ❤
gracias amigo, ahora pude entenderlo mejor. Maldito slap! 😂
Thanks a lot
This is not how you play a djembe!!! a tone is played with the same fingers that he says they are in the same spot he says they are but the slap is played also in the same place but with your fingers a little bit apart.
Good initiation to our African Jembe temple.
YES! someone who goes into detail. other people just give it kinda vague. no one ever mentions the finger tips for slaps
I have that very same Djembe. 🙏
Best explanation I've seen, really useful the close ups and showing the portion of the hand the should hit
make more djembe videos!
Czy w 2023 te wskazówki nadal są ok?
When you play the tones in your vidéo your hands stick to the drum. This is a common beginners mistake. Tone and slaps are both strokes. Hands mus bounce off the skin. The second common beginners mistake is to strike the wood during slaps. Never ever search the wood. Always seek the skin.
thank you very much! watched other vids before and wondered what the difference is.. the end where u played the rhythm was a bit too fast for me however ;)
dont play slaps with your finger tips please, especially if youre on a dull drum its gonna really feel like an amputation. tones and slaps are at the same place or should be really close only different is your open your fingers and hit a little more firm, thats it
Bahahaha the western scientific approach applied to the traditional art. Fun!
Yes thus fun, bt this kind of explanation is woking better to some kinds of people.
Your explnanation is Flawless, however I would have preferred if you used a West African Hand made djembe with real African goat skin, to really get them clear, the problem with these synthetic/fiber glass is there is so much metallic ringing, it sounds very annoying to anyone used to a real djembe.
+Kevin Pereira
djembefolas use normally skin from the cow....goat skin is a compromise for beginners, so that their hands don't hurt so much :)
They use cow and goat, cow gives a higher pitch.
That's incorrect. Djembes are made with goat skin. Dunduns and other drums that are struck with a stick are made with cow hide. I challenge you to get a good tone with a djembe made with cow hide. It's too thick for your hands.
This is simply not true. Many, if not a great majority of the djembefolas use goatskin, especially for lead djembes. Some also use calf, which, granted, is cow, but it's specifically referred to as calf to not confuse with the thick cow skin used on congas and dunduns.
All wrong you play the slap with your calusis not finger tips
Just line up the knuckle of your pinky with the edge of the drum and slap but dont let your fingers touch it
wrong. sorry
Paul Brett very wrong,it seems that beginner teaches beginners
Can any of you elaborate? I'd like to know your opinion on that.
Remo drum (fake skin) doesn’t do a justice to sound of a real djembe - this is way too ringy. And- if you hit drum’s rim with your knuckles as shown- you may as well plan trips to doctor. I don’t see this as a correct technique after talking with African master drummers. Also - Most rims aren’t slanted as on this cheap fake Remo drum.