River Guerguerian, Director of Asheville Rhythm, draws upon his richly diverse experiences, to play across a remarkable span of musical genres and traditions, both obscure and mainstream. As a highly regarded studio musician, River has recorded on over 250 albums and film soundtracks. He has performed with such groups as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, New Music Consort, Tibetan Singing Bowl Ensemble, Paul Winter Consort, Talujon Percussion Ensemble, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Lizz Wright, Chuck Berry, Sophie B. Hawkins, and Ziggy Marley and The Gipsy Kings. He is the drummer for acclaimed world jazz trio, Free Planet Radio.
River teaches classes every Wednesday at his studio in Asheville, NC, and livestreams them for participants around the world. Learn how to participate in these classes at: www.ashevillepercussionfestival.com/online-classes
He has also published a book and accompanying video tutorials, "Share the Drum," available to order at: www.guerguerian.com/shop
Thank you I appreciated your lesson it was all very clear. I have listened to many videos and think I like the sound of synthetic a little more. Those Coopermans sound awesome :)@@RiverGuerguerian
Thank you so much. Yes, I like the synthetic ones for performances because they are consistent and durable. I still use some skin drums when I am in my studio. And yes, Cooperman Drums are amazing!@@drthunda
This is so wonderful! I have huge frame drums in my elementary music room that have only been used in place of gathering drums for my youngest students. Can't wait to put them to actual use - thank you!
About 17 yrs. ago, I spent a couple of days in Asheville and took a lesson with River. the first thing he told me was to pull the sound out of the drum. I was playing with my thumb following through on the stroke. By pulling my thumb up after the stroke, the Dum opened up and the drum sounded alive. If you play a snare drum, it's the same idea. Release the sound.
Wow this was a very thorough and easily to understand lesson. Thank you for this. I really hope you respond to this comment. I am searching for guidance on what I can do about effectively playing the frame drum with my arthritic hands. I have drastic ulnar deviation and deformity in a couple of my fingers. As well as limited range of motion in my wrists. I have been attempting to modify playing by using a mallet in my dominant hand since due the the crookedness of my hands and the inability to lay my palms flat or flair/flex out my fingers, I can’t achieve the nice doom sound I’m looking for. When I try, it just falls flat and sounds dead or I just miss the drum completely. LOL. It really sucks, but I’ve always loved beating on things and find it very therapeutic and a natural inclination (my dad is a self-taught drummer, so it’s in the blood). I’m not sure if you can help me or maybe direct me to someone that could. I really won’t to play and refuse to let my disability stop me. Thank you again 💗 Oh and for reference, I have a Pearl HipKit which is essentially a tunable frame drum (with snare attachment) on a strap that you can wear. Wearing it is more comfortable to play than holding it or resting my hand on it. I can attach the strap to a traditional frame drum, which I plan to buy later.
@@TheFeliceSkye Hello Felice. Thank you so much for the lovely comment, and for sharing everything that is going on with you. It gives me a greater insight of whom this material reaches. I am glad Rima had reached out to you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. happy drumming and happy spring...
Thank you for this!!! After running the chainsaw for years, I thought I lost feeling… subsequently a feeing of how much pressure I apply. In short, my hands felt like numb bricks. With this warm up, I’m making a healthier connection while learning dexterity and modality. I even picture this flow and grace, Rather than clunky and slamming approach to my walking. My lower back thanks you as well!
Good time and all the best! Can you please tell me where to look for models of frame drums? Usually in the search on the Internet they offer meinl and remo. I would like to consider more professional frame models.
Hello and thank you. I have my own series through Cooperman Hand Drums. They are called River Tar Drums. If you email our outreach community director Rima she can help you with that. Her email is rimaluna2014@gmail.com
Amazing! I have been practicing stillness meditation and present moment awareness for over 2 years and now life gifted me a shamanic drum. Your videos are my first teachings. I m so so grateful. Thank you! x
I understand your frustration, but you need to be compassionate with yourself. If you can walk, then you have rhythm. This video might help you understand how to internalize pulses and rhythms... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DDTqtpM9JhA.html
Thank you for the question. Basically you can play any rhythm on the doumbek onto a frame drum. Technique and fingering might be a little different to achieve the same sound.
@@RiverGuerguerian Thanks for your answer, another quick question, for a beginner is it easier to start with a big drum or a small one? because I have a 10 inch one but I don't seem to be able to make a good and correct doum and tek sound on it
@@alinemati2272 Depending on the size of your body, a 16 inch drum or larger might be better to start with because it's easier to hear and "feel" the low sounds of the Doum.
Very easy to conceptualize with the building example, thank you very much for this insight into music. I realize that you specialize in teaching drum techniques, however I feel this will take my music making to the next level. I am learning to produce music in a DAW, and in this space it's all about samples and plugins. But how are you going to get better just using other people's musical creations? So, I am using only free and included plugins as a set rule of mine. This rule leads me to videos like this when I feel uninspired, and now I have an ability to unlock new melodies and ideas. Thanks again for your efforts in sharing this knowledge.
He is a teacher I would recommend fully. I have lots of RU-vid's on the frame drum and I was having a challenge figuring the beats because everyone's hands moved so fast. The colors really help. Thanks so much.
That is a Cooperman Drum. It's about 20" and made out to my specifications. It has a Renaissance head and special bearing edge. If you want more info, please contact our outreach community director Rima Luna and she can order one for you - rimaluna2014@gmail.com
Hey Zachary, River teaches weekly livestream classes, every Wednesday at 5pm and 7pm Eastern Time. More details and registration at: www.ashevillepercussionfestival.com/online-classes
@@RiverGuerguerian oh yes, I have signed up for the course. And I listening to the Ashville annual percussion festival uploads. I wish I could learn from you in person. I am from India. Thank you for the lovely course! 💜🙏💜
Thank you so much. We have weekly Livestream classes every Wednesday evening. There are discounts available during the pandemic. More info here... www.ashevillepercussionfestival.com/online-classes
KIRRRRU19 hello. Not necessarily the tube mic. Has to be a fast responding mic but yesterday still get a decent and thick low end. That’s important to me. A large diaphragm condenser mic, tube or not, seems to get a rich low end, but don’t get one that sounds too flat on the top end. The P12’s, C12, 414’s, etc seem to have a nice lift on the top end without sounding brittle. And also, for my album recordings I add a ribbon mic to thicken the midrange :)
Hi! Great videos! I really want to sign up for the course. When I was researching frame drum courses a few months ago, I didn't find yours, but I'm glad I did now. I was wondering - in the course, do you also teach other techniques like finger rolls, snapping and others, which are used to enrich the drum rhythms?
Hello. Nice to hear from you. Yes, some of the rhythms in the second half of the book/course include variations with rolls. There is a section on different exercises to work on finger dexterity and rolls. Just a little with snaps in the videos but they are included in the rhythms. We hope to include a little "how to" snapping video soon.
