Philosophical question

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Philosophical question

Postby Beatnik07 » Mon May 04, 2020 9:16 am

Do you feel your bongos are a woman ?
As for myself, I think that regardless how I play, how I tune them, my bongos have moods, temperament, and a character.
So Duke Ellington is maybe right.
:)
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Re: Philosophical question

Postby drtom » Wed May 06, 2020 7:44 pm

Really surprised no one's chimed in after you set up the perfect opening for all the poets out there (bet you anything at least 3/4 of the member consider themselves poets). :wink:

As for myself, it's not only bongos but all drums that are female. They long to be touched, caressed, spanked, made love to. :D
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Re: Philosophical question

Postby Chtimulato » Wed May 06, 2020 8:09 pm

I know this album of Duke Ellington.

Patato once stated something like that too. I saw that in a TV show.
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Re: Philosophical question

Postby FidelsEyeglasses » Wed May 06, 2020 10:55 pm

I think they could be transgender sometimes, lesbian sometimes, gay male sometimes, hetero sometimes, all depends on their independent state of mind in the 21st century.

Then again, Changó is the owner of the drum, one of the most Macho Orichas in the Yoruba pantheon.... definitely not female.
Vintage, classic and contemporary Cuban tumbadoras a.k.a. congas and bongoes made in Cuba:
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Re: Philosophical question

Postby Thomas Altmann » Thu May 07, 2020 8:30 pm

Beatnik: I believe that the Duke knew what he was talking about. Anyway, playing my drums with this attitude often made me play better. However, I think it is more important that we acknowledge the drum as a living entity on its own, with us, the drummers, being their instruments that help them talking with the secret voice that they possess. The drums need us to make them speak and sing.

In Afro-Cuban musical culture, paired drums of any type, including the bongo, are referred to as macho (for the smaller drum) and hembra (for the bigger drum). So they are polar, dualistic, and gendered. Each pair forms a complete unit, a dualistic cell.

@Mark: Changó is the owner of all drums, but the batá is his favorite. The batá's gender implications have been the subject of much scholarly investigation, with Amanda Vincent alias Villepastour and Michael Marcuzzi (ibaé) coming to my mind immediately. Amanda's research has shown that in Cuba, the gendering of the batá is almost as often male as female. Àyán in Africa has ten aspects, five male, and five female. (Àyán or Añá is the deity that lives inside the consecrated drum.) I know a pataki from the Ifá corpus that explains that the fundamento of the batá is animated by the souls of three virgins, so it is definitely female. An itan in Eyila Shebora in Africa states that batá is the wife of Changó; they form a couple. So actually because Changó is the owner of the drum, the drum itself represents his female counterpart.

I find it somewhat dangerous or almost embarassing to talk about that, because it is something that you personally sense, but it feels strange to talk about it. It's like subconscious. Hermann Hesse once said that the deepest wisdom becomes trivial and foolish in the moment you speak it out.

Encounter your drum with love and respect ... That's what I would recommend.

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Re: Philosophical question

Postby drtom » Thu May 07, 2020 11:38 pm

FidelsEyeglasses wrote:I think they could be transgender sometimes, lesbian sometimes, gay male sometimes, hetero sometimes, all depends on their independent state of mind in the 21st century.


No doubt how each of us relates to a drum has much to do with our self identity and state of mind.

FidelsEyeglasses wrote:Then again, Changó is the owner of the drum, one of the most Macho Orichas in the Yoruba pantheon.... definitely not female.


Yes, but he's the drumer not the drum - unless we get poetic.

Thomas Altmann wrote:Beatnik: I believe that the Duke knew what he was talking about. Anyway, playing my drums with this attitude often made me play better. However, I think it is more important that we acknowledge the drum as a living entity on its own, with us, the drummers, being their instruments that help them talking with the secret voice that they possess. The drums need us to make them speak and sing.


Thomas Altmann wrote: . . . I find it somewhat dangerous or almost embarassing to talk about that, because it is something that you personally sense, but it feels strange to talk about it. It's like subconscious. Hermann Hesse once said that the deepest wisdom becomes trivial and foolish in the moment you speak it out.

Encounter your drum with love and respect ... That's what I would recommend.

Thomas


Poets AND philosophers! Same difference some would say.
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Re: Philosophical question

Postby Beatnik07 » Sat May 09, 2020 7:33 am

Thomas Altmann wrote:Beatnik: I believe that the Duke knew what he was talking about. Anyway, playing my drums with this attitude often made me play better. However, I think it is more important that we acknowledge the drum as a living entity on its own, with us, the drummers, being their instruments that help them talking with the secret voice that they possess. The drums need us to make them speak and sing.
...

I find it somewhat dangerous or almost embarassing to talk about that, because it is something that you personally sense, but it feels strange to talk about it. It's like subconscious. Hermann Hesse once said that the deepest wisdom becomes trivial and foolish in the moment you speak it out.

Encounter your drum with love and respect ... That's what I would recommend.

Thomas


I see that you have read Siddhartha ... I concur wholeheartedly with your last recommendation.
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