Percusize Me! has been redesigned and organized.

From this post on, Percusize Me! will feature a new look. The former design was coherent with the one on David Valdes website, which had white backgrounds and typography and other elements were blue and purple but, as we announced on the post "New website", its design was changed, with the predominance of black, grey and white colours. For quite a few time, those two different layouts coexisted but, from now on, website and blog are coherent design wise.

This is not the only new thing we are introducing today... Due to the lack of a certain "blogging culture", Percusize Me! had no tags or any other organising means permiting content search or easier surfing. After a very meticulous process, all posts feature appropriate tags and, what´s even better, they are themed grouped.  

© David Valdés

In the upper part of the blog, right below the logo, there´s a menu with various tabs: you just have to click on one of them to access all content in the blog related to the clicked epigraph.

Let´s say you want to see all the articles related to timpani I have published on Percusize Me! Just click on the tab "Timpani", and you´ll gain access to all posts written about these instruments. It couldn´t be easier!

This way, the blog is well organized, and it´s much easier to surf.

I hope you you find these new improvements on Percusize Me! useful.

Regards.

 …et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

In Memoriam John Bergamo.

Yesterday, October 19th, 2013, John Bergamo has passed away.

© Hands On´Semble

I had the privilege of getting lessons from John during the 1999 and 2000 International Percussion Courses in Cocentaina (Spain). Apart from getting to know an excellent person, I got to know a fantastic musician and teacher. I learnt from him many things that were totally new to me, like Indian talas and ragas and takadimi, he opened for me the door to frame drums and drum circles, made me get to know composers that had scaped my radar until that moment, and he totally surprised me with his vast and rich culture. It spoke very well about his interest in different disciplines the fact that his business card stated "percussionist, composer and gardener".

Remo had a signature line of instruments by him, and they featured a symbol that, to me, looked like the solar disc, so usual in agricultural societies, and very familiar to me (like the ones in Asturias -Northern Spain- where I grow up). 

© Remo

On commenting that similarity to him, he responded it was something else: four inverted "9" deployed as radius emerging from a common center.

For him, perfection was represented by number 9, as adding the figures in all its multiples always resulted in "9".

An example:

9x2=18; 1+8=9

9x3=27; 7+2=9

9x4=36; 3+6=9

9x5=45; 4+5=9

9x6=54; 5+4=9

9x7=63; 6+3=9

9x8=72; 7+2=9

9x10=90; 9+0=9

9x11=99; 9+9=18; 1+8=9

9x12=108; 1+0+8=9

9x13=117; 1+1+7=9

9x14=126; 1+2+6=9

..........

His mathematic perception of the world was not on a decimal base, but on a base-9 one, to which he attributed perfection, thus the symbol on his instruments.

Fascinated by his theory, we exchanged letters for some time. I would send him objects related to the solar disc because of the similarity with his symbol, and he would send me some CDs. I have linked some important events in my life with the number 9 symbology, influenced by John.

Yesterday, a great person has gone.

Rest in peace.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Tambourine technique VI. Rolling using riq techniques.

You may remember that, sometime ago, I wrote an article showing various rolling techniques for tambourine. That article was "Tamborine technique V. Rolls".

Ross Antonich, a follower of this blog, has got in touch with me asking about the roll we named "Riq style roll" in that article.

Trying to clarify as many points as possible regarding this rolling technique, I recorded the following video. On it, I explain how to hold the instrument and the motions producing the roll, all of them coming from the riq tradition.

This technique is a very versatile one, allowing us to play very long rolls with total fluidity, at every dynamic level and, if so we wish, articulating its beggining and ending.

I hope this video clarifies all points regarding this technique and you find it useful.

As you already know, I love learning new "tricks" and techniques so I can integrate them into my "musical arsenal". If you know of any you think I should learn, do not hesitate to contact me to tell me about it.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Happy 200 birthday, Mr. Verdi!

On a day like this in 1813, Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole. To commemorate this date, I´m enclosing a video the Gijón Symphony Orchestra recorded on January 10th 2010 at Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón, together with the Orfeón Donostiarra and the soloists Svetla Krasteva, Lola Casariego, Mario Malagnini and Martin Tzonev, all of them under the baton of Óliver Díaz.

Percusize Me! has already written about this composer, so here are the links to the articles on which he was mentioned: 

Editing timpani parts

Editing timpani parts (II)

Editing timpani parts (III)

A king size bass drum

Looking forward to play his music again, I hope you enjoyed the video.

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés