Beats working
By Vera Penêda
Sunday djembe circle at Majin Buu Club. Photos: Wang Zi and courtesy of Toning Drumming Club
Tucked away in a two-floor apartment, an assembly of 20 loud drums competes with the subway roar in the Sihui neighborhood. Every Sunday the djembe (African drum) players repeat the ritual: They gather in a circle and bang their drums, sing and clap, dance and they all vow drumming is the best fad to deal with urban life stress and have a good time. Like the Majin Buu Club, drumming groups are popping around Beijing as more Chinese people discover African music and more foreigners join in the tribes for a rhythm that stands for freedom, union and happiness.
Heartbeat
The colorful artworks, wooden furniture and the echo of the drums give a taste of Africa to the Majin Buu Club. The dreadlock and tattoo adverts behind a cloud of incense attach a Bob Marley feel to the place. Men and women in a circle beat the djembe held between their legs. The voices singing in unison and the battery of djembe make the walls pulse to the sound of "Balakulanya," an African fertility song.
"Wow! It's really wild, the sound makes me feel so alive," said Niu Kun, 33, member of Majin Buu Club founding team. "The rhythm sounded so interesting and distinct, both earthly and spiritual. It made me feel really happy and relaxed," he adds, recalling the first time he heard the djembe. He tells how it helped him overcome gloom associated with a stressful job in marketing and sales. "Every time I play the djembe my mind empties, there's only room for rhythm and it feels like it's all coming from the heart."
Niu started searching for the instrument online and he saw a live performance in Beijing around Olympics' time. "I was so glad to find that more people in town were into the djembe," said Niu. He found the Niyelaile group, one of the biggest in the city that meets regularly at Ditan Park. Along with six friends Niu created the Majin Buu Club last spring.
"We wanted to share the energy and joy of aboriginal music with more people and we needed a group to organize events and performances," Niu said. The Majin Buu Club was born to prop up "aboriginal art and a culture of happiness" by bringing together the djembe, the didgeridoo (a wind instrument from Australia), the konga (Cuban drum) and Continental Vaudeville show. About 200 people joined in so far, mostly Chinese but with a few people from countries like Japan, Australia, Uganda, the UK and the US. With youngest member at five and the oldest one 65, members are mostly amateurs who play the djembe for fun. "It's exciting to be with the group," said Jin Huiyan, 30, who got into the djembe three months ago with her boyfriend. "I fell in love with the sound.
It makes me feel close to nature and very good about myself. I can't put it all down into words," she said. An English teacher who forgot most of her accordion lessons, Jin and her boyfriend are regulars at the Sunday djembe circle and they practice at home since they bought their djembe at the club and at Taobao, each for a bit less than 2,000 yuan ($304).
Toning Drum Circle members.
Team spirit
"Coordination, cooperation, team work," said Ning Ning from Toning Drum Circle, one of the best-established and most multicultural groups in town. "Group work and group spirit - that's really the essence of drum playing," she adds, "the interaction with the peers and the audience is amazing."
The interactive team building sessions at schools, universities and companies around China are one of the most sought after activities organized by the Toning Drum Circle that was created in 2003 by Ning, a 30-something Chinese, and Tony Webb, 59, from England. "Drumming promotes listening skills, synchronization and it breaks communication barriers," Webb explained.
The organizers designed drum sessions to 10, 20, up to 7,000 people. "Client, agent, administrators and employees all sit together and have to listen to each other while they drum. People make their way out of their routine and work field to achieve something new and different, which is quite exciting," Webb adds. Ning and Webb took the djembe after they saw a live event in Edinburgh, Scotland, and then decided to bring it over to China.
Old medicine
"It's quite therapeutic," said Bart Bucknill, 24, from England, who recently discovered a drum circle in town. "It's energetic yet relaxing. It doesn't feel like a music lesson, it's really good fun." Infused by a primeval and communal spirit, the drumming rites of praying and healing gave way to a concept of drumming as therapy and meditation, which is supported by research. "The djembe is quite unique because you play with your bare hands so it feels like there is a reaction from the voice directly to the body," said Li Hong, 40, a professional percussionist and instructor with the Majin Buu who manufactures environmentally friendly djembe. "It's a massage on the acupressure points on the hands according to Chinese medicine," Ning added.
According to research, drumming reduces the risks of asthma, depression and autism and is used to cure addictions and other behavioral problems. "There's a groove and power to it. Drums open self expression, they allow a person to release energy and calm the body and the mind," Webb said.
Free learning
The Olympics and the World Cup made African drums more popular in China, and djembe teachers say that the intuitive nature of drumming and the fun are two reasons why Chinese people are drawn into it. "First there was the voice, and drumming came immediately after," said Sunny Dee, 34, the front man with the African band Afrokoko Roots and the only African drum instructor in town. Originally from Ghana, Dee explained, "drumming is everywhere. The simple act of a spoon hitting a plate when we eat is a drumbeat." Unlike Chinese traditional music and other music styles that require intensive study, djembe players are motivated by quick progress and the informal atmosphere.
"Initially, you only need your hands and a great passion toward life," said Li Hong. "The most attractive thing about the djembe is that there are no complicated rules to play it." A guqin player converted to the drum, Ning started studying Chinese music when she was 5 years old: "Chinese music is really classical and you must learn a lot about Chinese history and culture. The djembe is fun and easily incorporated into other styles of music." All instructors say that a djembe beginner can grasp the rhythm and join a drum circle to play a basic song in three months by learning the three primary notes: "bass," "tone" and "slap."
But professional djembe players need formal education to master it. "African rhythms are not easily translated into Western notation so it isn't easy to find books that teach this type of music," explained Webb, who's currently working on that. "But it is important to learn about African culture and study how and where to hit the drum."
African percussion is already opening a more professional route in China with drum circles in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou promoting African percussion at Chinese universities and music conservatoires.
Sun Jianing contributed to this story.
To get you started…
The djembe is a skin covered drum shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands.
Originally from West African countries like Mali and Guinea, the name djembe derives directly from the popular saying "Anke dje, anke be" which translates to "everyone gather together" that is the purpose of the djembe.
African tribes originally used the djembe to deliver messages during warfare and at ritual ceremonies to communicate with the gods via singing and dancing.
Artists from various music fields like the Beatles, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, U2 and more recently Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, Ben Harper and Dispatch have incorporated the djembe in their music.
Where to drum in Beijing
Majin Buu Club http://site.douban.com/buuclub/
Niyelaile Drumming Club/Drumkuku http://site.douban.com/drumkuku/
Toning Beijing www.toningchina.com
Afrokoko Roots www.afrokokoroots.com
Sambasia www.sambasiabeijing.com