Drumming at the Edge of Magic


Book Description

Explores the role of drums, rattles, and gongs in human societies revealing the primal hypnotic power of these instruments







Drumming at the Edge of Magic


Book Description

Details a ten-year period during which Mickey Hart, drummer for the Grateful Dead, dedicated his life to an intense study of the origins, myths, history, and spiritual heritage of drums and other percussion instruments. Includes photographs of some of the many instruments he discusses and information on other aspects of his life.




When The Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm


Book Description

For millennia, the sacred drummers of pre-Christian Mediterranean and western Asia were women. In this inspiring book, Layne Redmond, herself a renowned drummer, tells their history. Artistic representations reveal that female frame drummers carried the spiritual traditions of many of the earliest recorded civilizations. During those ancient times, the drummer-priestesses held the keys to experience of the divine through rhythm. They were at the center of the goddess worship of matriarchal societies until the ascendance of patriarchal cultures and the loss of drumming as a spiritual technology. With wisdom and passion, Redmond chronicles our species’ deep connection to the drum, our rich heritage of inseparable spirituality and music, and the modern-day women reclaiming it. This book encourages readers—both women and men—to reestablish rhythmic links with themselves, nature, and other people through the power of drumming. Redmond illustrates her message with an extensive collection of images gathered during ten years of research and travel. Woven throughout the book are strands of ancient ritual and mythology, personal stories, and scientific evidence of the benefits of drumming. It is at once a history, a memoir, and a resounding call for spiritual and social renewal.




Planet Drum


Book Description

Mickey Hart's dazzling companion to his bestselling Drumming at the Edge of Magic is a captivating chronicle of our global fascination with drums and the primal rhythms and spells of percussion, dramatically illustrated with 350 photographs and illustrations, 200 in full color.ra tour.




Drumming at the Edge of Magic


Book Description

Mickey Hart, percussionist for the Grateful Dead, tells the compelling tale of his quest to unlock the power, myths, and legends of percussion. Complemented by more than 90 photographs and illustrations. It is a compelling, panoramic adventure into a vibrant living tradition of myth, power, and magic. Black-and-white photographs and illustrations.




Drumming at the Edge of Magic


Book Description

A look at the nature and origins of music by the drummer for the Grateful Dead, who has studied music for thirty years, examines the power of music to heal and transform the human spirit. Original. 30,000 first printing. Tour.




The Drummer's Bible


Book Description

Updated to include 50 additional grooves, this encyclopedic book and two-CD set contains more than 450 musical examples in standard notation, showing grooves and practical variations. Overviews of the history and development of almost all popular music styles are covered alongside innumerable helpful performance tips. The two accompanying CDs feature performances of nearly 200 of the grooves, including every primary style example, all performed both with and without a click track. Styles covered include blues, rock, jazz, reggae, country, klezmer, ska, samba, punk, surf, heavy metal, latin rock, and funk; virtually every style a performing drummer will ever need to play is in there. This revised second edition also includes an updated bibliography and discography, as well as more historical information about the individual styles.




Traveling Music


Book Description

Neil Peart decided to drive his BMW Z-8 automobile from L.A. to Big Bend National Park, in Southwest Texas. As he sped along “between the gas-gulping SUVs and asthmatic Japanese compacts clumping in the left lane, and the roaring, straining semis in the right,” he acted as his own DJ, lining up the CDs chronologically and according to his possible moods. “Not only did the music I listened to accompany my journey, but it also took me on sidetrips, through memory and fractals of associations, threads reaching back through my whole life in ways I had forgotten, or had never suspected…. Sifting through those decades and those memories, I realized that I wasn’t interested in recounting the facts of my life in purely autobiographical terms, but rather … in trying to unweave the fabric of my life and times. As one who was never much interested in looking back, because always too busy moving forward, I found that once I opened those doors to the past, I became fascinated with the times and their effect on me. The songs and the stories I had taken for granted suddenly had a resonance that had clearly echoed down the corridors of my entire life, and I felt a thrill of recognition, and the sense of a kind of adventure. A travel story, but not so much about places, but about music and memories.”




A Practical Guide to Hand Drumming and Drum Circles


Book Description

This 6" x 9" paperback is over 300 pages of text, and it%u2019s jammed with practical information, suggestions, and ideas for people who love hand drumming, or who are interested in starting up a drum circle, or drumming program for their group. The focus is on sharing as much information about hand drumming, and drum circles as possible. For example, six different ways to quickly jot down drum rhythm notations. I include a few dozen written drum rhythm notations, and lots more that are written vocalizations. There is also my sample set list (or worksheet) of various rhythms I use for a 90 minute facilitated drum circle. It's sort of an outline that I use and then improvise from as needed. It gives you an easy to follow guideline for almost any form of drum circle, or interactive group drumming. Facilitated, specialty, hosted circles, and rhythmic drumming events. I also include two chapters on open freestyle community drum circles which are often misunderstood or even misrepresented. Everything from a rockin' drum circle - to a healing drum circle, plus the many different ways to approach them. I discuss how to go about building a drumming program in many of the specialty areas such as: Drumming with special needs groups, health and wellness. Drumming with children, teens, adults, elders, and mixed age groups. Drum circles in night clubs, cafe%u2019s, at businesses, corporations, and events. Drum circles with at risk populations, spiritual gatherings, and community events. Working with music directors, educational teachers, music therapists, and medical professionals. Even if you are just someone who just wants to get a drum circle going at the beach or at a public park, this read will give you plenty of ideas how to get it started up, or improve the one you currently have going. I also cover the business side of drum circles. Are you wanting to start one just for fun? Or only cover your expenses? Want to earn a full time living from it? I cover all that, and lots more. I hope to help you along your drumming journey. Hand drumming and drum circles enriched my life, and I think it will for you as well. I hope you can benefit from some of the things I've done right, as well as the things I%u2019ve done wrong. It doesn't matter if you are new to hand drumming, have been drumming for a while, or are a professional musician, this book is loaded with good information on getting more enjoyment out of hand drumming, and from drum circles. -SL Ratigan drumcircles.net.