To kick off the evening, Barry went straight into playing along with some of his wonderful tracks. These tracks gave him an outlet to show us all his wonderful playing abilities, with polyrhythms, different time signatures and a great display of four way independence, everyone was left admiring the fantastic skill on display.

Polyrhythms played a big part in this master class, so Barry took some time to discuss a bit more about them. He explained how they naturally occur in most music around the world, (african, latin etc) and that they are not as complex, or unnatural as many drummers feel they are. To show us an example of this he played a polyrhythm groove which he then broke down into more simple parts. Barry then invited a member of the audience to get up and play the pattern, and with his help managed to get him playing a similar yet still complex pattern. This showed everyone that the idea of polyrhythms is not impossible, and that with the right approach anyone can play them. The concept of polyrhythms and playing different groupings against each other was again taken further. With his excellent display of four way independence, each limb was playing different patterns around the drum, kit but still managing to keep the same pulse and feel throughout.

An interesting thing Barry discussed was the musical and more specifically drumming culture in Africa. How different regions have different sounds, arrangements and instruments to make music with. This is particularly interesting as in ‘western’ countries such as the United Kingdom we don’t have our own regional rhythms and patterns. This also shows how vast drumming really can be, with many variations and new ideas all around the world.

Overall this provided everyone with a much better insight into polyrhythms and different rhythms in general. With African drumming not playing a big part in today’s pop music or getting a great deal of radio play, this was a great opportunity to learn first hand the wonders of a different style and approach to drumming in general.

by Craig Zindani (Drumtech One Year Diploma)