2015: A Happy New Year for Drumming!!

After a celebratory final gathering in 2014, where each of us received a tambourine charm and we decided to have an Epiphany dinner, we took a 2 week break for the holidays, resuming our times together on January 2.  While some were down with colds and others taking holiday guest to the airport, everyone else joined in.  This year we will focus on the longer piece called Rattlesnake Composition for two groups of drummers. This shows weekly practice has led to wonderful results: we feel ready to take on this challenge!  A new opening format and closing Commissioning and Blessing are also part of each gathering.

New people are always welcome in either group: Bells Corners United Church (Friday 10:30 to noon) and Stittsville United Church (Friday 7pm to 9pm).  Please email before you come so that we can ensure there will be a drum for you to play!  The Friday group meets every other week depending on those gathered. So, if you 'd like to join us there, please email us to be sure of the date of our next gathering. All drummers are most welcome in either or both groups.

Happy New Year!  Hope to see you among us in 2015!

Maine drumming

http://youtu.be/9cDpECPZomU

This is a group of Inner Rhythm drummers from the Framingham, Maine area.

What fun it would be to prepare for this event!

Tak Doum!

We made FB news!

Tak Doum, everyone,

 

This photograph comes from the opening page (FB) of Cooperman Frame Drum!

 https://www.facebook.com/cooperman.drums?fref=nf

These are the new tars on order for the Ottawa frame drum group and one for the Bracebridge United Church frame drummers.

How many C-clamps did they use....???!!!

Ottawa Fall Schedule 2014

This fall, there will be 2 groups for biblical drumming in Ottawa: an Intermediate and a Beginner.

Intermediates will gather every Friday 10:30am-12:00noon at Bells Corners United Church.

Beginners will gather every other Friday  7:00pm-9:00pm at Stittsville United Church.

Members in either group are welcome to participate in both groups!

Please use the Contact Us link on this site for information and 'registration.'

News from the Festival 2014 hosts!

Here is a group photo at our end of year picnic.  We had it on a little island at our local Zoo....  What an array of food we had!!  We ate first, then ... sat on lawn chairs in a circle and drummed.  What a great time we had.  The weather was sunny and warm with a slight breeze.  We could not have asked for anything better.  We gave Bob a  retirement present of a 12" fiber skin drum.   Judy made a case for it, and she put a light colored flap on the inside of the drum case, which we all signed. We  gave him two cards because we liked them both, and couldn't decide which one we liked the best, so gave him both of them, signed by all of us.  Bob also had a present for us: a cow bell!!  Judy has been "assigned" to have it over the summer, as she was the one to play it at the Festival.  We had a wonderful day... Such a nice way to end the drumming year!

Summer picnic, Mark Street United Church drummers

Our Festival!

A most wonderful time it was for each one of us!  We processed, worshiped,  learned, practised, dreamed, meditated, laughed a lot, kept silence a lot, dined very well, drummed and drummed. New friendships formed. Drum group met drum group for the first time. Keynote presentations were imaginative, absorbing and genuine learning events.  Check out some of the photos on the Our Drum Festival page. 

See you in Mark Street United Church!

At last it is here: the eve of our departure to Peterborough for the First International Biblical Drum Festival!  So exciting!  And 7 are bringing brand spanking new 16" tars for their first public appearance!  Deborah is on her way, due any moment in Ottawa from Falmouth ME.  Barb and Amy begin the 10 hour drive tomorrow morning.

Mostly, we abandon our two much loved 1 year old Biewer yorkies to a kennel for the first time tomorrow morning!!!

They both love it when I drum and curl up by my feet such that I have to "step, step" very very carefully!  Ah the good life!

See you all very soon!

African or South Asian?

Check out the latest Roadie Blog!

Festival Workshops Now Posted

In our Festival section, an outline of the workshops offered is now posted.  Registrants will sign up for each after they check-in at the Welcome or Registration Desk. There are both learning and experiential sessions and each registrant chooses 3 workshops.

Festival shirts, beautiful! Registrations, coming in!

Crisp, sunny Tak Doum greetings everyone!

Registrations for the Festival are coming in quickly now!

Thank-you to all who have registered!

There is a cap of 20 for beginners. So, be sure to fill out your form asap so we can reserve a spot for you in that group!  Drums will be provided for you.

The golf shirts are turning out to be very popular: dark turquoise with our woman drummer logo in silver! We will purchase golf shirts only for those who indicate they are planning to buy one at the Festival so be sure you indicate you would like one, if you do. No shirts will be ordered for general sale. High quality, wash and wear very well. A beautiful souvenir and garment!

Registration closes THIS MONTH, on Saturday March 23.  Heads up!

Festival Updates!

Our International Biblical Drum Festival is coming very soon! It already feels exciting for those of us already involved. 

Registrations have begun to come in, the first coming from Connecticut!

Beautiful golf shirts are being designed.

We will have a Skype visit with Maria Boivin de Labbe in Norway (see Leaders page!).

Workshops are being finalized.

So take a moment to glance over the Festival pages and keep checking back for updates.  

Ottawa Biblical Drummers December 20

Be of good cheer!  Our Ottawa  group continues strong and enthusiastically.  Our repertoire has wondrously grown over the fall as has our friendship with one another!

Communicating among the members feels more comfortable for all if we do it within the group. Hence the lessening of entries on this News page.

We welcome of new participants- always, always!

Layne's Passing

Dear Drumming Friends,

On Monday of this week, at 8:16am, in her home (Asheville NC), Layne Redmond left our world.  Her close friend and soul-sister Debra Roberts was with her. Debra shared with us that Layne's transition was gentle and peaceful.  She is beyond all her suffering now.

Layne's Buzz Off Celebration (see item below for August 03) is her memorial service. She was there to contribute her gentle voice & laughter and her gifted drumming and to feel our love embracing her from parts around the world. 

Layne's last workshop, July 2013

On Thursday afternoon, her body will be cremated and your prayers and drum-prayers of gratitude are encouraged at that time, for Layne's life which transformed the lives of so many, and  whose scholarly and artistic work will continue to change the world for generations to come.

Here is how Layne described her arrangements:  "We are working with the wonderful Center for End of Life Transitions organization for a natural, environmentally sound home-based funeral. The body, which is not embalmed, is kept undisturbed at home for up to three days, much like a traditional home wake. They also work with Asheville Mortuary Services which has seating for up to 30 people to attend the cremation and view it through a large window. We can create our own ritual and music for this period. We have the option for purchasing a cardboard coffin that we can decorate and also non-metallic offerings can be put into the coffin. In the beginning I wasn't real excited about thinking about being cremated (!) but by the time the two wonderful women, Caroline and Ruth had laid out our beautiful options we were all very excited about creating the funeral. Really it has taken on the aspect of transforming a funeral ritual that could be somewhat empty into something more meaningful and celebratory as I did with other kinds of rituals with the Mob of Angels. I can see my death as a very natural extension of the life I have lived."

Ah, our dear, dear Layne, how deeply we will miss you. Journey well!

Ottawa Biblical Drummers Sept.20

Our new tars

Our most recent gathering took place on Sept. 20. While small, we were certainly mighty! As drummers arrived, we worked on our tar, its proper hold and the 4 basic strokes.  Shifting from the frame drum with jingles to a first tar in the standing position is a little tricky and takes patience and practice, just as Layne says! But even in this first half hour, it was becoming easier.

Our opening meditation was based on a Thomas Troeger hymn and an Annie Dillard poem, "At a certain point" followed by prayer and our chant "Sacred is the Call."

 Warm-up was a focus on tics and shakes as we slowly build up wrist strength and a lively game of "I play. You play."

We worked on our Sufi meditation pattern, and  Rattlesnake 2, adding the 5th line since we can now play through the first 4 patterns successfully. We worked on cross stepping with chopsticks and incorporated the pattern Omalu -which all of us now find very meditative and healing and use in our personal prayer times.   The pattern 'Happiness' was our fourth melody. "Drum Clock" was our fun rhythm, and we shared a good conversation about the challenge of Taks on both tar and tambourine.

Frame Drum with jingles

To close we listened again to Troeger's hymn and Dilliard's poem, shared in prayer and casual visiting. Our next gathering is OCTOBER 4, 7-9pm, at Stittsville United Church.

Everyone is warmly welcomed!

 

Ottawa Biblical Drummers Sept. 13

 

Good news! 

 

To accommodate some of our wonderful new drummers, our group now meets on the first and third Fridays of each month. This includes Friday September 20, 2013, our next gathering, 7:00-9:00 pm.

We met Friday September 13 and rightfully celebrated our progress since the March introductory workshop. We began our evening reflecting on a reading by Gabrielle Roth and our chanting of 'Sacred is the Call.' Warm-up was an exercise to help baby finger find her place on the back jingle: Ctt Css. We worked on the Sufi pattern and Drummers' Toss and our chopsticks! We spent time learning and playing  with Layne through CD 1. And we played all of Rattlesnake 2 straight through for the first time! Hence our celebration!  Drumming to 'Earth My Body' and our closing prayer, Commissioning and the hymn 'Seek the Pulse' followed. 

See you tomorrow!

 

 

An Invitation from Layne

 

Anyone who has read Layne's book called

When the Drummers Were  Women

is invited to share with her what impact the book has had on their life.  She will compile the responses for a final section of the book when it is republished. The new edition will have lots of updates on the uncovering of the frame drum and other news since the book was first published in 1997.  She invites you  to include a high resolution photo of yourself along with your response.  Her email is layne@layneredmond.com.  

Bracebridge & Peterborough Biblical Drummers

Like the Ottawa Biblical Drummers, the Bracebridge United Church Drummers met for great times drumming during the summer this year. And like the Peterborough Drummers, the Bracebridge group realizes they have now "become a loving, caring support group of women that love to drum and sing."  They are planning to create a display of Earth's  4 elements for our Festival which the Peterborough group eagerly agreed to host.

Both the  Bracebridge and the Peterborough drum groups are 'growing into' their new 16" Cooperman tars. Moving from the beginner tar to a professional, handcrafted tar like this takes a little time to adjust but the melodic resonance of each Cooperman drum makes the adjustment easier and the desire deeper to play it well.

Inner side of the Cooperman 16" tar showing its tuning mechanism