Who is...
English teachers everywhere are probably all saying " Whom are Drumfish!" but whatever the proper grammatical construction, this page is here to give our visitors a sense of what makes this drum circle special to so many people.
There's been been different names for this circle along it's history. Known informally at various times as, New Bedford Community Drum Circle, New Bedford Unitarian Universalist Drum Circle, Gentle Spirit Drum (This lasted about a week) and simply "The Drum Circle". In 2006, when we needed to move our regular meeting place across the river to Fairhaven, the Unitarian church there opened up it's building and more importantly it's heart to us. In a fit of group inventiveness, the name Drumfish was adopted.
One thing that has always distinguished Drumfish has been the dedication to a freestyle approach to drum circles. Some of our visitors are skilled facilitators who participate with their own special brand of style or organization. Many of our members are fluent in a particular rhythm language and will often contribute a spontaneous lesson. There is a great sense of sharing, in passing on these rhythms and we add to the common base of music we draw from to create together.
It's a risky thing, the freestyle approach. Occasionally a piece won't "work." It can crumble and dissolve from it's own weight, drag on too long or sound like dissonant pounding. But this is the exception, not the rule. We stop, regroup, listen more carefully. . A beat starts, whether from a novice or an experienced drummer. Others pick this up, adding complementary beats, and then without planning or apparent signal, the group falls together, with wonderous and exhilarating results.
Those rhythms may have originally come from Nigeria, Thailand, India or Egypt. More often than not, these are only the foundations that start a piece of rhythm music on it's course, but the mixture of disciplines, inspiration and talents that the roomful of drummers brings to bear on any given night shifts, blends and can create a piece of music wholly new and wonderful. These moments are rarely intended or facilitated- they emerge as the result of spontaneous interactions between the drummers, listening intently to each other. Unassigned but vital roles are taken up in response to the dynamic, heartbeat and lead drummers providing support or embellishment at the unplanned but so right moment that on many nights, can create music of great power, or gentle emotion, moving some to tears, some to ecstasy some near to trance and all of us to joy.
I think it is this experience more than any other- the creation of something beautiful and unique out of the combined intentions of the drummers- that brings us back time and again to the circle.
There's been been different names for this circle along it's history. Known informally at various times as, New Bedford Community Drum Circle, New Bedford Unitarian Universalist Drum Circle, Gentle Spirit Drum (This lasted about a week) and simply "The Drum Circle". In 2006, when we needed to move our regular meeting place across the river to Fairhaven, the Unitarian church there opened up it's building and more importantly it's heart to us. In a fit of group inventiveness, the name Drumfish was adopted.
One thing that has always distinguished Drumfish has been the dedication to a freestyle approach to drum circles. Some of our visitors are skilled facilitators who participate with their own special brand of style or organization. Many of our members are fluent in a particular rhythm language and will often contribute a spontaneous lesson. There is a great sense of sharing, in passing on these rhythms and we add to the common base of music we draw from to create together.
It's a risky thing, the freestyle approach. Occasionally a piece won't "work." It can crumble and dissolve from it's own weight, drag on too long or sound like dissonant pounding. But this is the exception, not the rule. We stop, regroup, listen more carefully. . A beat starts, whether from a novice or an experienced drummer. Others pick this up, adding complementary beats, and then without planning or apparent signal, the group falls together, with wonderous and exhilarating results.
Those rhythms may have originally come from Nigeria, Thailand, India or Egypt. More often than not, these are only the foundations that start a piece of rhythm music on it's course, but the mixture of disciplines, inspiration and talents that the roomful of drummers brings to bear on any given night shifts, blends and can create a piece of music wholly new and wonderful. These moments are rarely intended or facilitated- they emerge as the result of spontaneous interactions between the drummers, listening intently to each other. Unassigned but vital roles are taken up in response to the dynamic, heartbeat and lead drummers providing support or embellishment at the unplanned but so right moment that on many nights, can create music of great power, or gentle emotion, moving some to tears, some to ecstasy some near to trance and all of us to joy.
I think it is this experience more than any other- the creation of something beautiful and unique out of the combined intentions of the drummers- that brings us back time and again to the circle.
The following is a brief story of the early days of this drumcircle, provided by Rick Cormier, a co-founder of the original circle when we began in 1998 at the First Unitarian Church, in New Bedford, Ma.
"As legend has it, one Sunday during a church coffee hour a woman approached me and asked if I would be interested in joining a drum circle she was planning to start. I asked her how she knew I played drums. She said, "I didn't. Do you play?" I replied, "Maybe you should tell me what a drum circle is, exactly..." Over the next year about eight of us would gather monthly and drum together. I was the only experienced drummer in the group in that first year so I did my best to restrain myself and concentrated on finding my place in the mix. I worked on being heard without being overwhelming. I noticed how close...how connected... I felt to everyone. By the end of that year we had our first 'gig'. We would be providing the music to the churches Kwanzaa service! It was a success and we got some recognition from the rest of the church. We had learned to play together! At this point my wife got involved...both drumming and playing flute every 3 or 4 songs. About a handful of others joined too at this time. Two distinct styles were developing: The very powerful, upbeat African, Middle Eastern and Latin-inspired rhythms and the quiet, more meditative ensemble pieces. I realized what was happening. We had developed an unspoken rule that allowed any member to start a piece of drum music. The rest of us followed suit...backing up that piece the best we could while preserving the original mood and rhythm. Sometimes a piece of drum music would go through several transformations. The more we played...the more intuitively we created together. Then the real gigging began. We were invited to open for a local jazz festival...which led to an invitation to open for a local percussion festival. Performing was always voluntary so you never knew who would do the gig. The more we gigged, the more people became interested in playing with us. Numbers of us played for several Earth Day parades, a local First Night celebration, public schools, church services, a teen retreat, a Beltane festival as well as other C.U.U.P.S. events...Several of us were even invited to drum at the head of Providence's First Night parade! By the time we moved to Maine in late December 2002, there were 60 people on the NBUU email list. We had gone from 8 people to 60 in 5 years! As I recall, our record attendance was 27 people in one night! I was no longer the only experienced drummer in the group. We had been joined by incredible lead drummers. We had strong, solid heartbeat drummers. We had creative geniuses who could place a single sound where it made all the difference. I am proud and privileged to have been associated with that incredible group of people. Together we created moments ...of music ...of laughter ...of peace ...of community... that will be forever in our hearts."