62 by Layne Redmond rummers om Yes, guys, there was a time in our history when the primary percussionists and drummers were women. The first named drummer in history was ‘a Mesopotamian priestess named Lipushiau. She lived in the city-state of Ur in 2880 BC, which at that time had conquered all the surrounding city- states. She was the spiritual, financial and administrative head of the Ekishnugal, the most important temple in Ur dedicated to the moon god, Nanna-Suen. Her emblem of office was the balag-di, a small round frame drum used to lead liturgical chanting, In 2380 BC, Lipushiau ruled!Nineteen yeats ago I was awestruck by the sight of Glen Velez playing a col- lection of unusual hand drums. The drums were beautiful, rom many differ- cent euleures and most of them belonged to the family of frame drums. I wae blown away by Glen's playing and made a point of introducing myselfafter the He wasnt teaching ex- ‘ensively at that time but convinced him to take ‘me on as astudene Among the drums he'd played at the concert vas a doum bk, a ceramic hourglass-shaped drum from the Middle Fase. I chose it for my firs lesson, thinking it might be closet to the conga drums I was already study- ing. Bur when I arsived at Glen's for my first leston, he had some bad news. That morning, he'd dropped and broken the dumbek, He glanced around his studio, which was jammed wich frame deums of every description, Grabbing an Egyptian tambourine off the wall, he said, “Hey, hhow about this?” Te wasn’ exactly whar I hed planned Bur, nae wanting to lose this opportuni ty to learn from such a skilled drummer, agreed. 1held my first tambourine in ‘my hands and started on a disciplined regimen of learning to play the frame drum, which eventually changed my life completely, Oncea week, ! went fora lesson, tape-recorded it and used it v0 practice with every day at home. I quickly ral: ized that Thad embarked on the study of «a seemingly simple yet complex instru- ‘ment. Glen had studied with teachers from South India, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, North Africa and Braz ‘Out of chese different styles he was syn- thesizing his own techniques. And he was beginning to create elaborate pieces that cencered around unusual ehyshmic patterns — cycles of ten, nine and eight beats, within which he could cue me, using another rhythm, to move to a cycle of seven beats, sx beats, nine ‘eats, and $0 on. IFT had spent years playing music in 4/4 vime, I might have had a hard time adjusting, conceptually as well as musically. Inseend, I found 6u prune thar seven, against a pulse of four were rough for me fier couple of years, Glen and I began performing together in the new ive- or even 37-beat cycles thar music scene in New York and Europe. We earned some serious attention and ‘good press, We started to record for sev- ‘ral different music labels in Europe and the U.S, and spent nine years perform: ing together. Although I had never planned on making a career our of playing the tambourine, ison be- ‘came the center of my life Daring this period I began studying the history ofthe Fame dram whose point of origin ap- pears to be the old cultures of the an- cient Mediterranean world. There are ‘occasional representations oF hourglase shaped drums or Rettledrums, but the frame drum is by far the most promi- nent drum. For at leas 3,500 years, c 3000 BC to 500 AD, ie was the primary percussive instrument. Glen had collected hundreds of im: ages of frame drummers and ¢0 my s prise almost all ofthese drummers were ‘womea. (noticed that many of the im- ages were of goddesses or priestesses From the civilizations of Anatolia (Old Turkey), Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Goddess and the frame drum emerge asthe core tance and mystical teligious traditions. To my surprise | found the frame drum at the center ofthe aldest rave ike gatherings — ic was che oldest echnology for altering con- sciousness. The mystery rites would last For days ata time with nonstop drumming and dancing. Ger this in perspective — this was church. Quite a different religious ‘experience than I had growing up! ‘A frame drum is defined by the diameter of the drumbead being such larger than che depth ofits shell. The shes enge in depth from, 2° to at most 6°. They range in diame- The Goddess Cbele Fifth Century BC ter from 4” t0 30”, Most ofthese drums are portable and can be held in one hand. TThe Frame drum most afzea has 3 skin on only one side but sometimes it may have skins stretched across both sides, Bells or jingling and ratling im- plements may be attached to the inside fim, and in ancient times were believed to add to the drums power to purify, dispel and summon. Very ofzen che drums were painted red, the color of blood, or sometimes gteen, the color of vegetation, the primordial colors of ifs, Mystical designs and symbols might also be painsed on the skin head or che wooden frame. Threads or ribbons keer ed with ritual prayers or chanting often hung from them. Alebough chis frame drum is similar in appearance to the shaman’s deum found throughout Asia and North ‘America, there is a major difference in how they ate played. The shaman’s drum is struck with a bone, horn or stick, The Mediterranean feame drum is played with the bare hands While striking a dru wich a stick gives a single desp ree conant sound, finger techniques allow moze vatiety: a deep, open tone, a slap, high-pitched eim sound, or 2 sofe brush ing sound. This dif ference in stroke cech- nique has led to dif ferences in ‘The inner edge of the tim af the ‘Mediterranean