Bele Bele

This rhythm is about charisma:

"When a big person is coming, you can't hide from them;
everyone knows when they are coming."

>120bpm 4/4 || 1 & 2 &  | 3 & 4 &  ||
               r lr lr      lr lr
Djembe 1    || B.OO.SS. | ..OO.SS. ||
               r..lr.rl   r..lr.rl
Djembe 2    || S..SS.OO | S..SS.OO ||
Bell 1      || x.xx.x.x | x.x.x.x. ||
+Sangban    || g..G...G | ....g... ||   played twice then Kenkeni enters:
Bell 2      || x.x.x.x. | x.x.x.x. ||
+Kenkeni    || K...K... | K...K... ||   played twice then Dununba enters:
            || 1 & 2 &  | 3 & 4 &  | 1 & 2 &  | 3 & 4 &  ||
Bell 3      || x.xx.xx. | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.x. ||
+Dununba    || ........ | D.D...DD | .D.D.... | D.D..... ||
                                * Djembes start Intro here on third repeat


Djembe 2 is a widely-used traditional accompaniment that Mamady described
as 'rhythm populaire', and dates from the 13th Century.

The Dununba Bell 3 could be remembered like this:
"When a real-ly big | person comes to see | us we know they've | got charisma."

Bell 3      || x.xx.xx. | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.x. ||


The piece begins with just the Sangban + Bell 1.
After two repeats, Kenkeni + Bell 2 enter for two more bars.
Next comes two repeats of Dununba + Bell 3 part (which is itself 2 bars long).
Finally the Djembe Intro joins in, with Dun Duns continuing right through:

Intro:

Count       || 1 & 2 &  | 3 & 4 &  | 1 & 2 &  | 3 & 4 &  ||
                                rl   rl r l l   r r r f
Djembes     || ........ | ......SS | SS.O.S.O | O.S.O.s. || +
Section A:  || B...B... | B...B.SS | SS.O.S.O | O.S.O.s. || +
            || B...B... | B...B.SS | SS.O.S.O | O.S.O.s. || +
                          r r   r    lr l r l   r l r f
Section B:  || ........ | B.B...B. | SB.S.B.S | B.S.B.s. || +
            || ........ | B.B...B. | SB.S.B.S | B.S.B.s. || +            _3_
            || ......s. | O3O...B. | SB.S.B.S | B.S.B.s. || +   where O3=OOO
            || ......s. | O3O...B. | SB.S.B.S | B.S.B.s. || +
            || ......s. | O3O..... | B...B... | B...B... || +
               r lr rl    lr rl lr    rl lr r   l rl lr
            || O.SO.SO. | SO.SO.SO | .SO.SO.S | O.SO.SO. || +            _3_
            || SO.SO.SO | .SO.SO.S | O.SO.SO. | S3SSS.s. || +   where S3=SSS
               rl lr rl    lr rl l   r rl lr   rlrlrl f

Then go straight into the Main Rhythms:
               r lr lr      lr lr
Djembe 1    || B.OO.SS. | ..OO.SS. ||
               r..lr.rl   r..lr.rl
Djembe 2    || S..SS.OO | S..SS.OO ||

Key to notation

(c) New African drum rhythm composed (in neo-traditional Guinean style) in 2007 by Mamady Keita as part of his "Evolution Of The Djembe", taught at his intermediate djembe workshop in High Wycombe, England on Sunday 2008-05-25.
(notated by Malcolm Smith during the class)