An advanced rhythm - not for the faint-hearted! It is named after the courtyard where Mamady played in Conakry, Guinea, which has become the scene of many newly forged friendships.
>120bpm 4/4 || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & | 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
rl r rl lrl r rlrlrl r rl rl r rl rl
Djembe 1 SS || O.SO.SOO | S.SBOOSS | B.....SS | B.....SS ||
Dj1 Var. SS || O.SO.SOO | S.SBOOSS | B.SS..SS | B.SS..SS ||
"In Matoto courtyard you will find lots of people playing
drums (out there), in the sun (out there)."
r lrlrl r lrlrl
Djembe 2 || S..BSSOO | S..BSSOO ||
"Cool! Matoto's really cool! Matoto's really..."
"Mad! My uncle's really Mad! My uncle's really..."
Bell 1 xx || .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx ||
+Sangban || G.G....G | ..G...G. | .G...... | g...g... ||
"Matoto courtyard's THE place TO be,
COME play YOUR drums here with MAmaDY!"
Bell 2 || x.xx.x.x | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.x. ||
+Kenkeni || k..K.K.. | K...K..K | ...K.K.. | k...k... ||
"IN maTOTO the BEATS are NEAT the HEAT is HOT AND the RHYthm ROCkin'!"
"GONE to LEICESTER to SEE my UNcle ALbert WHO WAS a DRUNken SAIlor."
Bell 3=1 xx || .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx ||
+Dununba DD || .D...... | ........ | ........ | ......DD ||
"MATOTO courtyard's the place to be,
Come play your drums here with Mamady!"
The rhymes for Dun Dun parts are CAPITALISED where you hit the drum.
Sangban+Dununba Bells 1+3 are the same.
Djembe 1 has a variation adding slaps at the end ("out there").
Seckou Keita's Dununba variation adds panic for a few bars:
Bell 3=1 || .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx ||
+Dununba var|| .D...... | D...D... | D...D... | D...D.DD ||
Notice how the Dununba and Sangban interlock:
Bell 3=1 xx || .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx | .x.x.x.x | x.x.x.xx ||
+Sangban || G.G....G | ..G...G. | .G...... | g...g... ||
+Dununba DD || .D...... | ........ | ........ | ......DD ||
Mamady also taught three Djembe 'Techniques' (each 3 bars long!?)
to be played repeatedly as solos over the Main Rhythm. Note that
1st and 3rd Techniques share a similar ending.
1st Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
rl r rl lr rl lr lrl
Djembe SS ||:O.SO.SO. | SO.SO.S3 || + (triplets at end)
rlrl r l r l r rl
Djembe || SSSO.S.O | O.S.O.SS || +
rlr r r rl
Djembe || SSS..... | B...B.SS:||
** S not played on last time
2nd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r lrl rlrlr lrl rlrlr
Djembe O ||:S3.OS3.O | S3.OS3.S || + (all triplets)
lrlrl lr rl lr rl
Djembe || O3SS.SS. | SS.SS.SS || +
rlr r r r
Djembe || SSS..... | B...B..O:||
* O not played on last time
3rd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r lrl etc---------->rl
Djembe B ||:O3BS3BO3 | BS3BO3OO || +
r rl l l r l r rl
Djembe || S.OO.S.O | O.S.O.SS || +
rlr r r r
Djembe || SSS..... | B...B..B:||
* B not played on last time
Here they are written out again more spaced out to better show the complex
timings, where OOO = three triplets.
1st Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r l r r l l r r l l r lrl
Djembe S S ||:O . S O . S O . | S O . S O . SSS || +
r l r l r l r l r r l
Djembe || S S S O . S . O | O . S . O . S S || +
r l r r r r l
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . S S :||
2nd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r lrl r lrl r lrl r lrl r
Djembe O ||:SSS . O SSS . O | SSS . O SSS . S || +
lrl r l l r r l l r r l
Djembe || OOO S S . S S . | S S . S S . S S || +
r l r r r r
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . . O :||
3rd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r lrl r lrl r lrl r lrl r lrl r l
Djembe B ||:OOO B SSS B OOO | B SSS B OOO O O || +
r r l l l r l r r l
Djembe || S . O O . S . O | O . S . O . S S || +
r l r r r r
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . . B :||
Better equidistantly-spaced version:
1st Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r l r r l l r r l l r l r l
Djembe S S ||:O . S O . S O . | S O . S O . S S S || +
r l r l r l r l r r l
Djembe || S S S O . S . O | O . S . O . S S || +
r l r r r r l
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . S S :||
2nd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r l rl r l rl r l rl r l rl r
Djembe O ||:S SS . O S SS . O | S SS . O S SS . S || +
l r l r l l r r l l r r l
Djembe || O O O S S . S S . | S S . S S . S S || +
r l r r r r
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . . O :||
3rd Technique:
Count || 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4 & ||
r l r l r l r l r l r l r l r l r l r l r l
Djembe B ||:O O O B S S S B O O O | B S S S B O O O O O || +
r r l l l r l r r l
Djembe || S . O O . S . O | O . S . O . S S || +
r l r r r r
Djembe || S S S . . . . . | B . . . B . . B :||
(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
advanced djembe workshop in High Wycombe, England on
Saturday
2008-05-24.
(notated by
Malcolm Smith during the class;
rhymes added later by Agents from
Secret Bass)