![[ Secret Bass drummers at Little Berkhamsted ]](./berks/04-SecretBassAtLittleBerks-photo-by-DavidCory.jpg "Secret Bass drummers at Little Berkhamsted, June 2007")
![[ Outside The Strawbale Studio ]](../../../places/follies/michaels/OutsideStrawbale.jpg "Outside The Strawbale Studio")
We are a community
drumming
project who meet at a secluded location in woods near Hertford to play
music from Africa and beyond. Our secret base is
The Strawbale
Studio, a round dance studio made of straw, which has a good dead
acoustic that absorbs
loud sounds, making it ideal for drums. The clear roof also provides direct
sunlight and an enveloping sense of being surrounded by nature.
![[ Singing Djole at Multiple Sclerosis Trust ]](./mstrust/tn/1549-AVeryDjoliSong.jpg "Singing Djole at Multiple Sclerosis Trust, September 2007")
We have been playing together here
regularly since 1998, having decided to
form our own group as there was no other in the area; we'd previously attended
African drum classes in
London, and
performed with The
Watford Percussion Project until leader Molefe Pheto returned to South Africa.
Our players come from Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn, St. Albans, Stevenage,
Hitchin, Arlesey, Shillington, Clophill, Biggleswade and Luton. Recently we've
also been rehearsing near Ampthill in Bedfordshire. We subsequently discovered
another group in High Wycombe,
and continue to forge links with other drummers in Herts, Beds and Bucks.
I'm also happy to announce the formation of my
new group in
Bedford, and evening classes at
The University of
Hertfordshire.
![[ Secret Bass up close at FSDD ]](./tn/GRZ30A-SecretBassCloseFront.jpg "Secret Bass up close at FSDD, July 2005")
![[ Secret Bass singing at Hertford Fun Day ]](./castle/tn/CAS14-SecretBassSing.jpg "Secret Bass singing at Hertford Fun Day, June 2007")
The Secret Bass group covers a range
of abilities from beginners to advanced intermediate players. A crack team of
experienced players are currently in training for stealth missions into
dangerous territory. Our first
public appearance
at the
Festival of Song, Drum and Dance on
2005-07-23
was warmly received, and we enjoyed playing alongside
Vitae Drum Circle at
Art In Penn Woods on
2006-08-19.
In 2007 we played on Sunday
2007-06-03 at
Little Berkhamsted village green, and then
stormed the
castle at
Hertford
Fun Day on Sunday
2007-06-10. On
2007-09-07 we also
played for the
Multiple Sclerosis
Trust to raise awareness for their
My Supper
campaign. In 2008 we played at a charity dinner for
Essendon
International Evening on
2008-04-19, and at
Hertford Castle on
2008-06-01 as well as doing a
professional
recording session.
These days we don't perform very often but continue playing for the love of it.
![[ Jane and Tony playing dun duns ]](./tn/CTG14-JaneTonyDunDuns.jpg "Jane and Tony playing dun duns, August 2005")
![[ Melissa, Chantelle, Ruth and Bizia dancing ]](./photos/tn/GRZ03A-MelChanRuthBizDancing.jpg "Melissa, Chantelle, Ruth and Bizia dancing, July 2005")
We
are primarily a drumming group, although dance also played a major role for a
couple of years when Marta Checchi taught here before she returned to Italy.
We also enjoy singing traditional songs from around the world. Most of us use
djembes and
percussion to play drum music from Nigeria, Guinea,
Gambia, Ghana,
Senegal and
South Africa. Here are some
rhythms we play. We now have our own set of
dun duns which were
hand-made for us by
a friend in Guinea and
shipped over,
so now we can fully live up to our name and extend our repertoire down into
subsonic frequencies.
© copyright Malcolm Smith 2004-12-20 - last updated 2010-08-02