Drums of Istanbul
It's Wednesday October 12 around seven o' clock and I'm walking through the streets of Istanbul. My back is heavy for a pack full of two ride cymbals; one is 22" hand hammered within an inch of it's life and completely un lathed, the other a 20" paper thin flat ride, and a pair of 13" hi hats. Though the straps weighed on my shoulders my heart was light, for on my walk from the Drum Club Shop through the cool evening air I could hear in the distance the sound of drums.I walked until I came to the place where a crowd had gathered to witness this spectacle of drumming excellence. Rhythm inside of rhythm these three men trade figures on small hour glass shaped drums that I've heard referred to as doumbek or darbuka. I'm not sure how long they played before I arrived or after I had gone, but I stayed to listen for about twenty minutes and captured about five or so minutes of video with my phone and posted it here for all to enjoy. Pay particularly close attention to the finger and hand techniques of the man on the far end. Each performer is very proficient, but at approximately two minutes thirty seconds on the video the gentleman in the center plays a lick that was so fast that I gasped and almost cursed, rendering the sample un publishable, but I was able to contain myself.
