I was to take this photo of Rastafarian Bredrin' Nyahbinghi drumming.
The drummer must keep his spine straight to aid breathing. Steady, deep breathing is very important, as it is in any practice of meditation. The drums are held between the knees so that the vibration goes into the body. You are not playing the drum so much as surrendering to the drum. The drum becomes an inner consciousness cruiser, transporting the drummer into himself so far that he pops out-as if through an hour glass-into another realm of sensibility which cannot be described or explained by the finite nature of rational understanding. The Sufis do the same with dance; Buddhist monks do it through the mind-numbing repetitions of sutras; Christian monks do it with chanting. The mind is overwhelmed, filled to over flowing, with the harmonics of the sound. All thought, fear, panic, hope, dreams and desires are floated out of the mind like twigs over a dam.
The bass was the downbeat-“down” chasing the oppressor. It is the power drum, the chastiser. The fundue is the heartbeat, one-two, one-two-as steady as life. The repeater sings the song.
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