Carlos Aldama's Life in Batá: Cuba, Diaspora, and the Drum

5. Drum Lesson

113 * Umi * I have always been around drums. But I was always more of a dancer. I have always loved languages, of which music is perhaps the most beautiful . But language and dance, although related to the batá, don’t make you a drummer. So it has been a challenge to make my hands execute the rhythms I hear so clearly in my head and feel within my body. SometimesIcouldplaytherhythmbut ,forlackoftechniqueandstrengththat come from years of playing, it would be inaudible. I would get frustrated sometimes and my hands would swell as I tried to force sound from the drum.Carloswouldsay,“Ifyoucan’thearyourself,thennobodyelsecan hear you either!” Carlos is seventy years old. But still when he strikes the drum it sounds like thunder, as if the old masters like Pablo Roche and Jesús Pérez are present, playing with him. When the rhythm is just right, he looks into my eyes and lets me know. Then we hold on to the music and stretch it out for a while . . . to really remember. Carlos struggles to reconstruct in a class setting the habitus, tastes, practices,andmodesofbodilyexpressionthatwentwithoutsayinginthe barrios of Havana, where his generation learned in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of the musical directives that Carlos gives here might have been obvious in that setting. In the context of our lessons, the instructions are meant for a consecrated drummer who is engaged in active pursuit of esoteric knowledge and who accepts direction with the confidence that understanding and enlightenment will follow initial bewilderment. At intervals throughout all of my lessons with him he would say, “That’s Drum Lesson 5 Carlos Aldama’s Life in Batá Umi 114 good, you’re playing correctly, but you need to improve these specific elements in order to really play.” He explains what he sees as important techniques that an aspiring batá drummer should master, emphasizing the importance of: chachá, punta de los dedos, modulación, and cruzando. Laterhediscussesparticulartoques(rhythms),pointingouthowtoapply various techniques in the context of actual batá performance, providing relevant background information, and explaining conceptual approaches to each one. Lastly, Carlos offers tips about important miscellaneouspointsofconcernforbat ádrummers.Evenforthosenotactively involved in studying the drum, this chapter is a window into the process of batá apprenticeship as it takes place. Carlos explains in chapter 2 how persistence won him entrance into the circle of drummers. He comments throughout this book and especially in this chapter about the difficulties of teaching, learning, and remembering the batá liturgy outside the context of dense communal networks of practice. He repeatedly complains about how there are not enough opportunities to play in the Bay Area. He grounds the lesson by reiterating that batá is a drum language used together with song and dance. The process of transmission defies easy comprehension and description. It is tied to the interpersonal and group interactions that occur within Carlos and Umi studying, 2009. Photo by Sherwood Chen. Courtesy of Alliance for California Traditional Arts. Drum Lesson Umi 115 master-apprentice relationships, within Añá batteries, and within toques de santo, where drum instruction happens. I agree with Hagedorn that what is being taught, after the student learns to imitate the teacher, is how to play differently from one’s teacher.1 Carlos calls this creating your own personality. He urges: “Remember, in all these toques you can add something . . . You have to own it! Play what you feel.” Clearly, to move from mechanical imitation to inspired expression would require serious effort on the part of the student. Carlos gives very helpful suggestions for aspiring drummers. Pay attention to his advice and try it. This book emphasizes technical suggestions , philosophical approaches to drumming, and explanations of the context and manner in which rhythms are used over notation on the musical staff. Musical notations as found in other texts about batá are valuable.2 But reading the music alone, removed from any context, does not allow batá to do what they were born to do. We must not forget that batáisanaural/oraltraditionthatrequiresintimacyinperformanceand the process of learning. In order to salute, praise, and summon the oricha with heart there must be competent use of sacred knowledge. If you choosetoreadthroughtranscriptionsbyotherauthors,Carlos’swisdom can help you understand how to use what you have read. During the time of my studies with Carlos, I also learned from other accomplished drummers and from religious practitioners about the role of the drums. I would ask Carlos his opinion about what...