Greetings. My name is Cameron. I facilitate drum circles and play djembe.
On This Page:
- Bio
- Fundamental Djembe CD
- Info About Sample Tracks
Personal ponderings are in blogs.
Thank you for visiting.
- C
BIO
Cameron Tummel is acclaimed as one of the world's most charismatic drum teachers and rhythm circle facilitators. He has hosted interactive rhythm events for more than a quarter million earthlings via his company, Rhythms of the C, and can be reached at www.RhythmsOfTheC.com
Tummel's facilitation training included a thirteen year apprenticeship with master facilitator Arthur Hull, and a decade of employment by Arthur's company, Village Music Circles. Cameron is featured in VMC's video, "Drum Circle Facilitation," and wrote several of the articles in Arthur's new book, "Drum Circle Facilitation."
Tummel's drum skills were honed during his nine year apprenticeship with master djembe player Abdoulaye Diakite, which included three drum sabbaticals to Senegal, West Africa, to study the rhythms and culture of the Bamana people.
Cameron has recorded with Arthur Hull, Margie Heart, Noah Churchill, Toby Salciccia, and Quarkspace, and performed with Babatunde Olatunji, Abdoulaye Diakite, Jason Campbell, Beyond the Beat, and Small Village.
Cameron builds and repairs many of his own drums, performs annually as a clinician throughout America and Europe, and tries to find enough time to write, compose, exercise and surf whenever possible.
FUNDAMENTAL DJEMBE
Play-Along Instructional CD
Fundamental Djembe provides everything you need to go from beginner to intermediate: 24 Play-Along tracks for learning and practicing the most essential West African djembe rhythms, and 3 performance tracks with inspiring solos.
Each rhythm is spoken and demonstrated slowly, played for a few minutes at a moderate tempo, then played again at a faster tempo, enabling you to learn and practice at the tempo that’s right for you.
- Crystal clear, easily accessible demonstrations.
- All rhythms written in easy to read format.
- Full color illustrations of the three fundamental sounds of the djembe.
Track 1 is your musical “Welcome” to Fundamental Djembe.
In tracks 2 – 21 we learn rhythmical patterns one at a time.
In tracks 22 though 25, we combine the rhythms we’ve learned, and begin practicing them together.
The final two tracks are performances of the rhythms we’ve learned, with spicy hot solos added to the polyrhythms, to be studied - or simply enjoyed - by the listener.
CT: “The people in my drum classes kept asking me for a clean, simple recording they could practice with at home. Eventually I came up with two dozen tracks’ worth of material. I added solos to the polyrhythms at the end of the recording to hopefully inspire them to make music with their newly practiced rhythms. The sound quality on the recording is a-m-a-z-i-n-g, thanks to the work of my audio engineer and editor, Robinson Eikenberry, and the masterful mastering of Eric Conn at Independent. My illustrator, Ben Cicatti, did fantastic drawings of hands playing the three fundamental sounds, and Tammi Clenard’s work on all of the graphics, layout, and text made the whole project turn out far better than I ever imagined. Many heartfelt thanks to Robinson, Eric, Tammi and Ben!!”
“Fundamental Djembe gave me in six hours what I learned from my first African djembe teacher in six months. The CD provides the beginner player the foundational learning platform, which in turn makes any West African Djembe rhythm accessible. I wish I had something like this before I ever studied with any African drum teacher.” - Arthur Hull
"This is a fantastic learning resource for anyone interested in learning to play a Djembe drum. Cameron is a very skilled player and an excellent teacher. This CD offers the listener an easy & practical approach to learning the fundamental West African djembe patterns. If you learn these patterns and you will experience a significant leap forward with your skills. I highly recommend this CD to all my students. It’s simply perfect!" - Pamela Lynn
Ballante - This was a live performance with Baobab at Red’s Café, in Santa Barbara, in November of ’06. Much love and respect to Sharin, Rich, Jason and Matt for all the music we’ve made together. The rhythm is a traditional West African arrangement from the Cassamance region of Senegal called Ballante, which I learned from my teacher, Abdoulaye Diakite.
Welcome - This is the “Welcome” track from Fundamental Djembe. It mentions the four rhythms taught on the CD, and puts a little magic touch on the whole thing by inviting the listener to “…pretend we’re taking a trip to West Africa…” The primary rhythm being played in the background is the first rhythm we learn on the CD, demonstrated in swing time.
4/4 Traveler's Checks - This is an example of one of the teaching tracks, played at a fast tempo. Its a clear, simple recording to play-along with, while practicing your timing and technique. There are 13 teaching tracks on the album.
A word about the nicknames: an experienced djembe player might listen to this track and say, "That's Kuku... why did you nickname it something else..?" Answer: For this CD I chose to not focus on teaching specific traditional rhythms, such as Kuku, but instead, to teach the most universal patterns in West African djembe music. Yes, hearing this pattern played in 4/4 time does sound identical to the first accompaniment for Kuku, but when you play the very same pattern in 6/8, it could be the second accompaniment to Dununba, or something completely different. As I mention in all the CD liner notes, "The nicknames on this recording are NOT traditional names for the rhythms; they're just for amusement while you're practicing. Please focus on learning the patterns, not the nicknames." Played by itself, this is a very universal pattern which is part of many traditional rhythms.
When you combine this pattern with the second accompaniment, you have two of the rhythms for Kuku. Check out the next sample - it has the first and second accompaniments for Kuku, and a lead (solo) drum...
Kuku: Having learned the patterns, and learned to hear them together, in this track I added some leads (“solos”) to the traditional (poly-)rhythm Kuku. Although it is a very simplified version of Kuku, it gives the listener a sample of how to make music with the patterns they are learning to play, and hopefully inspires them to continue their growth as drummers, musicians, and human beings.
Psssssst..!
Guess what..?
I'm currently most of the way done with my new album.
It oughtta be done by the end of the year... New samples will be posted very soon... Please stay tuned...
Thank you very much for accepting me too among your friends, Cameron. Good to hear again djembe playing. You were recommended by MySpace mutual friend, longtime virtual friend of mine, Robert S. Pearson.
HEY OOP FROM ENGLAND CAM!!!!! YEP,GOTTA KEEP BANGIN THEM DRUMS AS THEY KEEP YA GOING!!!! PLUS.....ITS DAMN GOOD FUN AND DRUMMERS GET ALL THE CHICKS TO BOOT!!!!! LOL! Take care....Karl.
Thank you for the message! I HAVE briefly met you at Arthur's playshop in Marine County in 2003.
And, I am coming to Seattle! I will be looking forward to seeing you again there.
The Kaolimba man is my friend. Check out our Kaolimba website: http://dr. kaolimba. com/ It is a parody of Extreme Ironing. (If you don't know what it is, it is a MUST to find out!)
Thank you for the friendship and for your music. Lots of love & inspiration. More justice and more peace for everyone.
You're invited to listen to our tracks „Afrika“, „Vollmond“, "Tanzende Finger", "Mystic Night", "Traumland" or „Ferne Welten". We would like to read your comment:
You can listen to more tracks of Weltenreiter on our Homepage. We would be glad about your comment in our guestbook, too:
Goood morning to you too friend! Thanks for caring enough to take the time to read it:) We're out of town this weekend, but hope to see you really soon.
