A drum circle is a community event where a group of people, typically a mix of experienced drummers and some with little or no real drumming experience, stand or sit in a circle and play improvised and spontaneous rhythms. Usually one of them will start a rhythm and everyone will join in. Individuals will take turns informally improvising on the basic beat while the main body of the circle will continue to play the basic rhythm. Instruments range from hand claps to traditional ethnic drums. In a drum circle, there is no audience - everyone is part of the circle. It is a group experience, not a performance.
Purpose
Drum circles can be organized for different purposes ranging from casual fun to serious education. I'm going to focus here on having fun, but it's important that you decide up front what the purpose of the circle will be since various other decisions will be affected by this. The main purpose, however, should be to have fun. Drum circles are fun from a musical perspective, they can be fun social events, and drumming is a great way of raising both individual and group energy as well.
The Facilitator
The drum circle will obviously need someone to organize the coordinate the events. Ideally, this person should also be a good enough drummer themselves to lead the circle in drumming although that function can be handled by someone else. The facilitator will be responsible for finding a location, promoting the events, providing a basic set of percussion instruments for newcomers, setting up and cleaning up afterwards.
Mix of Experience
While a drum circle should be open to all, this carries with it some burdens as well. If everyone who shows up has no drumming experience or ability at all, it can be challenging to get and hold a good beat. It is best to make sure that there is at least some percentage of the people are more experienced drummers and can start up a beat and carry it as needed.
Instruments
Some people will have their own percussion instruments, but it is best to have a selection of instruments available for people who show up with no experience. A set of shakers, blocks, rattles, and other instruments can be made at home easily and cheaply. For example, take an empty small plastic soda bottle, fill it ½ inch with dried beans or even small gravel, screw the top on and voila - a shaker! You can augment these homemade alternatives with a few low-end tambourines or other simple instruments.
For more serious drums there is a wide variety available but there are a few that are common. The Djembe, an African goblet shaped drum, is the backbone of most drum circles. There are a variety of traditional wood and goat skin Djembes as well as modern synthetic ones. I have a Remo Djembe that is a good modern choice: http://www.remo.com/portal/products/6/15/28/175/dj_kt.html A drum that is also seen sometimes is the Djun Djun http://www.remo.com/portal/products/6/15/29/af_djun_djun.html which is a African bass drum used to keep a basic rhythm. Various forms of frame drums are common ranging from the Irish Bodhran to the Native American buffalo drum http://www.remo.com/portal/products/6/26/120/639/bd_standard.html . The fourth type of drum, which is less common, is the Middle Easter Doumbek http://www.remo.com/portal/products/684/685/686/do_crystal_doumbek.html which is also a goblet style drum but one that is played sideways across your leg. The Doumbek is familiar as the sound you usually hear accompanying belly dancing. I have all of the Remo drums linked above although the Doumbek is my primary instrument and I recommend all of them. The Djembe and the Doumbek are good for basic rhythms as well as leads, whereas the buffalo drum and Djun Djun are bass drums that are best for holding a basic rhythm.
Traditional or Modern?
You may have noted that the links I gave above are all to modern synthetic drums. I actually build traditional wooden drums with goat skin heads, but I play synthetic drums. Wooden drums are more delicate and prone to damage if you are not careful. Skin drum heads are subject to water and heat damage. In particular, if they get wet they stretch and detune. Wood and skin drums do tend to have a slightly richer sound and tone, and they certainly look nice. Unfortunately they also require care and do not do well in damp environments. Synthetic drums and drum heads are virtually indestructible and are completely immune to weather. You can play them in the pouring rain if you wish! So - for general usage, especially where you may be taking the drum "on the road" or even to a drum circle, I suggest going modern.
Location
The facilitator will need to arrange for a place to meet. Apartments are obviously bad places to meet because of the proximity of neighbors. Drum circles can be loud! Holding a circle in someone's house might work if there is enough space, but it is better to use a neutral area. Outdoor locations can be great when possible but weather may be an issue as well as insects or other annoyances. Since a drum circle can be loud , someone's backyard will suffer from the same problems as an apartment. Churches, community centers, and other locations will often make space available for activities like this either for free or for a minimal cost. Make sure there is also adequate parking available. If there is a cost for the space, it is typical for everyone who shows up to pitch in but this can result in uncertain coverage of expenses and the facilitator can be left holding the responsibility. Usually in a group contribution situation they will set a fixed cost and if there is extra money it will be used to buy food or drink for the next meeting.
Unless everyone wants to sit on the floor (rare), you will also need to make sure that there is an adequate supply of chairs, preferably armless, or benches for people to sit on.
Promoting the event
If you are holding the event at a church or similar facility, they may have a mailing list that you can get on. Local newspapers will often allow notices of such events to be run for free. There are many options online as well, with lots of regional or special topic mailing lists, blogs, bulletin board, or other groups that might be appropriate. You can post notices in local colleges, arts studios, local music stores, etc. College newspapers or radio stations are good places to advertise as well. Most of all, tell all your friends and have them tell all their friends - you can't beat word-of-mouth! Having a web site to refer to with information and directions, as well as any last minute information, is a good idea. That can be as simple as a blog. It's also a good idea to give them your cell phone number or the number of the event location in case they get lost or have any last minute questions.
Having fun!
When it is time to start, a good idea is to kick off the first rhythm and let people join in as they wish. People will, of course, be showing up during the drum circle and especially during the first rhythm. After the first pause in the music, when most of the people are there, take a short break and have everyone introduce themselves. Then on to the next rhythm! Ask someone else to start a rhythm, but be prepared to carry the session yourself if the group is less experienced. If you have food or drink, it is best to wait until the end of the session to break for a snack. Breaking for any amount of time, other than a short break for introductions, can derail any energy that the group has been building. The only exception would be to collect money: you will want to do that in the middle of the event after everyone has arrived and before anyone has left.
Don't forget to set up chairs etc. before hand and placing the group instruments in the center of the circle for easy access. Remind people to remove rings and other hand jewelry before they start to play any of the hand drums. This is both for the drums, which may not appreciate being hit with a ring, and for your hands, which also won't appreciate the sharp jolt that can be transmitted by a ring or bracelet. It probably won't do the jewelry any good either. One and a half to two hours is usually a good duration. When everyone has gone, put the chairs away and clean up, and start planning the next session!
First nice day since fall - reminded me of a song I wrote a little while ago about cycles and seasons and I thought I'd share. Link to the actual song (doesn't seem to be any way to embedd an mp3 player in a blog post) and lyrics below. Enjoy!
I just finished my session teaching Sunday School. Yeah, that's right, Sunday School. No, I'm not working for the enemy - we go to a Unitarian Universalist church, and one that is on the far left of the UU spectrum at that. For those who are not familiar with UUs, most UU churches today believe that each person must find his own path - in ours, that can include a world without any recognition of deity at all. We are often accused, not without some accuracy, of being a "non-Church" and we do often drift more towards simply being s social action organization. I have heard of other UU churches that tend more towards their Christian roots - it really depends on the make-up of the congregation. So - the goal of their version of Sunday School (which we refer to as Religious Education or RE) is to help the kids understand about social activism, world religions, church history, etc. There are a number of Pagans in the UU church and, in fact, there is an organization of UU Pagans called CUUPS (covenant of UU Pagans). The UUs don't care if you belong to another "religion" because they believe that everyone must find their own path, there is no one right path, and our only real obligation is to be a good person and help our community and environment (sound familiar?). Most other religions, of course, won't hold with their members also being UUs because the UUs don't accept any one dogma as correct. This is not a plug for the UUs, and like I said some of them are more religious, but I thought I should first offer this as an explanation of why I was teaching RE (aka Sunday School).
So - my real thought was on how wonderful it is to teach RE. The UUs take the summer off from formal service (our God goes to the beach for the summer - LOL) so we split the rest of the year up into 3 sessions. I usually teach one of the three sessions in one of my kid's classes. My favorite topic is covering world religions aka "neighboring faiths". It's a great chance to expose them to other views of religion and even if they don't find one that resonates with them, they at least learn that no one path is right and lots of people believe different things. I always learn new things myself preparing for class! My least favorite so far was the session I just completed which covered the founding members of the UU tradition - basically a history class. Pretty inspiring people, though - Susan B. Anthony (votes for women), Dorothea Dix (humane treatment of the mentally ill), Thomas Jefferson (separation of church and state), Clara Barton (founded American Red Cross), etc.
I always insert the Pagan perspective. Nothing subversive about it, the parents actually like it when we include other "religions". My class knew when Yule, Imbolc, and Ostara were and what they were. How many people can get away with teaching that in church? They know that deity may come in the form of the God and Goddess, and that Magic may not just be something you see on stage. I don't need to insert any content on respect for the earth or social activism - they get that in boatloads from the mainstream UU curriculum already.
I'll have to say, teaching RE is perhaps one of the most rewarding things I do! Being a UU is tough on a kid - even at a young age you have to struggle without being given a comforting "this is the one way and the right way and God said so". Growing up (purely) Pagan can be even tougher. Pagan kids often have to deal with the issues at schools ranging from "you're a devil worshipper" to simply "silly Pagan, you don't know anything" and they usually don't have the support of a church environment. At least most of the mainstream churches simply dismiss the UUs as atheists, as opposed to Satanic. The UUs maybe a little light on the "this is right", but they provide a very supporting environment and at least a kid can come away thinking that even if their school-mates tell them that they are wrong, at least they have a whole bunch of other people telling them that they are right (whatever that may be - LOL!). Not everyone has a left-of-center UU church nearby, but there are often other opportunities to work with Pagan kids. It's good for you, it's good for the kids, and Pagan kids really need that support. There are often threads about whether Pagans should get organized or not and should we form more traditional-style churches or not. Usually the answer is "no, and for good reasons, but I wonder if we consider the issues of the kids enough?
I will have to say that I get a mix of personalities in my classes and while most of them are great, I'm thankful that I only have them for 1-1/2 hours each week. We do not even begin to pay school teachers enough....
I am reading an interesting book "Wicca's Charm: Understanding the Spiritual Hunger Behind the Rise of Modern Witchcraft and Pagan Spirituality" by Catherine Sanders. I saw it in the library under the religion section while I was looking for books on the LDS church (and that's a whole different story) and thought it looked like an interestng book on Wicca. Well...not quite. It's actually a book written about Wicca by a Christian author in order to largely help parents undestand why their son or daughter is interested in Wicca. To be fair, this is probably the most balanced and well written account of Wicca by a Christian that I have ever read, and she largely blames the Christian churches for driving people to Wicca and other Pagan paths. She is quite forthright about the hypocrisy, lack of spirituality, and male-dominance of the church.
However, when all is said and done she is a Christian and her aim is to help people understand why some turn to Wicca with the goal of trying to help them stay within the Christian camp. Part of her recipe is a call for the church to wake-up and be what it should have been from the beginning instead of what it became (love to see that happen, too). Part of it is to help people understand that Wicca may not be all that the adherants think it is. She cleverly does not paint all Wiccans as drugies, but does cite well documented references to drug use in some circles. She does not paint all Wiccans as invoking powers they can't control, but she does cite the cases of people who got in over their heads. She does not dismiss all seekers of the path as posers looking for any random way to rebelion, but she does cite cases of those who are. The end result, I think, is that most parents will miss the "some are.." and come away thinking that Wiccan is rife with drugs, demons, sex, and, no doubt, rock'n'roll (o.k. I added that last part, but I was on a roll).
I find this type of attack on Paganism to be the most disturbing. The radical right is simply ridiculous, and they can be easily dismissed. Those folks we are never going to win over anyway. Sanders here makes some very good cases of where the Church has let people down, but argues that that doesn't mean you should abandon it. She points out a number of potential dangers with Wicca which are exagerated but not incorrect. If I was a liberal-minded Christian and I read this, I would probably end up thinking that maybe Wicca wasn't as harmless as I had thought. That is unfortunate.
To be fair, I believe that Sanders' coverage is probably as fair as we will ever get from that side of the road. I believe that she is genually concerned for our souls ('ppreciate it, but no thanks all the same...) as opposed to simply flaming us because we are horrid evil witches. Unfortunately, it is exactly her fairness that gives her credibility.
So - what can we do? I think the point here is that this is a good model to follow and a lesson to be learned. If we simply return the harsh rhetoric in kind and lump all Christians with the all-too-vocal right, we do them all a disserive. Many Christians accept diversity and can come to a place where they see Wicca as being no worse than, say Judiasm. Different, but a "good" religion all the same. Won't ever satisfy the bible-thumping evangelical right, but we can win over a lot of the middle ground.
Let's all take a page from Sander's book and remember than not all so-called Christians are evil - some of them actually are Christians! Let's treat them gently. Pagans are not without their faults either, and some of us can be downright abusive towards the other side. We may never agree on core beliefs, but there is no reason why we can't all get along. It's time to stop blaming them for things that happened hundreds of years ago or even things today that are perpetrated by a vocal and violent sub-set. Despite the media portrayals, not all Muslims are terrorists - and neither are all Christians! Of course, some are...watch out for those.
