Your First Drum Experience

RedShield · 03-19-2007, 02:36 AM

I liked cakewalks idea for a new thread about what was your first experience singing like...

For me... I started out as a northern singer (yes... I'll admit it... LOL) I showed up at the local center, and was just there to hang out while the drum practiced... I was kind of hanging back on the side of the room and the drum keeper just looked at me as I was there to watch... I wasn't gonna intrude I just wanted to hear some singing...

I stood there for about five minutes, and Tim (who I had known for years) grabbed a stick and waved me over with it... I had never sang before but knew how to keep a beat and had been singing with my pow wow tapes for years... I sat down, started singing and was invited out to sing with them that weekend... the rest was history...

As for my first southern singing experience, it kinda went the same way... I was sitting with my drum and was asked to come over and set at a drum with a pretty respected southern singer in the area, I went over, sang a song and reached in my pocket when we were done and put five bucks on the drum and shook everyone's hand when I was done, later I was at a pow wow and my wife was head dancer, I was doing some beading just hanging out for a change, and Sterling called my wife over... she then beelined for me and said... you've been summoned... I was like what? she said... Sterling just asked me to ask you... is he gonna sit over there all day and sew or is he gonna help me out!... I dropped what I was doing... grabbed a stick and set next to him the rest of the weekend... I learned more in one day from that man than I had the several years I had been singing combined... every time I was around him from then on, I'd stop what I was doing and help him out, when I ended up forming my own drum later on, I carried a lot of those teachings over to the new drum... he is one guy I will probably miss the rest of my life... good times man... good times!

Paselo~

WhoMe · 03-19-2007, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedShield

....what was your first experience singing like...

My first experience singing?

I think I was a baby with a rubber twosided minnetonka drum.

.... well you asked? *L

cakewalk · 03-20-2007, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhoMe

My first experience singing?

I think I was a baby with a rubber twosided minnetonka drum.

.... well you asked? *L

lol....

travelingmocs · 03-27-2007, 07:48 PM

Boy, music has always been in my life, and when I first heard powwow music I fell in love. Northern, Southern had to hear it all. Some people I had met who sang northern invited me to sit in with them and I was blown away. Then I started singing with a southern group that was located in my home town, and 13 years later I have had a wonderful opertunity to sing with some of the best singers, and I have been very honerd to have those memories in my head.

TMS

youngster · 03-29-2007, 05:21 PM

travelingmocs are u singing yet or are you still watchin everybody else sing?

suthernwaterbird · 03-30-2007, 03:54 PM

ma first...drum was ma dads boat...

TKMJ Productions · 03-31-2007, 11:47 PM

Wow Red! How thoughtful of you to make me start thinking. You know my brain has more rust then my car. I can't remember the first drum I ever sat at but I can tell you about the day I got my butt kicked so to speak.

I was at a powwow where Bird Chopper was the host drum. The next think I knew Logan ( we all know Logan and his pranks) took me under the drum arbor and planted me at the drum. Rick Bird then took a stick out of his bag and handed it to me. I knew enough to just use the rim to work out the patterns and honor beats. After that song Rick Bird yelled at me telling me if I was going to sit at his family drum then I better hit the drum and not the rim. He told me that this was powwow and not practice. The next song I sung my heart out and hit every (well almost every, well half maybe) beat. By the time the drum was finished with me, I was frozen in my seat with no voice left. These guys kicked my butt at the drum and never touched me. LOL I was then told to learn at least one Bird Chopper song before I was allowed to sit at the drum again. The next powwow Rick and I crossed paths at, I was pulled to the drum and had to sing the entire song I learned before they would allow me to sit down. Talk about putting someone on the spot. I did the song with some mistakes. The next think I knew, the drum did that song and the lead was passed to me. I blew it BIGTIME!!!!!! LOL!!!

thurmand · 04-08-2007, 03:18 PM

my rirst drum/danceing experence was with aracoma lightning
i just showed up one day and it looked fun so iv ben doing it sinse that was about a year ago and iv ben traveling with them evry chance i get im part of the team

Str8Dancer49 · 04-09-2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suthernwaterbird

ma first...drum was ma dads boat...

GAAAAWT DANG that wuz funny!

**billyjoejimbob** · 04-09-2007, 11:51 PM

I was introduced by a friend to the only drum in the area that sang Lakota songs. The same songs that I had been singing on my own for the previous few years from tapes. I learned a lot from those guys and still sing with a few of them 10+ years later. Been many places and met many people.

My powwow and singing friends are pretty much the only ones Ive got. Its nice to know that wherever I go in the country there is someone I know.

SeaHawk · 04-11-2007, 02:22 AM

I started out singing Northern with a Lakota drum in the Seattle area. That was really scary. It took a while to actually learn the language or at least those vocables and words to the songs. I was always afraid that someone was going to come and question me... Hey you, what were you singing?? Where did you learn that?? The Lead singer and the Drum Keeper were relatives, so I knew they had my back. Anyway, I sang with them every weekend for about 2 to 3 years. Years later, I moved back home and got with some guys that sang Southern. Realizing that the high notes were no where to be found, I took to Southern. Last year, a buddy and I made our drum, got some guys and now we are keeping busy.

suthernwaterbird · 04-12-2007, 02:32 PM

Who do u sing with now?

SeaHawk · 04-12-2007, 11:41 PM

I sing with Fox Tail.

kguerito · 04-14-2007, 08:29 PM

i also started out too as a northern singer. i was invited by a good friend from sweatlodge. so i went and i was hooked. then one evening the guy who pours for the sweat invited me to sing with a southern drum in oakland. i went and made good friends with them. then, a year later i met ricky learoy and that's where my real teaching began. sing with rick, i got the honor to sing with Miller Clark and Thunder Hill.
i love to sing gourd!

03-19-2007, 02:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
RedShield Singer/ Dancer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 15,474	Your First Drum Experience I liked cakewalks idea for a new thread about what was your first experience singing like... For me... I started out as a northern singer (yes... I'll admit it... LOL) I showed up at the local center, and was just there to hang out while the drum practiced... I was kind of hanging back on the side of the room and the drum keeper just looked at me as I was there to watch... I wasn't gonna intrude I just wanted to hear some singing... I stood there for about five minutes, and Tim (who I had known for years) grabbed a stick and waved me over with it... I had never sang before but knew how to keep a beat and had been singing with my pow wow tapes for years... I sat down, started singing and was invited out to sing with them that weekend... the rest was history... As for my first southern singing experience, it kinda went the same way... I was sitting with my drum and was asked to come over and set at a drum with a pretty respected southern singer in the area, I went over, sang a song and reached in my pocket when we were done and put five bucks on the drum and shook everyone's hand when I was done, later I was at a pow wow and my wife was head dancer, I was doing some beading just hanging out for a change, and Sterling called my wife over... she then beelined for me and said... you've been summoned... I was like what? she said... Sterling just asked me to ask you... is he gonna sit over there all day and sew or is he gonna help me out!... I dropped what I was doing... grabbed a stick and set next to him the rest of the weekend... I learned more in one day from that man than I had the several years I had been singing combined... every time I was around him from then on, I'd stop what I was doing and help him out, when I ended up forming my own drum later on, I carried a lot of those teachings over to the new drum... he is one guy I will probably miss the rest of my life... good times man... good times! Paselo~ __________________ I became a singer because I love to sing... and to feed my addiction to cough drops!

03-27-2007, 07:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
travelingmocs Teen Dancer Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: HogPit, U.S.A. and raised in hell Posts: 293	Boy, music has always been in my life, and when I first heard powwow music I fell in love. Northern, Southern had to hear it all. Some people I had met who sang northern invited me to sit in with them and I was blown away. Then I started singing with a southern group that was located in my home town, and 13 years later I have had a wonderful opertunity to sing with some of the best singers, and I have been very honerd to have those memories in my head. TMS __________________ If I do not know the answer someone else will!!!! Also forgive me, this system does not have a spell check so forgive the bad spelling

03-30-2007, 03:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
suthernwaterbird nobody Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: atl, ga Posts: 1,004	ma first...drum was ma dads boat... __________________ WhY yOu AsK? bEcUz We CaN!

03-31-2007, 11:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
TKMJ Productions Powwow Sound 4 U Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ohio, Oregon. Two locations, No waiting Posts: 938	Wow Red! How thoughtful of you to make me start thinking. You know my brain has more rust then my car. I can't remember the first drum I ever sat at but I can tell you about the day I got my butt kicked so to speak. I was at a powwow where Bird Chopper was the host drum. The next think I knew Logan ( we all know Logan and his pranks) took me under the drum arbor and planted me at the drum. Rick Bird then took a stick out of his bag and handed it to me. I knew enough to just use the rim to work out the patterns and honor beats. After that song Rick Bird yelled at me telling me if I was going to sit at his family drum then I better hit the drum and not the rim. He told me that this was powwow and not practice. The next song I sung my heart out and hit every (well almost every, well half maybe) beat. By the time the drum was finished with me, I was frozen in my seat with no voice left. These guys kicked my butt at the drum and never touched me. LOL I was then told to learn at least one Bird Chopper song before I was allowed to sit at the drum again. The next powwow Rick and I crossed paths at, I was pulled to the drum and had to sing the entire song I learned before they would allow me to sit down. Talk about putting someone on the spot. I did the song with some mistakes. The next think I knew, the drum did that song and the lead was passed to me. I blew it BIGTIME!!!!!! LOL!!! __________________ Don't ask me what I think about something unless you want a truthful anwser. It may not be the anwser you are looking for. It's better to fly with the eagles then drive with the turkeys. Last edited by TKMJ Productions; 03-31-2007 at 11:48 PM. Reason: spelling

04-09-2007, 11:51 PM	#10 (permalink)
billyjoejimbob Fat Singer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: white guy land Posts: 1,526	I was introduced by a friend to the only drum in the area that sang Lakota songs. The same songs that I had been singing on my own for the previous few years from tapes. I learned a lot from those guys and still sing with a few of them 10+ years later. Been many places and met many people. My powwow and singing friends are pretty much the only ones Ive got. Its nice to know that wherever I go in the country there is someone I know. __________________ There are 2 types of people in the world... Really stupid people who think they are smart and Really smart people who think they are smart.

03-29-2007, 05:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
youngster Pow Wow Visitor Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: oklahoma Posts: 6	travelingmocs are u singing yet or are you still watchin everybody else sing?

04-08-2007, 03:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
thurmand pimpin out n.tradish Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: alabama Posts: 11	my rirst drum/danceing experence was with aracoma lightning i just showed up one day and it looked fun so iv ben doing it sinse that was about a year ago and iv ben traveling with them evry chance i get im part of the team

04-11-2007, 02:22 AM	#11 (permalink)
SeaHawk Junior Dancer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: where the earth meets the sky next to the creek Posts: 142	I started out singing Northern with a Lakota drum in the Seattle area. That was really scary. It took a while to actually learn the language or at least those vocables and words to the songs. I was always afraid that someone was going to come and question me... Hey you, what were you singing?? Where did you learn that?? The Lead singer and the Drum Keeper were relatives, so I knew they had my back. Anyway, I sang with them every weekend for about 2 to 3 years. Years later, I moved back home and got with some guys that sang Southern. Realizing that the high notes were no where to be found, I took to Southern. Last year, a buddy and I made our drum, got some guys and now we are keeping busy. __________________ "I am not a superhero; just one of the few working hard and long for the survival of my PEOPLE."

04-12-2007, 02:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
suthernwaterbird nobody Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: atl, ga Posts: 1,004	Who do u sing with now? __________________ WhY yOu AsK? bEcUz We CaN!

04-12-2007, 11:41 PM	#13 (permalink)
SeaHawk Junior Dancer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: where the earth meets the sky next to the creek Posts: 142	I sing with Fox Tail. __________________ "I am not a superhero; just one of the few working hard and long for the survival of my PEOPLE."

04-14-2007, 08:29 PM	#14 (permalink)
kguerito Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 29	i also started out too as a northern singer. i was invited by a good friend from sweatlodge. so i went and i was hooked. then one evening the guy who pours for the sweat invited me to sing with a southern drum in oakland. i went and made good friends with them. then, a year later i met ricky learoy and that's where my real teaching began. sing with rick, i got the honor to sing with Miller Clark and Thunder Hill. i love to sing gourd! Last edited by kguerito; 04-14-2007 at 08:36 PM.

04-15-2007, 11:05 AM	#15 (permalink)
TacO5000 shesaysshelikesmy Dougie! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 624