Learning, Performing & Recording

Books, courses and teachers, playing for belly dancers and in ensembles, miking and recording a darbuka, and making music your career.

177 questions answered

Questions and answers

The books, online schools, free lessons and old DVDs worth your time — and the players worth studying.

Finding a teacher, what lessons cost, what a good one actually does, and how to start whatever age you are.

Darbuka camps and retreats, studying in Istanbul or Egypt, festival classes for drummers, and what to take with you.

Practising in 15 minutes a day, how much theory you need, backing tracks, and why you fall apart playing with others.

The drummer’s job behind a dancer: cues and signals, solo structure, hafla etiquette, tips, and getting the gigs.

The darbuka in a takht, sharing space with a riq, taqsim sections, maqam, and Balkan, Greek and klezmer settings.

Darbuka in jazz, rock, flamenco and electronic music, sharing a groove with a kit drummer, and famous recordings.

Dynamic or condenser, where to put the mic, clip-ons and wireless, keeping feedback away, and briefing the engineer.

One mic or three, fixing a thin or boomy sound, EQ and compression, budget mics, and sampling your own drum.

Electronic drums for silent practice, the HandSonic and Wavedrum, rhythm apps, plug-ins and triggering samples.

Protecting your hearing, earplugs, nerves and shaking hands, sore hands and backs, and what drumming does for you.

Weddings and zaffas, making a living from it, pricing gigs and lessons, starting to teach, and busking.