Welcome to the Drums on Fire website. This is a new Community Drum Circle
in Phillipsburg, NJ.
Everyone with an interest and love in music is invited.

Great opportunity for parent/child; male/female; professional/novice;
young/old to get together for 2 hours of
"heart pounding" rhythms. (You need not live in town)

Who: Everyone is invited from age 10 and up.
Families are also encouraged to attend.
No musical experience is required.
When: Fridays 7:00 - 9:00 PM

The dates for the next few months of 2012 are:
May 11 & 25
June 8 & 22
July 20
August 10
Where: Riverview Arts Center
68 South Main Street, Phillipsburg, NJ (2nd Floor)
What does it cost: There is no charge.
What will you get: Fun, exercise, better health, friendships, etc.
What should I bring: If  you have a hand drum, great, if not, you can bring any drum or percussion instrument (tambourine, shakers, claves, etc), or just about anything that makes music when played - a coffee can with a few beans, a 5 gallon bucket, a garbage can (clean!!!), etc. We will have a few instruments you can borrow if you don't have anything.
Contact: phillipsburg.drumsonfire@gmail.com

Links:

Drums on Fire would like to thank the Phillipsburg Riverview Organization and the Riverview Arts Center for allowing us to use the beautiful studio for our events.

Dave Phillips Music & Sound - Music Store in Phillipsburg, NJ; Allentown, PA; and Flemington, NJ - They carry all types of instruments including a wide selection of drums that you will see at the Drum Circle. They also offer drum lessons from their experienced staff.

Remo Drum Company - They have a section dedicated to Drum Circles and have a lot of information about them.

Drumcircles.net - Another great resource for information about Drum Circles.


Here is some basic information about the Drums on Fire Drum Circle. This is taken from the hand-out that all participants will receive at the event.

Membership is free and open to all from ages 10 and up.

The purpose of the group is to have fun, develop an appreciation for world rhythms, explore various percussive instruments, and develop a sense of belonging to a wholesome rhythmic exercise.

The drum circle will open at 7 PM and the first rhythm will start at 7:15.

Members are free to bring their own instruments and are encouraged to trade with others after each set of rhythms. Make sure your name is on the instrument so we know which one is yours!

Home-made instruments are fine as well.  A coffee can with a few beans, a 5-gallon bucket from the hardware store, even a garbage can (clean!!!) with a beater works.  Percussion instruments are those that are struck by something else.  Make sure you bring sticks too.

The group will be divided into the following clusters: 
bottom drums (conga, big buckets, bass, bodhran, udu, garbage cans …
middle drums (Djembe, bongos, drum pad, zarb, doumbek, tenor, snare …
shakers (maracas, coffee cans, tambourines, cabasa, shekere …
metals/woods (cymbals, cow bells, agogo bells, claves, blocks, guiro …
multi-tones (string bass, marimba, vibra-tones, hudak, steel drums…

When you come in, find your group and join in – you need not be perfect!

Signals are important so watch the leader for “softer”, “louder”, “faster” “slower”.  There are 2 whistle commands.

First is one tweet followed by another tweet 4 beats later.  This indicates a solo by an individual or group for 4 more beats.  Following the  8 beat solo, everyone joins in again.

Second is the tweet to end the rhythm set.  This will be 4 tweets in a row.  Everybody hits on beat #5 as we yell “Ahhhhhh!!!” as loud as we can.

Each set begins and ends with a cleansing deep breath. The bottoms drums will start the basic rhythm and each section will be told their part of the rhythm as they join in.  Once all sections are playing, feel free to experiment and add your own twist to the beat. 

Dancing is OK, Jumping is OK, Foot stomping is OK, Yelping is OK. 

The only thing not OK is behaving poorly.  You WILL be asked to leave!

The application is for our contact purposes only.  You need not complete any information you are not comfortable with.

The group will be run by professional drummers who are volunteering their time and effort to help our community to have fun and experience a drum circle.  An experience like nothing you have ever done!  You will never be required to purchase anything.

Drumming for 20 minutes at a time can be tiring.  You may take a break whenever you wish (if you can tear yourself away).  We will all break for 5 minutes between sets.  Bring some water if you desire.  Bring a sweater during the cool months.  Bring earplugs or cotton if you desire (it will get loud). Get some free at http://www.hearos.com/index/trial.

Communication with the group will be through email. 

Our email address is phillipsburg.drumsonfire@gmail.com.

Once you complete a membership application, you will be added to our email list automatically.  Your email address will not be shared with other members.  You may withdraw from the list at any time.

Where to get a percussion instrument?  Any music store will gladly help you pick out an instrument.  Most are not expensive and the variety is vast!

The whole idea behind this drum circle is to have fun and actually FEEL the music and actually become part of the musical experience!

Once you join in – you will understand!

 

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This site was created by Harvey Minchin - ©2011
Last updated on April 29, 2012

Website created and maintained by Harvey Minchin
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