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And the beat goes on at the UALR drumming circle yurt
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A woman dances to drumbeats at UALR drum circle
Drumming, there's something to it
“I slept so good that night,” said Barbara, an Arkansas baby boomer speaking about her first drum circle experience at UALR’s Wesley Foundation yurt, “I said to myself, ‘there’s something to that. I’m going to have to do that again.’”
Within the yurt, a drum circle is held every Tuesday night from 8:30 p.m. until around 10:30 p.m. for the past eight or so years, people that get together to do freeform, hand drumming, chant, dance or sing as the spirit moves them.
A yurt, for the record, is a circular, domed, tented structure that originated with nomadic Mongolian conquerors and is still in use today. There is in fact, an actual, albeit air-conditioned yurt, located at the UALR Wesley Foundation.
People are still basically social, drumming is social
The leader of the all volunteer group is Larry Clarke who suggests the real motive of getting together to sit at dusk with others playing drums has to do with “gaining a sense of community.”
“People like getting together as a group,” said Clarke, “whatever the activity, whether it’s a tailgating party to support the Razorbacks or to drum. Drumming is great because pretty much anyone can pick up a drum and start participating. Drums are made available to visitors who drop by, so not owning a drum won’t stop people from trying it out.”
Drum circles not new to Little Rock
Clarke and friend, Ted Williams, have been hosting drumming circles around Little Rock for over a decade. They used to host drum circles in the park near Belvedere and sometimes at Murray Park, but they took over the Wesley Foundation drum circle after the former leader, a Senegalese named Kiba, went off to West Virginia to pursue his doctorate
Drumming circles as meta-communication
Today there are some twenty-five or so people of every size and shape and heritage coming together to participate in drumming as dialog. Said Clarke, “Drumming is a kind of meta-communication. In a conversation, one person speaks and another person listens. In a drum circle everyone speaks, and at the same time, hopefully everyone hopefully also listens.
It’s more than just words. That is, if you get a group of people together that are really tuned in to each other, it’s like a good jazz combo, they will be listening carefully as they are also adding their parts to the whole.
“We (drummers) look a lot weirder than we are”
“I don’t think people would look askance at someone trancing out to a drumbeat,” said Clarke, when asked if drumming is generally accepted in the Bible belt, “but we probably appear a lot weirder than we really are. We did have one guy from California who used to like to dance and chant in a kind of made up language, but it’s all just for fun, not like we are summoning up dark forces or anything. It’s just part of the drum circle; sometimes people will intone the notes; others know how to do a little bit of throat singing. We have people come with saxophones or flutes or even violins and the different voices all add variation to the expression.”
Facilitated or freeform drum circles
There are basically two type of drum circles: freeform and facilitated. According to Clarke, you wouldn’t want to try to change the beat or to make any suggestions about volume or speed at a freeform drum circle. Whereas with a facilitated circle, there will usually be someone who directs the group to some extent, who may teach a few types of rhythms. “I try to find a nice balance between the two types,” said Clarke, “you wouldn’t want to be the ‘drum circle dictator’ that’s for sure. But every now and then I’ll teach a set rhythm, like Kuku, an African rhythm with three different parts. Generally though, I try not to make it a lesson; it isn’t about doing things right or wrong; it’s about having fun, listening to each other and relaxing. Not a bad metaphor for life.”
Can a drum circle stop and start on a dime?
Well, on a countdown to ‘0’ anyway. The group enjoys getting a loud, high energy beat going and then heeding Clarke’s count backwards to ‘0’ when everyone stops. “Well almost everyone, most of the time anyway,” said Clarke.
The roots of drum circle communities
Are there any prehistoric roots to drum circles? “Some of our guys probably drum like cave people,” said Clarke, “but most of our rhythms are just improvised.”
Is there a folk tradition here of drumming here in the south? “To the extent that a lot of folk and blues in the delta were influenced by African and global beats, sure,” said Clarke, “but the lineage to community drumming in the U.S. comes mainly from the inspiration of two people. “
Bababatunde Olatunji who played with Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead is mentioned, as well as Arthur Hull, author who facilitates corporate drum circles and community circles.
What does Clarke do when he’s not drumming?
He’s a psychologist for children and families in West Little Rock who spent fifteen years on faculty at UAMS before starting his practice. Does he recommend drumming to his patients, “Sure, if someone asks me I’ll tell them about it,” said Clarke, “but most of all, I think drumming is just really fun; I think it’s good for you.”
Drum circles are popping up all over the place
“We were even streamed live on the internet,” said Clarke of the group’s love of sharing their ‘art’ with media. Groups are also meeting in Conway at the Faulkner County Library (formerly the Full Moon Drum Circle) and at the Unitarian Church in Hot Springs.
Why join a drum circle?
“For everyone, it’s different,” said Clarke, “I like how it sounds and I’m a kind of fidgety guy; drumming suits my style better than some contemplative instrument. It’s fun. Some of us even get paid for drumming sometimes.
A group of us will go down and play for tips at the River Market on Saturday nights. We did a wedding at the Clinton library for a woman who was marrying a guy from Uganda. We met them out front and drummed our way right through security and right up to the main hall. It was great.”
Members of the drum circle have also played at the annual May Fest at Christ Episcopal, including a dance around the Maypole, and the First United Methodist does a dinner dance benefit for Africa each year that incorporates drumming.
“I drum because I like it; it is very relaxing,” said Clarke, “if I play at home after a long day at work, you wouldn’t think you could fall asleep drumming, but I get real sleepy sometimes, it’s a good way to blow off steam.”
Why cut off drumming at 10:30?
Said Clarke, “If we didn’t have a designated stopping time, there’d be some people here still drumming in the morning…”
To find out more about drum circles or to get involved, check out links below. Or just show up at 8:30 at UALR on a Tuesday evening. Be prepared to feel welcome. It’s a friendly, laid back, open group that vibrates with lots of good energy.
Drum Circle Links:
Faulkner County Library http://www.fcl.org/
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