Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Brothers Pub.
• VHS Release Date: October 20, 2000
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303975704
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,986 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Instruction for the Doumbek (and some Dourbakee), March 2, 2001

By 

hamsterdance (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices of the Doumbek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you've ever wanted to learn hand drumming after hearing Middle Eastern rhythms this video is a good place to start. Anders does a fine job of discussing a myriad of different drum strikes and the different sounds each produces (ex: the Doum sound, the Tek sound, Kah sound, etc.). At the beginning of the video he even shows several Yoga hand stretches and breathing techniques for loosening and warming up before practice or performance.

While his main focus of instruction is the Doumbek (aka Tabla) there are a few instances where he introduces techniques for the Dourbakee as well. The section on finger rolls on both the Doumbek and the Dourbakee were particularly fun to watch and learn.

I was really surprised at the variety of drum strikes demonstrated and the noticeably different sounds each one produced. The tonal differences ranged from distinct to subtle. A very large section of the video is devoted to covering all these strikes with careful explanations of how to hold and/or place your hand or fingers properly. At the end of the second part (the video is divided into sections) he gives a short performance on the Dourbakee demonstrating how many of the techniques learned for the Doumbek can apply equally to that instrument.

The third section finally covers three actual traditional Middle Eastern rhythms such as the Wahdah Sayirah (aka Ayub), Masmudi Saghir (aka Baladi) and the Wahdah Kabira (aka Chefte Telli). He first demonstrates these rhythms with the very simplest strikes such as the basic Doum and Tek strikes then later shows how you can embellish these same rhythms with more advanced strikes (some examples: finger rolls or snapping finger strikes).

Throughout the video Anders occasionally stresses the importance of actually developing your own feel for the music and rhythms and to never lose sight that drumming is supposed to be fun. At the end he gives an excellent Doumbek performance that (according to the video cover) is from his music CD Blue Buddha. It is obvious from Anders performances he definitely knows what he's talking about when it comes to drumming on these two types of drums.

A nice little extra is that the video includes a leaflet with some printed instructions on the three Middle Eastern rhythms covered, a sort of legend for each one, practice patterns and instructions for developing further. With careful study and practice of Anders' lessons anyone who would like to learn Middle Eastern drumming will be on their way to developing good skills and techniques.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars for serious beginners, July 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Voices of the Doumbek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Anders does a fine job of explaining and demonstrating the basic hand/finger techniques for playing the doumbek. The video is well paced in that his demonstrations are at an easy pace for beginners, while it is, also, useful for experienced drummers to pick up a few pointers. Anders has a relaxed manner of instruction and encourages the intuitive side of drumming as well as technique. All in all, one of the best instructional videos I've used.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visual Is Always Better, March 31, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Voices of the Doumbek [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Watched this video a few times and it was worth every penny. What I learned would have cost me 10 Private lessons. Visual is always better - you could always reverse and fast forward.