Sri Lankan percussionists Ray Pereira and Kanchana Karunaratna have used their wealth of experience and knowledge of both African and Sri Lankan rhythms and dance to come up with a new style of drumming. A style that draws it’s influences from both traditions.
The Afro Lankan Drumming System is an adaptable system of rhythms that can be played using a variety of African and Cuban drums including djembe,conga, dun duns and SriLankan drums gata bera , thammatamma, dawla, yak bera.
The Afro Lankan Drumming System is an adaptable system of rhythms that can be played using a variety of African and Cuban drums including djembe,conga, dun duns and SriLankan drums gata bera , thammatamma, dawla, yak bera.
Ray Pereira“As a young boy growing up in Sri Lanka, my friends and I would invade cricket matches armed with a motley collection of instruments. Drums, plastic buckets.dust bin lids,wooden boxes and scrap metal were used to play rhythms that turned the match into a riotous celebration. At home I listened to the drumming from the nearby Buddhist temple and on the streets I heard the sounds of ancient traditional rhythms celebrating religious festivals or exorcising evil spirits at rituals.
My travels around the world then led me to New York, Cuba and West Africa where I played and studied with master musicians immersing myself in the traditional rhythms of these diverse cultures. The more I listened and learned , the more I heard the similarities between these styles even though there were also great differences. When I met Kanchana, a master drummer in the Sri Lankan tradition, who also had experience of African and Cuban drumming, it only seemed natural that we should combine our collective knowledge and experience to start up the Afrolankan Drumming System. As well as producing my own original projects, I work as an educator and workshop facilitator and record and perform with a number of top Australian Artists.” For more information on Ray and drumming classes visit www.raypereira.com |
|