Rhythm of the Middle-East

What a treat to have sizzlin' rhythms in The Living Room on a Monday morning. No better way to shake out the Monday blues!

We were shocked when percussionist Amit Gilboa came in lugging gargantuan bags filled of percussion instruments of different shapes and sizes. He tells us that the most widely-used drum in the Middle-East is the Darbuka, which can be played solo (like accompaniment for a belly dance performance) or in a band with string instruments like the Oud. 

Well, Stan & I got to roll up our sleeves and have a hand at playing the Darbuka. Here we are, trying our darnest to keep in rhythm while Amit added a layer of percussion solo over our base rhythm. It wasn't that tough lah, and we had a blast! 

 

Getting into the Groove: Stan & Pam play the Darbuka!

But hey, nothing compares to seeing the Master in action. So here he is:  

This (soon-to-be) father of two formed a band called the Al-Bedouin Middle Eastern Music Emsemble in 2004. You can also find out more about what he does here. Or if you're keen on some 'live' Middle-Eastern music, head down to Shiraz @ Clark Quay on Friday & Saturday nights to catch Amit in action. 

We also found out about Singapore Polytechnic's new Diploma course in Creative Writing for TV & New Media from three lecturers and veterans in the media/broadcast industry. They are Frederick Sui Tan, Lee Sher Lin and Gamar Aziz (pictured). It was a very lively and informative discussion ~ but what would you expect when you thrust five media people together in a room? *grin*  

Find out more about this very exciting course here or at Singapore Poly's website. I truly believe the journalist of the today needs to be effective in multiple platforms, especially New Media ~ this is where it's heading with MediaCorp's Newsplex, so this course is surely timely.