Leah Androski
reporter@greenepublishing.com
The Madison Public Library, located at 378 College Loop, in Madison, held a drum circle, celebrating the kick-off for their summer programs.
On Thursday, June 13, the Madison Public Library held the drum circle for the public to come and participate in. Clinton and Violet Tipton brought their African drums and encouraged the public to come jam out with them.
The Tipton’s started the drum circle by telling people to pick a drum, sit by it and start playing. They gave tips on how to best position the drum in order to play effectively. They also showed how the drums could be tuned, giving them a better sound.
Clinton began to explain a game to the other drummers, where he would raise his hands and lower his hands. The raising and lowering of the hands would determine the volume at which the drums were played. The lower his hands the quieter the drums would be played. After playing this game for a while, Clinton decided to bring out other instruments rather than just the drums. After this Clinton brought out a cowbell.
Clinton called this next activity “Bell Power.” He would play the cow bell and ask everyone who was playing the drums to play back the same thing on their drums. After playing “bell power,” he then sat back down and encouraged anyone who wanted to dance to do so.
After the dance party, the Tipton’s told a story about the different ways to play a drum. The story started off with a lonely little ant, which Clinton played the drum with one hand. When the ant finds a friend, Clinton then added another hand while playing the drum. After introducing a couple other animals each causing everyone to bang the drum a different way, the Tiptons told the participants to play their favorite animal.