I had recently started playing a 8" Turkish Darbuka, rather than tapping out rhythms on a MIDI controller.
I am not playing hard or for long periods of time. I always take anti-inflamatory drugs like Mobic or Indocin or lots of aspirin anyway (as I have
damaged joints and spine), that makes it a little easier to play (any instrument).
But suddenly I am finding that my knuckles on both hands have started to hurt, and my ability to play precisely in time on all instruments is
worsened. At first I didn't think it was related to the drum, but the question now is whether there is a known way to prevent problems, or if I should
just leave the drumming to others.
Thanks!Sazi - 5-26-2010 at 04:15 PM
That is Not Good! I wish I could help, but I can only offer my thoughts...
I used to play Turkish Baglama, and I was good at it and enjoyed it very much, but after getting pains in my wrist which affected my oud playing I got
it checked and found out I had Osteo-Arthritis, so I immediately stopped playing baglama, as I wanted to play oud for a while longer yet.
I still miss the baglama, but am very glad I can still play oud with no pain.
Don't know if that really helps you, but I wish you a speedy recovery!Aymara - 5-27-2010 at 12:30 AM
Hello all percussion lovers and players
Injuries like the mentioned ones are feared amongst all percussion players ... this is a well known problem and can have several causes.
I know, what I'm talking about, because I'm a former drummer and percussionist
David Kuckherrmann, a famous german percussionist has posted several tutorial videos on Youtube. In one of his videos he shows some gymnastics,
that will help to prevent several injuries. Search Youtube for David or framedrum and you'll find it.
But suddenly I am finding that my knuckles on both hands have started to hurt, ...
I know that problem very well from the time, when I started playing Congas. And it recently happend to me again, when playing framedrum.
It is caused by unprecise playing, especially when the knuckles don't hit the drumhead, but the drum's frame instead.
To avoid this, many percussionists tape their knuckles like THIS Conga player.
PS: HERE are David's above mentioned gymnastics tips.
PPS: Don't forget to warm up before training!Aymara - 5-27-2010 at 01:19 AM
Hi again,
HERE you can download a PDF document by an American percussionist, who shows some warm up techniques with photos, which will help to prevent
several injuries too.
And HERE David Kuckherrmann shows some Darbuca basics, where you will see clearly, what I ment before regarding the risk, that your knuckles hit the
frame of the drum, when playing a TAK ... looks at the photos directly above the caption Darbuka-Notations.fernandraynaud - 5-27-2010 at 03:04 AM
Thanks, Chris, but I'm not sure I'm hitting the frame, I have one of these, and when you hit the frame, you do notice ;-)
What really hurts is the top of the 2nd joints on the fingers, starting from the fingertip. I thought it was from ineffective slaps, but both hands ?
not
What is really weird is the weakened precision in all playing. A voice says, would Frederic be doing this?
What really hurts is the top of the 2nd joints on the fingers, ...
... which usually is a sign, that you're hitting to close to the frame. On the Darbuca you showed us, it's not easy to avoid contact to the frame,
when playing a loud TAK.
The regions on the hand itself might be an indication, that you should better warm up before playing. Check out the above links about stretching
techniques.
What I would do is, stop playing until your hands feel well again and then make a video of your next Darbuca session. If you examine this video in
slow motion, you might find the reasons for your pain ... I'm not shure, but I bet, it's a combination of missing warm up before playing and wrong
technique.fernandraynaud - 5-27-2010 at 04:35 AM
Thanks Chris that makes sense Aymara - 5-27-2010 at 09:19 AM
Try using an Egyptian doumbek instead of a Turkish darabuka.
I had the same thought in the meantime ... THIS one from Meinl seems to be a very fine instrument ... not too expensive, good looking, tunable and including a spare head & a bag.
I myself have a Meinl framedrum and the quality is outstanding.paulO - 5-27-2010 at 11:46 AM
Hi fernandraynaud,
When I checked out your profile, I see that you're a computer engineer, a sound engineer, and a composer in addition to being a musician. I don't need
to tell you that all these activities reinforce themselves - they involve a lot less variety of hand use than they used to. So much of composing is
computer centric, as is engineering (both sound and computer). I've played dumbek and frame drum on and off for about 50 years now, and only recently
did I get sore hands from playing a gig, and this is on an Egyptian style drum. Since you have tender joints already -- and drumming involves striking
some part of a metal or clay surface -- you're going to aggravate things.
You could try laying off the drum for awhile -- it's tough to do, I know, but sometimes you just have to give your body a break. Possibly leaving the
drumming to others could be the way to go -- sometimes the choices are really difficult -- but just give your body a break and see how it goes. Take
care.
