Percussion Patterns in Lhamo: the Drum Patterns of the Nepal Tibetan Lhamo Association

Lhamo, in the West called Tibetan Opera, is a form of total theatre combining dance, song, recitation, colorful costumes, and music, that traditionally is performed in the open air in Tibetan communities after harvest and at festive days. Within lhamo a number of conventions exist, one of which is the convention of percussion patterns. The musical accompaniment of lhamo is done by two musicians, one of whom plays a drum (rnga) and another who plays cymbals (rol mo). The drummer is the "master of ceremonies". By means of drum pattern variations, he indicates and controls which character(s) go on and off stage and when and how they move on stage. For that the drummer has a number of drum patterns at his disposal, that can be played singly or in various combinations and at various speeds. The cymbals player merely follows the dummer's lead. During my fieldwork in Boudhanath near Kathmandu with the Nepal Tibetan Lhamo Association (NTLA), I made an inventarisation of the lhamo drum...Show moreLhamo, in the West called Tibetan Opera, is a form of total theatre combining dance, song, recitation, colorful costumes, and music, that traditionally is performed in the open air in Tibetan communities after harvest and at festive days. Within lhamo a number of conventions exist, one of which is the convention of percussion patterns. The musical accompaniment of lhamo is done by two musicians, one of whom plays a drum (rnga) and another who plays cymbals (rol mo). The drummer is the "master of ceremonies". By means of drum pattern variations, he indicates and controls which character(s) go on and off stage and when and how they move on stage. For that the drummer has a number of drum patterns at his disposal, that can be played singly or in various combinations and at various speeds. The cymbals player merely follows the dummer's lead. During my fieldwork in Boudhanath near Kathmandu with the Nepal Tibetan Lhamo Association (NTLA), I made an inventarisation of the lhamo drum patterns, which are described in this paper. The drum patterns are all recorded and come as appendix as sound files. Attention is given to organology of the instruments and lineage of drum pattern traditions. It appears that the traditional teaching method of oral transmission from teacher to student is not the only method used by NTLA. Often multiple instructors teach simultaneously. By teaching with multiple instructors, it is possible to learn a complete lhamo play in three or four rehearsals. A chapter is devoted to rhythm in Tibetan music. This is the first published inventarisation of lhamo patterns.Show less

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Percussion Patterns in Lhamo: the Drum Patterns of the Nepal Tibetan Lhamo Association