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Thanks @drum6669 !

I rubber band the stick bc otherwise i'd ruin the congas ;) it also does create a more tribal sound (african drumming style). You get a different sound assortments such as rim clicks and rolls etc.

  • For this kind of work it's about 80 improvisation. Either I'm working within or over a frame work that I've come up with previously that generally support the kind of movement and/or mood of the dancing, or I come up with something completely spontaneous based on what I'm seeing.

  • This piece is based off of the 4 chord framework, however I have never adapted it to a 6 bar phrase or added in the in-between melodies with such density. I really started to do that more in this particular class since the Instructor really liked that style.

  • The odd time a dance instructor requests a specific piece. Sometimes they ask for a specific rhythm or "flavour" and so i go off that too.

  • If I'm collaborating with the same instructor for the same class each day, they tend to build off of the same exercises, so i end up playing the same type of music for certain stuff and then expanding on it altering it accordingly as the class develops.

It's a pretty interesting dynamic!