samullori... beat to dis!
February 28th 2007 13:41
last night was one of those nights that was just meant to be. we decided that we would go out for diner at one of the local bbq houses in cheonan. we went to one that unfortunately i can't say the name of as i couldn't read it, but i can say that it is going to be one of the our regular haunts from now on as the food was exceptional and the price was very well within our budget. i even managed to meet a fellow student that works there from sangmyung university who, once we established we were studying together, was more than accomodating for our every need.
after a hearty serve of samgyeopsal (bbq bacon type pork), bap, and a couple of bottles of makgeolli (this ultra cheap unstrained rice wine that tastes like water with a hint of alcohol - but certainly does the trick), we wondered off home to revel in our coolness. as i stood at the kitchen window, consuming a well deserved marlboro red, i was suddenly overwhelmed by a sound unlike anything i had ever heard before. a rhythmic beat consisting of a pulsating bottom end complemented by high almost piercing 'gong' sounds. all moving in a progressive waveform that was too tantalising to pass by...
i had to then leave my apartment and go in search of this sound that had aroused my senses. upon leaving my residence, i discovered that it was coming from the block next door, and not from the main street that i had initially heard the reverberation from. as i stood there looking up at the room where the noise was coming from, i started to contemplate how i was going to approach the situation. should i just walk in and go 'hey! i don't know what you are doing, but i would like to be part of it!' or should i just stand there and listen? i went for the latter option, however within a couple of minutes, a man came out from the restaurant underneath this jam session and gestured to me in a way to say 'would you like to come in?' with an enthusiastic smile, i nodded yes and it was on!
he grabbed my arm and virtually dragged me into a stairwell, all the while smiling and saying something at me that i could not understand, but knowing he was friendly and had nothing but sincerity to offer. as we walked up the stairs, the drums were getting louder, and my anticipation grew and grew. what was i about to walk into?
the door was opened and i was thrust into my first piece of traditional korean history, with a drum beat banging in a way that you could not ignore it. before me was a room of eight men, all about 35 to 60 years of age, going nuts on each of their instruments! they all gave me a look of 'huh? westerner?' and then smiled with a welcome and gestured to get on down with them! naturally, this was what i was searching for in this adventure, so i could not resist. i was drawn to the man on the big ass bass drum that was driving the groove, which i later found out is called the buk.
this guy grabbed me and thrust the buk into my hand and gave me a quick lesson on the required beat that i had to bring to the jam. i felt it and rolled with it to much surprise of my fellow beat masters. they all gave me the nod that a muso does when you are accepted and off we went. it didn't take too long to realise that the man on the kkwaenggwari (a small gong) was the conductor and drove the bpm and took the jam to the highs and the lows. eventually the beat came to a crescendo, and this marked the end of the session. kind of like a van halen end with david lee roth hollering 'yeeeaaahhh'. BANG! the end.
everyone stopped and looked at me with a 'yeah!', followed by an onslaught of korean language that i had no idea of its meaning, but could understand that they were impressed. one of the guys came over and shook my hand saying 'you friend'. with that i knew that i was in with this group of gentlemen and was one of the tribe. we then attempted to converse on a few topics, but decided that the best way to talk was with the music.
we kicked out a few more jams, and this saw the evening come to an end. however they then thrust a calendar into my face, showing me that they are jamming this friday and that i must come to play with them. of course i agreed, said goodbye, and danced my way home! i wait until friday with much anticipation.
after a hearty serve of samgyeopsal (bbq bacon type pork), bap, and a couple of bottles of makgeolli (this ultra cheap unstrained rice wine that tastes like water with a hint of alcohol - but certainly does the trick), we wondered off home to revel in our coolness. as i stood at the kitchen window, consuming a well deserved marlboro red, i was suddenly overwhelmed by a sound unlike anything i had ever heard before. a rhythmic beat consisting of a pulsating bottom end complemented by high almost piercing 'gong' sounds. all moving in a progressive waveform that was too tantalising to pass by...
i had to then leave my apartment and go in search of this sound that had aroused my senses. upon leaving my residence, i discovered that it was coming from the block next door, and not from the main street that i had initially heard the reverberation from. as i stood there looking up at the room where the noise was coming from, i started to contemplate how i was going to approach the situation. should i just walk in and go 'hey! i don't know what you are doing, but i would like to be part of it!' or should i just stand there and listen? i went for the latter option, however within a couple of minutes, a man came out from the restaurant underneath this jam session and gestured to me in a way to say 'would you like to come in?' with an enthusiastic smile, i nodded yes and it was on!
he grabbed my arm and virtually dragged me into a stairwell, all the while smiling and saying something at me that i could not understand, but knowing he was friendly and had nothing but sincerity to offer. as we walked up the stairs, the drums were getting louder, and my anticipation grew and grew. what was i about to walk into?
the door was opened and i was thrust into my first piece of traditional korean history, with a drum beat banging in a way that you could not ignore it. before me was a room of eight men, all about 35 to 60 years of age, going nuts on each of their instruments! they all gave me a look of 'huh? westerner?' and then smiled with a welcome and gestured to get on down with them! naturally, this was what i was searching for in this adventure, so i could not resist. i was drawn to the man on the big ass bass drum that was driving the groove, which i later found out is called the buk.
his only gesture was to bang it harder!
everyone stopped and looked at me with a 'yeah!', followed by an onslaught of korean language that i had no idea of its meaning, but could understand that they were impressed. one of the guys came over and shook my hand saying 'you friend'. with that i knew that i was in with this group of gentlemen and was one of the tribe. we then attempted to converse on a few topics, but decided that the best way to talk was with the music.
just shut up and jam!
we kicked out a few more jams, and this saw the evening come to an end. however they then thrust a calendar into my face, showing me that they are jamming this friday and that i must come to play with them. of course i agreed, said goodbye, and danced my way home! i wait until friday with much anticipation.
you can move your body if you want to..
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Comment by Dave
But seriously, it must be awesome hanging with the locals like that and have them accept you.
Just make sure you haven't inadvertently become a member of an underground anti-govermnent sectarian religion and all will be well.
Comment by Jonathon
Anthroblogogy
Comment by The black man
Comment by Jonathon
Anthroblogogy