In Iran and some other countries, it is believed that some drums are unladylike
without offering any reason! Not only this is the duty of girls and women to start drumming, but also boys and men should
encourage them to drum!
Also it is promoted that frame drums are very ladylike. Then I hope this will not cause people to think that the other kinds
of drums are unladylike.
As a male drummer, I believe that drums are not unladylike and I have some
female students that if they continue drumming, they will become a good tonbak (Persian goblet drum) player. One of them is Negin that you will see her photo in the
children page of my site.
I searched in many different books to find a female tonbak player's photo and the
only that I found is the photo that I have uploaded here: We Love Drums.
I have listened to Rimpa Shiv (broadcasted at YouTube) female tabla player of India and student and daughter of Swapan Shiv. She is one of the rare
female tabla players that has proved the incorrectness of the general belief that tabla playing is unladylike.
Here are some other female drummers:
YouTube.com: Mystic Iran (Women dervish dance, daf drumming and trance)
Venus Rising: Female Percussion and Dance Ensemble for West African Music
Tanya Schur
Drumocracy (Drumming for Freedom): Tanya Schur believes that
D.R.U.M means devotion, respect, unity and music. She quotes a nice sentence
from the late Babatunde Olatunji - father of the rythmaculture movement: "When
people drum together, the world is a better place." Do check out her green and
lovely website!
Ellen Clegg (Facilitator/Percussionist, FOUND SOUNDS: Community Through Rhythm)
Lilian Friedberg is a performing artist/drummer/writer/translator with European, Jewish and Ojibway ancestors, living in Chicago, where she
is a djembe instructor and Artistic Director of the Chicago Djembe Project.
Sheila E: My goal in life is to bless just one person a day. If today that one person is you then I have done my job by telling my
short story.
Cat Lake: Cat is a female percussionist based in the New Forest, Hampshire, UK. Her website is very well-designed. She is founder of an online community
for Bodhrán players - formerly Bodhranii - now a part of Paul Marshall's bodojo project. For more info about her check her website!
Sevinj Sariyeva (Mugam Singer and Ghaval Player) is one of the best female ghaval players that I have seen in my life. In
singing she is the student of Arif Babayev that is a very great singer in Azerbaijan.
Layne Redmond a drum sister of mine and a very famous US frame drummer.
Marla Leigh: Multi-percussionist (frame drums, Indian tabla and so on...), flautist, educator
and composer based in LA/USA.
Judy Piazza: founder of Resonance & Rhythms and a female multi-instrumentalist.
Frame Drummer Group: A very famous discussion forum for all frame drums of the world established by Dell
Taylor, a student of Layne. For more info about some members of FDG, please have a look at FDG CD Project.
The African Music Encyclopedia is a very nice website by female djembe player, Janet Planet. Her Drumminfan site has a very good drum links. She has some other websites: DrumCafe.com and DrumCafe.org and is the moderator of some drumming discussion groups powered
by Yahoo! Groups that you will find them in her sites.
Drummer Girl: A very good list of many women who drum. Many female drummers have been listed there.
Susie Ibarra is an NY-based female drummer and composer. She has worked with people like David
Ware, John Zorn, Derek Bailey and so on...
Anuradha Pal a female Indian tabla player and a famous student of the late Ustad Alla Rakha
Khan.
Monette Marino African, Cuban, Brazilizn and Korean Drumming
Evelyn Glennie UK based female drummer. Her site is really nice.
Alessandra Belloni a female drummer of Italy. An exploration of the music of southern Italy, with
performance listings, audio samples, drums. Her site has been designed by my friend Chris Sampson (percussionist and web-designer).
Dr. Judith R. Cohen: performer and ethnomusicologist specializing in Judeo-Spanish ("Ladino") Sephardic
songs, as well as in medieval and traditional music, including Balkan, Portuguese, Yiddish, and French Canadian. Her daughter,
Tamar Ilana Cohen Adams (born in 1986) often performs with her, on voice, recorders and percussion.
Simone LaDrumma: Group and Private Lessons, Drum Circles and Parties, Programs for Children. Simone,
this nice female drummer, has been drumming professionally since 1987.
Safiya, Khafif's second drummer, primarily plays doumbek, and occasionally tar and zils. Safiya
is also an artist, librarian, and researcher.
Jacqui MacMillan: Washington D.C. based female drummer. She is a very active percussionist and she has
a nice website.
Anna Oelerich in Nordhorn, Germany
DrumCafe Nordhorn - Drumming in Nordhorn, Germany (djembe, percussion and drum circle) run by Anna Ölerich and Roswitha Bült and
info and support by Rosi and Heinz - Jürgen Burrichter.
This page has been created on 8/03/2003 for the remembrance of International Woman's Day (somehow
related to women's rights!). If you know any good site related to female drummers, then please email me. Thanks for your help.
