How To play Rav Drum-Episode 2-Finger/Percussion Techniques

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Hello Friend!
This is part two of my "How to play The Rav Drum" Series.
In it, I begin demonstrating how to strike the tongues and with what fingers, to achieve different sound.
Talked about are:
Thumb Strikes
Slaps
and the Split finger technique.
Hope you find this helpful, stay well and please let me know what content you would like to see!
Rewildyousoul
Join a Rav Facebook Group!
/ ravvastcommunity

[@dr.matthewgamble]

Really appreciate your willingness to share your wisdom with the Vast.

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Happy to do so! This is many years old now, I have a playlist of all the Lessons sense then here: kzbin.info/aero/PLBu0o0hOsak3-WgeDV43K1MFe9v-4mutM I would look at the bottom of the list for the more recent

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I also teach via zoom on the Rav and Handpan full time, so feel free to reach out if you are on the market for Song based lessons!

[@abhaybulusu5547]

Pleasure to watch the video. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge. Learning a lot from you :)

[@Xbaronlol]

ordered myself one just now :D then you popped up on my youtube. thanks for the lessons. Namaste!

[@christinetravalihamburg2781]

Beautiful, thank you❣️

[@KatNicholson]

Thank you so much for these videos! I just got a rav vast yesterday and i’m totally clueless! XD your videos are proving very useful as a starting point :)

[@MagicPatagonia]

Beautiful sounds!!!

[@karenjones2655]

I so cant wait to buy one

[@awlaser]

Excellent help! Thank you

[@ReWildYourSoul]

My pleasure!

[@ggarbo303]

at minute 5, that litte quick scale you did was beautiful

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Thanks so much! These videos are so old I forget about them sometimes!

[@HokuSeaglassHawaii]

Thanks Ricky, this is very helpful! Keep them coming Brother! (When you can!)

[@ReWildYourSoul]

No problem my friend! You necklace, with extra goodies, is on its way to you (I am sure you saw the update, but just in case!)

[@catherinecastle830]

Just ordered the d celtic minor rav2. While I wait for it to deliver to the states, I love watching your tutorials and practicing on a large mixing bowl! Haha

[@ReWildYourSoul]

haha good! I think you will love it :) They are shipping pretty quickly, so I dont think it will be very long!

[@andreas_holm]

Thanks for sharing!! Would love to see some videos about rhythm patterns as well!

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I will do that next!

[@andreas_holm]

Just watched it! Cheers!

[@Ryssmak]

nice!

[@KatNicholson]

I notice your bracelets add a secondary snare-like percussive element too! Cool XD

[@ReWildYourSoul]

It does! :)

[@kristinaveselinova]

Could you explain the slap-technique a little more?- do you altérnate the fingers or do you use them at the same moment? Thanks!

[@NoahHornberger]

really appreciate your open approach 'no wrong way' and also share your methods, its a good lesson. By the way I ordered one from Russia last week :)

[@ReWildYourSoul]

thats so exciting! Which did you order? You will love it my friend!

[@jenniferweston8252]

This is fantastic, Ricky! Thanks for the guidance :) I would love to see a future video on the different types of scales a Rav can have and how you might approach playing them differently. For example, I have a Rav vast G pygmy; it just arrived this week. Is the center tongue the G sound? How do you know what notes the other tongues make? Thanks again for your awesome videos. ~Jennifer

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I will most definitely create a video discussing scales and note layout! Thank you for the suggestion and for watching/ Stay well

[@carpedekem]

You've probably already figured out that the center tongue is G and what the other notes are, so I won't go into that unless you ask me to. But I want to share what I did with my G minor pentatonic, which I've found helpful. I got some colored stickers at a craft store and color coded the tongues so that I know which tones are the same (but an octave apart) and which tones go well with others. I play several other instruments and read music notation well, but since I'm new to Rav, I found thinking in terms of pitches confusing. The color coded, what-goes-with-what method is working better in terms of getting improv going. Once I've got a good muscle memory for those things, I'll take the stickers off.

[@moosees]

Hello, you have a playlist for rav tutorials, but only this video is added to that list, could you add the other ones please?

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Done!

[@dertrujillo7515]

I find that if you play wearing a ring it adds an extra tap to it. However I don't know if that is such a good idea, I don't know if the ring might damage the drum some how. I hope not.

[@mignon1959]

Loving the tutorials Ricky thankyou from Australia :) my question is how do I develop strength and flexibility in my left hand ? And how hard should I be hitting the notes? it looks so gentle when others play but Im having to slap some of the tongues to get a good sound Thankyou Mignonxx

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I play with a very heavy hand! For the vast 2, you can give them a pretty solid hit, for the best sound. When i perform outdoors or busking, I often end up with blisters! ha. For me, playing gently works, in terms of dynamics, but the notes really shine when played with a bit of force. About the same strength of a hit used for a bongo. Unlike a handpan, these respond well to heavy playing! Stay well!

[@mignon1959]

Thankyou 😊

[@melikairannejad5111]

Hey fo u teach steel drums too?

[@norwichyogacentral71]

I’d love to see a tutorial shot from above your head, so it’s as I see it to a really super slow follow to a nice little melody that can be built on, please 🤗

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Check out some of my newer tutorials :) I use a gopro now!

[@caitmcwhir3942]

Hi, thanks for the great tutorials. I see you mentioned getting blisters in one of the comments below and I am concerned about that and getting my hands beaten up...I am a massage therapist and need my hands! Do you recommend using tape or gloves? I want to be able to play it with some dynamics and not just quietly because of needing to protect my hands. Thanks!

[@ReWildYourSoul]

hey there! I think your hands would be fine if played softly. My primary issue is busking for extended periods of time. They do sell tongue drum finger pads (essentially silicone rings with a bump for hitting the instrument) on ebay. You could check those out. Other than that, I would not worry too much, as long as you are not playing passionately for hours on end like I do! :) Hope that helps Cait!

[@annieperry7499]

what a great series of videos!! i am getting ready to order mine today from RAV in Russia and trying to decide of B Celtic minor or B onoleo.. anybody got feedback?? thanks!

[@carpedekem]

You may have already ordered, but in case you haven't, I'll chime in. B Celtic minor has 6 tones (some of which are repeated, because there are 9 tongues). Although it's not a full 8 tone scale, the tones consist of the main notes in the B minor scale, so you can play something that sounds minor, or, if you choose the right notes, can play something that sounds like D major. It works very well with the D major Rav. In contrast, B onoleo has 5 tones (some also repeated). The tones are close to B minor, but one of them isn't in B minor (the D#), but makes it so you can kind of play E minor, too. So it's betwixt and between B and E minors. In other words, it's going to sound a bit exotic and may be harder to combine with other instruments that have limited pitches. If I were buying my first Rav, I'd go with the B Celtic. Several folks in the group I play with have it and we all love the scale. The B onoleo seems more like a 2nd instrument to me, to add an exotic spice sound.

[@annieperry7499]

appreciate this very much.. and i just today ordered ( before reading this0 my celtic B!!! yay!!! i look forward to "joining the family" thanks again! will be looking forward to learning what this beautiful instrument can do!

[@carpedekem]

Enjoy!

[@danielbeaman5165]

Loving your tutorials bro! Quick question, how'd did you like your Golden gate compared to your d major? I like the positive vibes to both them but it seems like the D major has a more bright approach while the Golden gate is more somber

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I would agree! D major is more of a happy, almost pop feel to it. Golden gate is a very particular feel, mainly because the whole scale is essential one large chord. In terms of play-ability, I think D major has more potential for varied playing, where the Golden gate, you are really stuck with the same sort of vibe. I actually sold the one in this video, but I am on the market for another, now that I am using Ravs more with vocals! Luckily, even if you decide you want a different one, they sell really quickly, so you could swap out very easily. Thanks for watching my friend!

[@justin5822]

@@ReWildYourSoul Hello my friend sorry to reply to such an old comment but I see you said they resell quite easily? Where are you selling? I have a Rav vast 2 D major I'm wanting to sell in place of my new B Kurd double ding. Thank you for your videos, they're great.

[@BarryGrueter]

Very nice 👍

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Thanks my friend! I have lots of content that is far newer than this! Most of these videos are 5or 6 year old! If you end up looking for online lessons, be in touch! Would love to work together and help get to started!

[@BarryGrueter]

@@ReWildYourSoul ok I am checking out your channel and subscribed and hit the bell 🔔thanks

[@ReWildYourSoul]

@@BarryGrueter hey! Here is a playlist of some I have available on here! kzbin.info/aero/PLBu0o0hOsak3-WgeDV43K1MFe9v-4mutM

[@BarryGrueter]

@@ReWildYourSoul got it 👍thanks ✌

[@pryvacy1392]

How do you hold it like that?? I just got my Rav 2 and is SO heavy!!!

[@KatNicholson]

I was surprised at how heavy mine was too!

[@KarinaItaliano]

Can I please have some more information about private lessons? I am based in Indonesia🙏🏼

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Feel free to email me or visit my website rewildyoursoulmusic.com

[@Zimmergy]

I sure appreciate your videos, Ricky! i just got a RAV Vast G Pygmy standard 440 Hz tuning, for Christmas. I love it! I had a NOVA D minor Celtic tuned to 432 HZ for meditation, but I wanted a tongue drum that other musicians could play along with guitar/ piano/ flute. Also, the NOVA has a smaller sweet spot to hit on each tongue if playing quickly. The larger tongues of the RAV seem to be more forgiving. What do you use for recording the drum? I have interest in a Peizo magnetic pickup, and some type of ambient mic, to get all of the sound it creates. Do you have any comments, or suggestions? I plan on playing the instrument amplified to play with others. Also, if amplified, I don't have to strike as hardly to get a good sound. Thank you, so much! I would have been too intimidated to make the leap into tongue drums without your videos! I have been playing djembe for 10 years and wanted to add a new dimension to my music.

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I am so glad they were helpful my friend! It has been such a fun proces exposing new people and teaching with them! In general, for youtube videos, I like to record outdoors, so use a zoom h6 xy mic, sometime with an Octavia mic plugged into it, as a secondary sound source. Even just the xy on the zoom works well. Typically I record albums in the studio and have 3-4 mics places in front on both side and above, but that is a special situation. For social media, I typically just use my Gopro hero 7 Black! works perfectly and has surprisingly good audio. for youtube, audio matters, but most social platforms butcher it, so if the starting file has quality audio, alteast some will remain. Hope that helps and feel free to reach out if you have any question or are in need of lessons/ info! rewildyoursoulmusic@ gmail. com Ricky

[@Zimmergy]

@@ReWildYourSoul Thanks, Ricky!! I just used your You Tube video to weave a rim cover! Tom

[@robinhoodwasasocialist.1401]

Which tuning is this?

[@ReWildYourSoul]

This is a Golden gate C Vast 2! Sold this one, but I am missing it!

[@jeffscop]

Do you know anyone who can help teach me to play my Rav D maj. in the NYC area.

[@ReWildYourSoul]

I am happy to do some Skype lessons with you! I am up in MA, but sometimes travel out that way as well.-ricky

[@michaelsteen3488]

what Hz is the Rav vast 2 B Celtic? Thx

[@ReWildYourSoul]

He Michael, because of the process involved in making them, they are all A 440. Maybe in the future they will produce 432 hz Ravs, but no plan thus far. Hope that helps!

[@fullsunforever8867]

As a beginner, which key should I buy?

[@ReWildYourSoul]

Hey Fullson! I love the B kurd or Celtic or beginners, if you connect with that sound. The G pygmy is also a great choice!

[@derps7746]

I wish you would have had it right side up, im already struggling lol upside down doesnt help!!!

[@ReWildYourSoul]

haha yes this is a very old tutorial :) I can make another one soon!