RIDDIMS | part one

RIDDIMS | part one

Get your back off the wall

The original ,tle of this conversa,on was Rhythms. Back when I was s,ll to white to write.1 Rhythm (from Greek - rhythmos, "any measured ow or movement, symmetry") is the variaAon of the length and accentuaAon of a series of sounds or other events.2 But we all know it goes back way further and deeper than that. Back to a fundamental understanding of the rhythms that surround us. Our understanding of rhythm is ini,ally formed by a heartbeat, not ours but our mothers, in the womb. We would listen to it with our unformed ears, or rather, we would feel it with all of our underdeveloped senses.3 Every beat. Beat-beat. Beat-beat. Un,l our own hearts would eventually catch the tune and begin to sing of itself, and we would listen to two hearts bea,ng closely in duet. Later on in life our rhythms not only represent our heartbeat, but it also recalls the way we walk, talk, and interact with others. Rhythms even govern the way we think the dierent manners in which we structure out thoughts. Whether one by one or at the same ,me4 all perfectly laid out in rhythmic harmony.

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The rhythms of our lives. There is even some research5 that suggests that our strongest responses is not to those rhythms that emanate from within us, but to the beats that originate from those around us. Rhythms caused or made by other people have the power to trigger deep within our hearts and minds all possible primal responses, whether its ght, ight or some other unmen,onable desires.6 We live by rhythms. We exist through them. We inuence others by the sounds we create with our lives. Lives lived loudly broadcast a twenty-four-seven live stream of a series of complex rhythms into the souls atmosphere reverbera,ng against and resona,ng with any- and everything it encounters. Leaving nothing unchanged. Leaving no-one not tapping his feet.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

I dont know what it is about music, but across generaAons and genres this truth holds fast: the darker your skin, the hipper your thing! Ocial Wikipedia deniAon For an amazing study on rhythm, its roots and its inuence, see How Music Works by Howard Goodall. IllustraAng the main discrepancy in thought paXerns between sexes. This observaAon by the author is absolutely subjecAve and not supported by any data whatsoever. Once again, check out How Music Works by Howard Goodall ?! your guess is as good as mine.

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Feel da riddim, feel da rhyme

Whether its Bob or Damian8 or Lucky9 or those guys with the massive brass sec,on and the Billy Joel sunglasses10, the ragamun culture and its keepers have always understood music to be more than mere syncopated beats played to a mathema,cal series of notes. For them, music is magical. It is worship. Or it could be. Where the term riddim is used to refer to more than the beat of the drum, but to all the nuances and subtle,es of an en,re backing track, including layer upon layer of low end instruments and samples, crea,ng an intoxica,ng, never ending groove, laying down a solid founda,on for the yummy goodness on top. Where the term rhyme is used to refer to the some,mes improvised, always erra,c movements of a lead sound, scribbled all over the grainy textures of the riddim, crea,ng a challenging but beau,ful experience for the ar,st and audience alike. What is interes,ng to know is that in Indian and African cultures, musical rhythms are transferred orally. Tradi,onal percussion instrumentalists would have to learn to speak or sing the rhythm, before they could play it. In Western cultures classical musical nota,on takes care of communica,ng a specic rhythm, and it is expected of students to be able to read music well, if they are ever going to perform at an acceptable standard. But we are not having this conversa,on so that we could learn more about reading were in this together to teach each other more about singing. This conversa,on is not about the rhythms of life as understood in a Western context, but about the subtle sounds of da riddims of da soul as heard on the island breeze! Its about understanding the riddims of God, of others and of course, the riddims of your own heart.

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Rehearsing all the aspects of your being to move in sync with the universe and its lead vocalist, learning to nd and follow the rhyme amidst the noise. Holding onto the riddim with all youve got. Rhyming to yourself before you perform in front of others.

Riddim & rhyme. Now dat's iery.

7. 8. 9.

Taken from the movie Cool Runnings, Walt Disney Pictures 1993 The original ragamun, the lion Bob Marley, passed the musical torch to his son Damian when he passed away in 1981 Local South African reggae star Lucky Dube pioneered not only the cause for the music of the islands, but also the cause for reconciliaAon and forgiveness in a country torn apart my racial and ethnic prejudice, unAl he was tragically killed in an armed robbery in Johannesburg in 2007. 10. UB40, of course - the only white guys ever to create any kind of credible reggae sound.

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Its about understanding the riddims of God, of others and of course, the riddims of your own heart.

RIDDIMS | part one

A scientific myth
Biorhythms are a myth. Thats what most people say, and by most people I mean the scien,sts and psychologists who generally know more about this stu than most people, and by most people I mean us, yes you and me. A biorhythm (from the Greek - biorhuthmos) is a hypotheAcal cycle in physiological, emoAonal, or intellectual well-being.11 Bio means life, and rhythm, well... by now we all know what rhythm means. But in this context rhythm means to ow with regular movement. Here is a fact: biorhythms theory has no more predic,ve power than chance, and has been labeled a pseudoscience by skep,cs.12 A pseudoscience? That means a wannabe science. Thus, biorhythms are a myth. Just dont tell Dr. Wilhelm Fliess13 that, at least, not to his face.14 Being one of the leading biorhythm experts in the world, he would tell you all you ever wanted and did not want to know about owing with the regular movements of life. And when hes nished with you, although you might s,ll believe that biorhythms are a myth, at least now youll believe its a scien,c myth! He would tell you that, according to the study of biorhythms, ones life is aected by rhythmic biological cycles of between 25 to 35 days long. He would even tell you that these cycles inuence every aspect of your being, from your physical performance, to your emo,onal wellbeing, and even your mental state. Hes even convinced that through measuring the ac,vity of bioelectricity in your body, they can accurately predict these cycles, so as to catch you on your very best, or more disconcer,ng, on your very worst day.

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In the past biorhythm test results have been used to decide which players to drab, when to acack, even in determining NASA launch dates for manned space expedi,ons. Biorhythm ac,vity is mainly illustrated through three cycles, which move up and down the graph of ,me as you grow older. They move independently of each other, but every so oben, they converse at an ul,mate high or ul,mate low. In normal cases all three cycles meet at the bocom of the graph, only twice in a persons life,me. At birth, and on the exact same day 58 years later. In scien,c biorhythm terminology, the rst is called an unfavorable circumstanAal event, and the second is known as the criAcal day. Your birth - an unfavorable circumstan,al event. Your 58th birthday the cri,cal day. But were not here to talk about scien,c myths.

11. Wikipedia, of course where else can you read credible deniAons of pseudosciences? 12. See 11 13. The German born doctor/scienAst pracAced in Berlin in the late 19th century. He also became a good friend of Sigmund Freud, the two working closely together during the development of Freuds psychoanalysis theory. 14. This would prove to be a challenge, since the good doctor passed away in October 1928.

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To flow
What this conversa,on is about, is spiritual mysteries. The dierence between a scien,c myth and a spiritual mystery is this: the one needs actual proof of its existence to be helpful. If there is such a thing as biorhythms, then just maybe there is something like bioriddims as well. If biorhythms mean to ow with the regular movements in life, I guess an apt deni,on for bioriddims would be simply just to ow. Not necessarily with regular movement. But in any given way. Not necessarily just in the context of our biological lives. But in every sphere of our natural and spiritual existence. The study of bioriddims then would center around the ques,on: how do I synchronize my life so that its natural frequencies will resonate with those of the planet, its people and their Creator. How do I take what Ive been graciously given and use it to create the most good in the world? How do I maximize my life? How do I ow? My wish is that over the course of the next couple of chapters our conversa,on would lead us to a point where we begin to learn how to naturally move with the riddim and rhyme.

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How to discern spiritual mystery from scien,c myth15, and how to hold on to the one thats helpful. I hope that you also can nd that sweet groove where the jam is ,ght, where you resonate perfectly with the phacest riddims from deep within your soul, and where the illest rhymes ow through your being out into a world desperate for something they can dance to.16 May you see in hindsight your unfavorable circumstan,al event be changed into a unbelievably crea,ve extravaganza, and may your cri,cal day be one of climac,c highs, instead of cumbersome lows. And for goodness sake, may you not have to wait un,l your 58th birthday to experience that. Let it be soon, before the year is out, before your next birthday, as you turn the last page of this book even now. As you ow with the riddims, may criAcal become just another word for every, and may you constantly learn new rhymes about the mysteries of life. And please, not just by reading about them.

15. In this instance scienAc myth can also double for pious religious junk. 16. Yes, I did manage to squeeze all the cool music words Ive heard the kids say into one paragraph yes, Im sorry and no, I dont know any others, thats my whole repertoire.

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RIDDIMS | part one

It was my first real six string17

I am not a virtuoso guitarist, neither an expert luthier. I enjoy playing, though, but what I even enjoy more, is going down to the local musical instrument shop, picking out the most expensive guitars, just to see if they really do sound as good as the price tag would suggest. I would listen to endless explana,ons from the sales acendant about wood quality, workmanship and years of guitar building experience and brand heritage. The only thing though, that somehow gave me the impression that I was holding not a mere instrument, but a work of art in my hands, was this one thing resonance. Ah, there it is. Resonance. If the guitar resonated with me I would eventually walk out of the shop disgruntled at the fact of not having ve gures of cash to lay down for what could easily become my soul mate, as if things like that could be bought with money! Im not talking about resona,ng in a metaphorical sense of the word, but a very literal one. If I could feel the backboard of the guitar vibrate against my chest as I would lightly strum across the strings, I was sold. With some models, and not just the most expensive ones, I could even feel the low end notes vibrate through the backboard into my body, hikng my heart at just the right spot, before it permeated my whole torso with its relaxing feel. The top notes would work its way up into my head, teasing my mind with the possibili,es of endless melodies and harmonies, s,ll uncreated by the lucky owner.

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I could easily imagine an instrument like that becoming my permanent, ever-present muse. We would make sweet music together.18 It gave me a glimpse of what my hidden poten,al was, if only I let it nd my natural frequency, and gave myself to its rhythms. It resonated with me.

17. Taken from Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams. Thanks, Bryan, for making this the theme song for a gazillion other wannabe rawk stars. 18. Not in the Barry White (who coined this subversive term, by the way) sense, more like in the John Mayer or Jack Johnson sense.

As you ow with the riddims, may cri$cal become just another word for every, and may you constantly learn new rhymes about the mysteries of life.

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Resonate
Every single material thing has a natural frequency. A specic sequence of ups and downs that governs its earthly existence.

RIDDIMS | part one

This frequency is determined by the objects weight, form and density, amongst other things. In fact, every single aspect of its physical make-up plays a role in determining its frequency. Having a natural frequency means that an object responds to that specic sekngs of waves. It just cant help itself - if it comes in close enough proximity to something else that is already vibra,ng at that same speed and intervals, it will somehow nd itself resona,ng with the frequency of that object, and the two will begin to vibrate as one! It is from this simple scien,c fact that we get the myth (idea?) that if everyone on earth would be able to jump up and down in unison, simula,ng the natural frequency of our planet, we would be able to get the earth to resonate with that frequency and vibrate itself out of its natural orbit!19 Everything has a natural frequency you have one too - whether its leaves on a tree that share this same acribute and wave at the same intervals, or if its strings next to each other on a musical instrument that sing the same note. However, if its humans that start to resonate, with each other or with some greater invisible force, they inevitably become an unstoppable ow20, like a raging river. Strong enough to break rocks, but uid like water. The nal ques,on is this: do you know what your natural frequency is? Or even more important, do you know where to nd something greater than yourself that you can resonate with, that can give you the ability to sing that song that has been embedded in your soul since you heard the rst rhythms? What resonates with you?

19. This is a total urban myth or is it? If you can get a big enough crowd together I wont miss it for the world (pun intended!) 20. Genesis 11 v 6

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Understand the tune

To nd your natural frequency, youll have to dig deep into the primordial ooze. Youll have to rediscover the why, when, and how about what it means to be truly human. Again. Because its not that we never knew its just that we somehow forgot along the way. To understand anything, you must understand a liXle bit about everything that surrounds it.21 This conversa,on is not an acempt to explain everything about everything. It is merely an acempt to iden,fy the most crucial elements surrounding the mystery of nding our natural frequencies, to try and explain prac,cal ways to reorganize our existence around its rhythms, and to sit back, feel the vibra,ons and listen to the most beau,ful, original music coming from, well... our new found convic,ons, our resul,ng ac,ons and eventually our human lives. Understand a licle bit about everything? Maybe just a licle bit about the most important. The music that denes our humanity.

21. Chris Anderson, when sharing a vision for the TED Conference as newly appointed TED Custodian.

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The end.

This was: The Introduc,on [Riddims for dummies] Next: Part One [Belong to others]

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RIDDIMS | part one

Thank you for reading Riddims [Riddims for dummies]! Make sure to also get the other ebooks in the series. I would love to hear your comments and ques,ons, so dont hesitate in sending either to any of the connec,on points men,oned below. Peace.

About the author | Mynhardt van Pletsen serves as a communica,ons and

marke,ng strategist for various ministries, non-prots and small businesses. He writes mainly about technology, crea,vity and spirituality. Some,mes he rides motorcycles. w | mynhardtvanpletsen.me f | facebook.com/mynhardtvanpletsen t | @mynhardt Copyright 2011 Mynhardt van Pletsen
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