Polyrythms with Toma Gouband

Musicians and composers under education or at a professional level is invited to take part in this workshop with French drummer Toma Gouband, who is in Copenhagen as part of a residency organized by vocalist/perc. Birgitte Lyregaard, JazzDanmark and Koncertkirken during Vinterjazz 2022.  

The workshop takes place in KoncertKirken in Blågårds Plads 6A from 14:00-18:00 on the 22nd of February.

You are required to bring your own instrument for this workshop.

About the workshop
In this workshop Toma Gouband proposes to think and explore polyrhythmic systems, learning and using all their contents to improvise, compose, develop a certain vocabulary, acquire knowledge that derives from it, to use it in composition and improvisation.

Through the years Gouband has made research about the links between numbers, observing the results of their meetings, the proportions they give. He has written them in many ways, on a line, in a circle, with colors, and used them as a starting point to compose and improvise, find melodies rhythms and harmony generated by these systems and numbers.

His underlying basis is that polyrhythm exists in all parts of the universe: in the body with heartbeat and breathing, in a solar system with planets turning around a sun, in the different cycles between moon cycle and year cycle, in a street with all the different speeds and in an infinity of situations.

All these polyrhythms from numbers gives formula of numbers and colors which can be used to generate music: textures, rhythms, melody, harmony, forms, scales. The logical inner construction of a polyrhythm makes logical music developments if we use them in a way or in another.

This workshop aims to give tools which could be used for each participant to develop the way they can work with polyrhythms.

Target Audience: Students / professional musicians.
Participation is free but requires registration. Limited to 20 participants only.
Register: You can register below using the our "Tilmeld Event" option.
Time/Duration: 4 hours.
Venue: KoncertKirken, Blågårds Plads 6A, 2200 København N.

This workshop is a collaboration between by vocalist/perc. Birgitte Lyregaard, JazzDanmark, KoncertKirken and Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) and Toma Goubands residency in Copenhagen is part of Vinterjazz 2022.

About Toma Gouband

Toma Gouband was born in Manosque France in 1976 and started drumming when he was 5 years old.

“I remember that one day I created a drum with kitchen tools and pots and started to improvise in front of a valley from south of France where I was living. It felt kind of magic moment, a deep feeling that there was an

obvious meaning in doing that, playing music could make me observe and feel the landscape differently, a mysterious and interesting path to fellow.”

After this moment he started to learn till 20 years old, learning jazz drums and other musical aspects especially in Toulouse Conservatory with Christian Salut and finishing his studies with a workshop directed by Dave Douglas at Banff center in Canada. In 2006 he went to Cameroun to meet a village of pygmies’ people, observe their music, the way they sing, dance and play together. When he came back, he changed the way of playing drums, started to find and play singing stones and other natural instruments.

Always attracted to proportions, polyrhythms, he made research to observe numbers, aiming to create systems to compose and improvise music.

In 2021 and 2022 Toma is writing a book about polyrhythms during a residency at La Pommerie (France). This work will be published on IRCAM edition.

During his stay in Copenhagen Toma will record a live record with local outfit Thou Sonic Friend and perform four concerts as part of KoncertKirkens Vinterjazz program, which you can check out right here.