The Montreal Tam-tams have been around for over thirty years. Starting as a gathering of students looking for a place to drum, it has grown into one of the world’s most renowned drumming circles. I had recently learned that drumming is the rhythm that connects us to the Earth. It stimulates our root energy centre, grounding our spiritual selves to our physical bodies and the Earth itself. Suddenly, my definition of “local products for mind, body and soul” just got a whole lot bigger.

I approach the drum circle from above the stone wall, where I’m able to gather in the scene below. I watch the people play: Men and women, young and old, a diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures. I start feeling the rhythm, but I still hesitate.

Down in the circle, a man in a baseball cap, striped shirt and khaki shorts, walks up to a few timid drummers and beats on their drum, encouraging them, inviting them to play bigger, play freer. I walk up to the wall, and wave him over. I say, “I’m new! Can you help me?”

Arthur playing my djembe

Arthur, my new Armenian friend, originally from Turkey, tells me to take a seat on the wall. He beats on my drum and says “go!” It appears simple, and yet… He tells me, “Just begin. Start small, and when you feel yourself in the rhythm, make it grow.” Arthur finds me a place front and center on one of the benches. I sit and listen. Arthur notices my frustrated expression. He says, “Most here are amateurs just like you. You think everyone is professional, but they’re not. Don’t think everyone is better than you. Just play.” I’m realizing everyone must’ve passed by this moment of doubt when they start, and Arthur is no different. He started the same way. He came to listen, then just sat in and started to drum.

My drum seems to have a mind of its own and is already vibrating to the music. I can feel it pulsing, as if calling me to simply help it along. I start slow, a nice heavy ‘thump’ in the middle. I tap again. I watch the woman next to me, stop thinking about my own hands, and start to play. The less I think of it, the easier it gets.

The first time it happens gives me such a rush of emotion beyond belief. I cannot hear my own drum; it is blending so seamlessly with the others around me. I am no longer thought, but simply pure feeling. A sense of joy overwhelms me and even my diaphragm starts to shake both from the steady rhythms and the excess of emotion that is trying to rise up to the surface within my body. I remain connected to the others; I am part of a whole that is bigger and beyond all of us; not just the drummers, but the dancers and on-lookers as well.

Suddenly I notice my hands again and I miss a beat. The spell is broken. I listen, I watch, I let go, and there it is again. It is like catching a wave, when you get that perfect timing. It is like when you “ohm” with a group and can no longer hear your voice, but just a giant swell of sound from many voices. It is like meditation when you stop the mind chatter and become one with everything. It’s like a soft “ka-chink” and perception shifts and everything connects, as if for a moment the entire universe is in sync, and you’re right in the middle.

The time goes by quickly, but I realize I’ve been playing off and on for over two hours. I’m thinking it’s not bad for my first circle.

From across the way I have noticed several women playing. I was surprised, in fact, by the number of women in the drumming circle. There seems to be an increasing amount from the times I used to come here to dance.

Nicole, pink sundress, grey hair in a chignon has come here only once before. She’s has taught herself drumming by playing at home with her Santana CD’s. I never would’ve guessed. She seems confident and keeps a steady rhythm. Playing with a group is different she says, and the music is African rather than the Latin beats she’s used to. But she says it’s like playing in an orchestra without having to learn the music first. She likes how easy it is to join in.

Mary Ann (left) and Nicole (right) jamming to the beats

Next to her is Mary Ann. She’s been coming for twelve years. A friend had told her about it. She had come to dance, but found herself attracted to the drumming instead.  She was coming religiously for about ten years, took a bit of a break, but found herself missing the energy here.

In her words, “I missed the heart beat; it was a part of me I left behind. When you play or hear the djembe, you are in unison with all that is around you, the drum, the people, and nature. You glance at the person around you and speak a silent language; there is no need to talk.”

Drumming circles give us a sense of community, they allow us to participate in music and rhythm, they make us feel alive and connected. They also help us heal. In the article, The Healing Powers of a Drum Circle, by Kavan Peterson, Editor of ChangingAging.org “Recent research finds that drumming accelerates physical healing, boosts the immune system and produces feelings of well-being and release of emotional trauma.”

In New Jersey’s Morristown Memorial Hospital’s Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, African drumming master Maxwell Kofi Donkor leads a drumming circle for cancer patients as part of a holistic program of recovery. Check out the video “Healing through Drumming”

More and more, drumming is breaking through the preconceived idea of being only for a small counterculture group.

“Drum circles are happening in many places. This demonstrates the importance of establishing a rhythmaculture in our Western world. People attend these events not to become better percussionists, but to reduce stress, build community, and have fun. It is a recreational activity that engages the mind, body, and spirit. Arthur Hull, father of the modern day drum circle, developed his unique approach to facilitating drum circles in the 1980s through an observation of the need that extended beyond percussion skill development. According to Arthur, “when we drum together, it changes our relationships and helps us cope with whatever challenges life hands us.”[1]

Come check it out for yourself. You may be surprised at what you will find.

The Montreal Tam-tams are officially from the beginning of May to the end of September (it may go on longer if the weather is nice), in the Mont-Royal park near the Sir George-Étienne Cartier monument (look for the lions and the angel).

You can take the Metro to Mont-Royal station or the #11 bus. If you come by car, there is some parking on Park Avenue, otherwise on the side streets across from the park.

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