I was basically facilitating well educated members of the Cincinnati hand drumming community with good technique and listening abilitys, so it only took us a few minutes for us to entrain into a solid groove. Our Drum Call did exactly what it was designed to do. The drum circle groove bounced off the sky scraper canyon walls and traveled for blocks in every direction, beckoning more and more festival families to join us. It was also helpful that the misty drizzle had slowly turned into real rain, and our stage awning was just about the only cover available at the festival. It was just one large umbrella.
Every drum circle has it's magic moments.
But with each succeeding call and response I put less power and volume into the group and added more subtlety and grace. At this point we had uncovered and rediscovered the fact that we were playing in the middle of a rain storm. I then guided us into a non-rhyhtmical tapping on our drums that sounded exactly like the rhythm of the rain drops dancing on the stage awning only a few feet above our heads. For a few timeless minutes we sat silently in communion with the rhythm of the rain that surrounded us. My early Drum Call invitation had been forwarded to them by some one on the Djembe, Jembe, or Drum Circle lists.