MUSIC

                                                    WHAT IS ‘INNERPERCUSSION’ ? 

Just as the human voice is a physical ‘inner’ instrument, ‘inner percussion’ is created entirely within the body. The sounds of a standard drumset, Indian tablas and other percussive sounds are recreated with amazing likeness in the mouth and throat by Yaman Konuralp.

He was born in Istanbul. When he was seven years old, he could not afford a drumset, for which he longed. So, by listening to records, radio and TV, he invented and developed his remarkable ‘inner percussion instrument’.

From the of age nine in Turkey, he played the local darbuka drums, but only at age thirteen did he get his first drumset.

Yaman studied jazz briefly at Berklee College of Music, Boston. The influence of top jazz drummers is evident in his multi-dimensioned rhythms, always swinging and on top of the beat while using many varied time signatures and inventions. Yaman also lived in London for seven years where he performed with jazz fusion bands while taking a degree in architecture.

The recordings of his pure ‘inner percussion’ one can sample here were done with only two microphones, one for the mouth and one for the throat. Additionally, on stage and in other recordings he combines ‘inner percussion’ with simultaneous playing of the twin-drum darbuka, or with other drum set-ups.   

The ‘inner percussion’ Yaman produces is as imaginative and living as the best inwardly felt and improvised, real time interactive music. It represents a strong plea for the abolition in performance of drum machines, and Yaman can well manage excellently without any drums at all.

Please enjoy this phenomenon, as I do to the full.

PRIDDY Robert Crichton, a former musician now living in Oslo, is an admirer of Yaman
Konuralp’s feel, originality and amazing percussive technique

“I have had the pleasure of playing with Yaman and it was a lot of fun to
listen to his innovative sounds. He is very easy to play with, has a great sense of rhythm and his sounds are somewhat similar to what Bobby McFerrin can do with his mouth and body. I hope we get a chance to play together again some day.”
MADS VINDING        home page

 

“It was a great experience for me when I met Yaman some years ago.
I never heard something like that – the way he makes vocal percussion is very original. He has a great talent for grooves and improvisation.
And I hope that we one day can inter-act together making new music.”
PIERRE DØRGE, Bandleader for New Jungle Orchestra       home page

 

Demo Samples

82 – Inner Percussion + keyb/guitar Kai N. Priddy: http://www.innerpercussion.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/ip82.mp3
Into it – Inner Percussion + Kai N. Priddy synth: http://www.innerpercussion.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/into.mp3
Keep On – Inner Percussion + keyb/guitar Kai N. Priddy: http://www.innerpercussion.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/keepon.mp3
Wiggle Dee – I.P. + Reino Ilkama comp./gtr + Oeyvind Moen p + Bjarne Severinsen bhttp://www.innerpercussion.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/wiggledee.mp3
Ulla’s Time – Inner Percussion + Darbuka:http://www.innerpercussion.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/ut.mp3