DRUM
frame drum | bendir | tar | daf
Playing the tar and the daf drums from the Middle East connects Koa to an ancient lineage of women percussionists. She first learned to drum while recovering from a severe concussion and traumatic brain injury. At that time, she had trouble reciting numbers and doing basic math, but there was something incredibly helpful and even soothing in learning to play basic rhythms. The drum balances both hemispheres in the brain, relaxes the nervous system, while transporting one into healing trance states.
Flight to the Sun
In 2022 Koa was invited to record in Jimi Hendrix’ Electric Lady Studios. The song she improvisationally composed with her frame drum, “Flight to the Sun” was released as part of the The Birdsong Project, a benefit for the Audubon Society featuring over 200 artists.
“Rhythm is a means of organizing sound into specific energy formulas to harmonize the mind and body. Chanting, rhythmic breathing and drumming form an ancient technology for directly synchronizing the mind/body complex, creating conditions for psychological and physical healing.”
“I hear women’s voices
I hear them in the distances
From Morocco, Syria, Sudan, Spain
Palestine, Turkey, Tunisia, Azerbaijan
I hear women’s voices
I hear them in the distances
Sailing through the winds
Riding on my drum’s desert visions. ”
