Dancing with Zills...

[LeylaLanty]

No-sew zill mufflers

i really want to play zills, but i can't practice at home as my puppy's terified of them, and i can't even clap in time so not sure how possible this is, going to keep trying workshops

Try buying a pair or two of infant socks. If you buy only one pair of socks, put one on each thumb cymbal. If you buy two pairs, put one sock on each cymbal and all you'll hear is a muted "thump" each time you hit them together. It works for my cats.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

As a violinist and typist, I think zills do come easier when you either play an instrument, or learned typing in school, and I respect them as a musical instrument in their own right.

Our class is now learning our first zill routine, but we're learning the steps before adding the zills, and our class hasn't even BEGUN to learn playing zills yet. Dunno how this is gonna...errr, uhmmmm, "play out."

 

[adiemus]

Try buying a pair or two of infant socks. If you buy only one pair of socks, put one on each thumb cymbal. If you buy two pairs, put one sock on each cymbal and all you'll hear is a muted "thump" each time you hit them together. It works for my cats.

Great idea Leyla! I hadn't thought of that, so I've just been air zilling or practicing when no-one's around!

 

[Daimona]

You could also make yourself a couple of wooden clappers;
Take two flat pieces, put on some elastics - and voilá!

Great for practicing zill-playing withouth that tinging noice.

 

[gisela]

My teachers used buttons with elastics, for quiet zill practice.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Dancing with zills

The button idea sounds so cool that I just went hunting in the button jar for 4 large buttons. Air zilling is good and that doesn't upset our cat.

 

[Daimona]

My teachers used buttons with elastics, for quiet zill practice.

This is a cool idea as well!

 

[Dhuma]

I love zilling while dancing, and I think our troupe does it right -- in a set of four songs, we'll zill to one or maybe two of them. While we use triplet mostly, we're learning more patterns. It's also the thing we do that makes us stand out from the other troupes around here, so that's probably part of why I love them.

 

[walladah]

Practicing zills with pads or socks

(or worse, practicing something like wooden clap things) will never permit the zill player to accomodate the high tune sound of zills and their echo!

For me, practicing zills as they are, though, is something like killing my ears. So, I think the best is to practice 10-15 minutes per day, but not more, but every day. As for the puppy, that's a hard question... What if you gave it the zills as toys (is it big enough not try to swallow them, etc) for a bit while tying each pair, just to show the puppy that they are making the noise and this is normal and funny!

but on the other hand, dogs have so sharp ears that it might not stand the sound at all! THen, you might practice in open space, at least to reduce the echo effect...

 

[adiemus]

That's a good point Walladah, practice with the 'real thing' is important because distinguishing between the flat 'tak' and the 'ting' is important - and it's also important to practice alone (without other dancers) so you can hear what you are doing.

It's not how long at a time you practice for, it's how often you practice - so practicing several times a day, but briefly, is better for learning than one long 20 minute zill-trill. And probably will help the ears cope a bit better too!

 

[Daimona]

(or worse, practicing something like wooden clap things) will never permit the zill player to accomodate the high tune sound of zills and their echo!

For me, practicing zills as they are, though, is something like killing my ears.

Of course the wooden clappers (or buttons or muted zills) can't replace ordinary zills, but if you know how to play the zills and are aware of the certain sounds you can't replace, you will know how to practice the clappers to get that sound on the zills.
After all, they are still a useful tool for practicing rhythms and patterns without going mad..

Whenever I have to practice the real thing, I make sure nobody is around AND I use ear plugs.

 

[onela]

Of course the wooden clappers (or buttons or muted zills) can't replace ordinary zills, but if you know how to play the zills and are aware of the certain sounds you can't replace, you will know how to practice the clappers to get that sound on the zills.
After all, they are still a useful tool for practicing rhythms and patterns without going mad..

Whenever I have to practice the real thing, I make sure nobody is around AND I use ear plugs.

Do you use musician's earplugs, or those neon foam-things that people wear when watching air shows?

 

[Daimona]

Do you use musician's earplugs, or those neon foam-things that people wear when watching air shows?

I use whatever earplugs I have available and are easily accessible in stores etc, in other words mostly foam earplugs.

 

[Lielle]

I've always loved dances where zills are used! But the main thing, in my opinion, is to use them properly. I mean, it won't do if you play zills during the whole dance. The first two minutes of it are OK, it's interesting and unexpected for the audience, but then if the dance lasts 5 minutes, people will become tired and bored! Zills are a loud instrument indeed, we shouldn't use it too much.

As for me, I like this dance with zills - Oriental Tango (a well-known Russian ensemble - "ORIENTAL")

YouTube - Oriental Tango, YANA and her Oriental Dance Ensemble

They don't play zills all the time, but only where they need to emphasize the music and movements.
The style is not classical bellydance but it's even more interesting, isn't it?

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

Lielle, I think your link is bad -- it tells me it's a malformed url.

sounds painful! LOL

 

[Lielle]

Now the link works - you can see it!

YouTube - Oriental Tango, YANA and her Oriental Dance Ensemble

 

[Evie]

Lots of good ideas for for makeshift quieter zills for practicing. I'll add one more to the list. Baby jar lids. Poke holes in the top and put twist ties through them.

 

[*Nila*]

Hello everybody, I just started with learning how to play zills, and I really enjoy it I never played any musical instrument, so I thought it will be very difficult for me, but I realized it´s not so bad as I thought I have to buy new zills for sure, these ones I have are useless, but I continue learning anyway...Soo, I wanted to ask....I have 2 instructional dvds, one is Killer Ziller by Michelle Joyce and the second is Bellydance with zills with Elsa. Elsa is using switching hands, like with triples she does RLR LRL RLR LRL. And Michelle is using one leading hand, like RLR RLR RLR RLR. I would like to ask what style do you think is better, or which one do you prefer?
Personally I like the Elsa´s one more, it seems easier for me now..
Well, zills are still quite mystery for me, so I would appreciate yours opinions and thoughts

And sorry if there are posts about this subject already, I didn´t find them...

 

[Greek Bonfire]

I play zills occasionally. And one day I will play more sophisticated rhythms but for now I just use them to accent certain parts of a routine. I love them and how they work in a song; however, I am not big on using zills or props for that matter because I just prefer to dance "alone."

 

[Reen.Blom]

i loooove to play zills !!!!! never perform without them...nobody ever teach me how to play ...i just play....even my musicians ask me to play when i dont dance like after the show....i teach zills aswell......its a must for me,if i dont have them on stage i fee a big part is missing..

I swear you have them in your handbag at all times... LOL!!! :lol::lol::lol: