Monday, November 12, 2007

Why are Kashakas / Asalatos / Patica / Kosika good for you?

Kashakas are not just great rhythm instruments, they are also musical toys and educational and developmental tools as well:
  • Kashakas improve your rhythm, your ambidexterity and your coordination.
  • Kashakas are fun, funky and constantly challenging.
  • Kashakas are far more versatile than any other shaker or even any drum on the market today. You can create more varied and complex rhythms with two Kashakas than you can with any shaker or drum.
  • Once you learn how to play on your good hand, it only takes half the time to learn how to play on your weaker hand. That's because your brain has already learned the timing of catch and release and the different rhythm patterns.
  • The challenge never ends: once you learn how to use two Kashakas at once, in a variety of patterns, you then want to learn to create complex polyrhythms by playing different rhythms in each hand at the same time. It's a bit tricky at first, but it gets easier and easier and sounds better and better.
  • Once you begin playing different rhythms in each hand, it becomes a mental exercise: Kashakas improve your ability to use the right and left hemispheres of your brain simultaneously, which makes multitasking easier. It is also known as hemispheric synchronization, which is the condition when each hemisphere of your brain is cycling at the same frequency, or rhythm.
  • Being able to create this hemispheric synchronization on the alpha level can help you feel euphoria, intensify your creativity, and expand your mental powers.
  • Drummers love Kashakas because it helps to develop their rhythm independence. Musicians love Kashakas because it helps to develop their hand independence.
  • You can play along with other musicians, other drummers, or on your own as you rap or sing.
  • It relieves frustrations, and relaxes, stretches and strengthens the wrists, forearms and shoulders.
  • It can keep you alert on long drives. Playing along to music while you drive prevents you from nodding off (NB – Always keep one hand on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road, and please don’t skip your Kashaka off the airbag – TRUST ME!).
  • They can be bounced off of other surfaces like drums, wood blocks, bells, SoundShapes™, tables, didgeridoos and trees: it adds even more cool beats.
  • They can be juggled as you play, or just thrown in the air occasionally to create interesting breaks and a more visual style of playing.
  • They can help attract attention to your rapping, your band, or your spoken-word performances as they are so unique, unknown and funky!
  • You can collaborate, connect with and learn from people all over the world who love this instrument and love to show off and share their unique moves.
  • You can learn how to play at Kashaka.com. We never close, and we'll keep putting new moves up on the site, just as fast as we learn them and film them. We have audio clips, video clips and animation to make it easy to learn, and to motivate you to come back and learn new moves.
  • Got any other reasons why Kashakas are good for you? Please share them with the rest of us!

5 comments:

Berg said...

allright! an english kashaka blog! Ive had mine for a few months and love impressing people with an instrument they have never seen. Great reasons why kashakas are good for me especially playing while i'm driving. Im excited to read more posts so I'll bookmark you!

Unknown said...

so where can i get the plastic kashakas. The Kashaka.com website is down and can't find them online.

Unknown said...

How about making them? Has anyone made their own Kashakas?

epi said...

I have just finished making a set out of table tennis balls with rice as rattlers inside. They are a bit light and so don't clack too loud but okay for the moment to practice on. I have also made a set with large round wooden beads... They are a bit heavy and don't shake but clack well...bit too much rebound for me...So i am still looking because my traditional ones have broken. Anybody know where I can get some in Australia?

Catherine said...

I recently made a pair- they work really well, nice weight and clack- cover to ping-pong balls with a 1/8 inc layer of Polymer clay, bake @ 270 for 10 minutes, fill it about 1/4 way with BB gun shot, then glue in string and you're done. They have a really nice sound, too.