“Mark Wahl, who has been playing drums in bands for more than 25 years, is moving in a new direction with a community drumming circle he will lead on South Whidbey next week.Mark Wahl, often known as the Mathman of the island, has drummed since 1975 in Carribbean, African and Middle Eastern styles. He has drummed on Whidbey periodically for 12 years. He has played conga and other percussion instruments, sometimes as Rhythm Coyote of the Trickster-Hero Orchestra (backing up the mythopoetic antics of Barton Cole), sometimes as the Samba Maestro who organizes the rhythm section of the Maxwelton July Fourth Samba of the Species.He often pops up at private or public gatherings, drum in hand, to help complexify the rhythms of whatever music or drummage is happening, or to turn a circle of friends into a polyrhythmic ensemble.Now, on the heels of all this personal drumming activity, Wahl is emerging as a drumming leader in a larger sense. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, he’ll facilitate area drummers and rhythmic performers in a Groundhog Day/Candlemas/Imbolc/Full-Moon Drumming Circle at Bayview Hall, an event to benefit the Bayview Community Alternative Power Project (CAPP). This project is dedicated to bringing clean power and energy efficiency to the Bayview Hall as an example of sustainable living on South Whidbey.The drum circle is open to people of all ages. Teens are especially welcomed, Wahl said. Drumming starts at 7 p.m. and is expected to continue until 9. I’ve only led smaller drumming circles among friends, he said. This is the first large circle I’m undertaking, kind of a ‘coming out’ as drum circle facilitator for the community of Whidbey.Wahl has attended two of Arthur Hull’s annual gigantic Drum Circles in Seattle and has attended one of his workshops. Hull is the acknowledged maestro of drum circle facilitation, Wahl said, and he quoted Hull in explaining the concept:The Community Drum Circle…is the most basic and simple use of the drum and rhythm. It is the use of a rhythm-based event as a tool for unity. A community drum circle in the United States is a noisy and fun, family friendly event, where people come together in order to share their spirit… People of all levels of musical expertise come together and share their rhythmical spirit with whatever drums and percussion they bring to the event.The facilitating aspect is very important, however, Wahl said. The circle is not just an ‘elephant stampede’ of exuberant noise that can tire and disintegrate into cacophony after a while, but a circle sculpted by certain techniques used by the leader to bring out coherence and emphasize strengths while not stifling individuality.Wahl said he expects some surprises when the island drum crowd gets together.But I look forward to the challenge of bringing out the best in the circle, he said. I recommend that everyone bring a set of ear plugs, by the way (it’s standard drummer’s equipment), to tone down the sound and rest the ears as needed in the Bayview acoustics.Wahl said the date of Feb. 6 is in the orb of the full moon time, a time when animals howl, when energy is often higher and a natural monthly occasion when others on the island have often felt like drumming together in smaller circles. “