When is a Drummer not a Drummer? An innovative pedagogic approach to developing coordination, musicianship and creativity through electronic drum performance

Stillie, Bryden

Abstract

When is a Drummer not a Drummer? An innovative pedagogic approach to developing coordination, musicianship and creativity through electronic drum performance.

The use of electronic drum trigger units (such as the Roland SPD range or Yamaha DTX Multi 12) in performance is now widespread. However, traditional drum kit pedagogy is still firmly rooted in developing confidence in the performance of rudimental patterns or coordination exercises, and applying these to a traditional drum kit layout. As a greater number of drummers now embrace technology to enhance and extend their setup, and what they can offer to their band, it is important that drum kit education addresses this and explores how to use these technologies creatively.

This presentation explores an unorthodox and innovative pedagogic approach to teaching the functionality of electronic percussion controllers and music software, and the creative possibilities they afford, to university drum kit students. Although this presentation focuses primarily on the use of the Roland SPD-20 with Apple’s Logic Pro X, the methods of developing performance projects of this nature are transferable to the majority of percussion controllers and digital audio workstations. The impact of engaging in developing solo electronic performances using drum kit technologies is explored from student perspectives, and personal and professional practice with specific focus on musical development, the development of a skillset suited to working in a range of modern performance related settings, and the enhancement of employability. This presentation also proposes a method of sharing these projects with the wider drumming community through a notation system and a set of ‘standards’ for the associated music software session files.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Association of Popular Music Education Conference
• Start Date: Jun 14, 2017
• End Date: Jun 17, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2019
• Keywords: Music, drum kit
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1717879