When Is a Drummer not a Drummer? Developing Coordination, Musicianship, and Creativity through Electronic Drum Performance

Abstract

If asked to describe the instrument a drummer plays, most people would probably describe an acoustic drum kit, consisting of a bass drum, snare drum, tom toms, and cymbals. It is unlikely that the words “hybrid” or “electronic” would be part of the language used. The technologies related to drumming have seen significant advancement since the first electronic drum kits in the early 1980s, and these technologies have played a significant role in shaping the way music sounds today. Throughout this chapter I refer to three different types of drum kit setup; these are as follows: (1) “acoustic,” the traditional drum kit setup; (2) “electronic,” pads/triggers used to activate electronic sounds from a sound module or computer; and (3) “hybrid,” a setup containing a mixture of acoustic drums, electronic pads/triggers, and/or sample pads1 or percussion controllers (Figure 13.1).2 At the age of 14 I received two Christmas gifts that would go on to define my career in musical performance and drum kit teaching. The first was the drum kit instructional VHS tape, Bruford and the Beat (Bruford 1982). The second was a Yamaha DD-11 digital drum kit. The opening scene of the instructional video shows drummer Bill Bruford playing his hybrid drum kit, which combined a Tama acoustic drum kit and Simmons3 electronic drum kit. The sound produced from the first three pads he played (a total of fourteen notes) became the inspiration for my approach to teaching creative use of drum kit related music technology, in my current role as Senior Lecturer in Music on the BA Popular Music program at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. This chapter presents and examines an innovative approach to teaching drum kit related technologies through the creation of a solo electronic drum performance undertaken by my Year 3 (undergraduate) drum kit students. The project requires students to recreate a song of their choosing, using music creation software,4 and then perform 13