Navigating our place within the
spectrum of creativity and conformity
In a contemporary creative music ensemble the drummer is the primary stylistic and emotional driver. He or she sets the tone, the inner band dynamic, and determines, whether by choice or neglect, how the music is received by the listener. What we play and how we play it carries the overall feel of the music and of the band.
Now more than ever before, we drummers must traverse a wide variety of terrain. Our responsibilities are numerous, and include, first and foremost, being sensitive to how we deliver what the music needs. Each situation is unique; the landscape variable. We encounter different music, instrumentation, and musicians; we go before different audiences, have various functions and play in different venues, all demanding our attention and flexibility. We use whatever tools we have at the time to be attentive and flexible enough to make changes on the fly. We respond to each unique situation and musical moment in a way that is appropriate to the music and the moment. What we do has to work.
Crafting the sounds of our instrument as required for specific contexts is as important as creativity and musical ability. The drumset, how we play, how we tune and the choices we make, is context-specific. Drums and cymbals are highly reflective of their acoustic environment. The quality of our sound on every level is everything.
Music represents the social and cultural environment. Therefore, at its core, music is people. The drumset is at the center of the continuous evolution of American music, a music that reflects the social stratification and amalgamation of our shared history. We sit at the heart of a dynamic music dominated by syncopation, where rhythm, melody and harmony overlap, borrow from and interact with each other.
We work within a range of freedom and responsibility, looking respectfully toward our peers and predecessors within the drumming community. We acknowledge the contributions of drummers past and present.
Drummers are less competitive and feel less isolated among our peers than other instrumentalists. There is a sense of community with drummers everywhere, sharing the joy of playing this awesome instrument. Inspired and motivated by the other players within the drumming community, we reference them, borrow rhythmic fragments, cop certain feels and musical quotes from the past, to craft and give shape to contemporary ideas and feelings. Whether our references are iconic and others more abstract, we are attempting to connect ideas in the here and now within the context of the social event we call music.
As primary actors upon this diverse stage, what we do takes many forms and serves many functions. Who we are is often defined according to the musical context and our contribution to it.
Collectively, we are artists, supporting artists, collaborators, and session players. Among us are skilled craftsmen, animated showmen, technical wizards, groove masters, beat monsters or arena-rock animals. Some are traditionalists- indebted to upholding prior innovations and traditions but not interested in advancing them, approaching music more like highly-skilled professional workers or craftsmen.
Drummers are skilled, context-driven players expected to contribute just what is needed. We have a job to do and getting it done in a way that is right for the music defines our success. Many of us consider ourselves supporting artists, in that our ‘art’ lies in contributing our own special sauce to make the music, the leader and the other players, sound their best. By intuition and just the right feel; through experienced gear and sound choices, etc., we support, connect and contribute a positive vibe that inspires the group sound and energy.
In less representational and more artistic music, we spontaneously define what is ’right’. Perhaps it means to push the limitations of ‘acceptable’ rhythmic language by manipulating the very fabric of music, altering its primary parameters and structural components. Here we may be abstracting within a form. Not simply improvising within a song form or progression, but by bending, shaping, and twisting the fundamental norms of musical expectations. As artists we routinely acknowledge musical ‘rules’ while intentionally breaking them.
Following the period in the 1980s and ‘90s, when musicians and non-musicians alike digitally sampled and sequenced mid-century drummers, drummers today deconstruct sampled and sequenced grooves. Coming full circle, the sampled sounds are re-incarnate, back on the instrument, altered further, creating and re-creating new sounds via the drumset for a new century.
We are navigating our place within the spectrum of creativity and conformity.
On the spectrum between conformity and risk, what Bill Bruford calls the Functional / Compositional Continuum (FCC)[1], we find a limitless range of interpretations, whether they be faithful or those taken with liberties. Context, enculturation and self-determination play significant roles in formulating our place on the continuum. In any creative activity, knowledge of the past informs the present. Diverse cultural awareness widens the possibilities and choices creative artists make. We take more informed risks. We will explore the neuroscience of improvisation in future entries.
Outwardly, it is expected that we support, communicate and collaborate, and in most cases, serve as conductor. Drawing on instinct we know when it is appropriate to lead, when to follow, or both. We make it feel good no matter what. What we do complements others, and we assist others in sounding good. We are expected to make the music feel good, to make our bandmates and listeners feel good. Our success depends upon the success of others.
Essentially we are charged with the expectation of lifting others higher.
Along with the tremendous freedom of playing drumset, there are important responsibilities. The music holds the intrinsic expectation that we do the right thing at the right time. As long as we do that, we can do whatever we want. Ears, experience and instinct guide us to know what the right thing is with little, if any, instruction. The music is the teacher.
There are infinite tiny details and foundations to lay. We set the rhythmic tone, the feel, even the attitude of the song, and use dynamics to add contour to rhythm. We are responsible for listening, conducting, supporting, being reliable and flexible, regulating tempo, controlling dynamics, and setting the general feel of the music.
We must be experienced diplomats. Drummers are flexible, fluid and accommodating, onstage and off. Typically there are no parts written for us. Drummers are expected to have huge ears, impeccable instincts and intuition, and to know when and how to be creative. We are expected to have technical ability, provide the backbone, to play with dynamics, strength and sensibility, have access to a diverse musical language…all while making it look easy. “… In the broader sense, to create a framework within and around the music that portrays the style, flow, feel and meaning in a way that engages the other musicians and transports the listener. Simple, right?” … LA drummer Sinclair Lott.
Of all our assets, the most valuable is our touch. With the right touch we can make almost anything sound good. Touch is developed through the distillation of the fineries of our hearing. It is as much sensibility as it is control. Through our touch we connect points of sound with energy, space, people and history to create flowing, forward momentum. Touch is the secret sauce. One must not use too much of the secret sauce.
We develop, maintain, and punctuate the groove while playing with fluidity. Magic lies in rhythmic embellishment while maintaining the groove.
Simultaneously, we acknowledging rhythmic episodes within the chord structure and song form, introduce or set up figures, kicks, accents, breaks and cadences, all without losing the groove. We play in a way that is solid yet fluid; is human and accessible. We play in a way that reaches everyone without stepping on anyone.
We have the sensibilities to know when to push a singer or soloist or when to hold back. Other times we follow the singer or lead voice wherever they go, and make it sound like it was supposed to be that way. We make the music feel and sound good no matter how poor the bass player is or how loud the guitar player is.
We create a seamless, enduring groove that is an agreement, a foundation for an ongoing collaboration that feels good, is unshakable yet fluid, is locked in, and infectiously syncopated. Other times we create a light groove that it is implied rather than explicitly articulated.
The drumset brings together rhythms and instruments from around the world, expressed via the inter-dependence of all four limbs and the gathering of all the parts of who we are to create rhythm that unifies the group sound and energy. We have access to ample cognitive capacity on-the-fly for attentiveness, are cognizant of the entire group sound while drawing upon experience and intuition to play what supports and unites the music and musicians at each moment. Our playing lifts others higher, through music delivered with kindness, respect, humility and a big, big heart.
[1] Bill Bruford, Making it Work: Creative Music Performance and the Western Kit Drummer, Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Surrey, 2015
Thanks for reading. . . . Brett F. Campbell, 2018
Now more than ever before, we drummers must traverse a wide variety of terrain. Our responsibilities are numerous, and include, first and foremost, being sensitive to how we deliver what the music needs. Each situation is unique; the landscape variable. We encounter different music, instrumentation, and musicians; we go before different audiences, have various functions and play in different venues, all demanding our attention and flexibility. We use whatever tools we have at the time to be attentive and flexible enough to make changes on the fly. We respond to each unique situation and musical moment in a way that is appropriate to the music and the moment. What we do has to work.
Crafting the sounds of our instrument as required for specific contexts is as important as creativity and musical ability. The drumset, how we play, how we tune and the choices we make, is context-specific. Drums and cymbals are highly reflective of their acoustic environment. The quality of our sound on every level is everything.
Music represents the social and cultural environment. Therefore, at its core, music is people. The drumset is at the center of the continuous evolution of American music, a music that reflects the social stratification and amalgamation of our shared history. We sit at the heart of a dynamic music dominated by syncopation, where rhythm, melody and harmony overlap, borrow from and interact with each other.
We work within a range of freedom and responsibility, looking respectfully toward our peers and predecessors within the drumming community. We acknowledge the contributions of drummers past and present.
Drummers are less competitive and feel less isolated among our peers than other instrumentalists. There is a sense of community with drummers everywhere, sharing the joy of playing this awesome instrument. Inspired and motivated by the other players within the drumming community, we reference them, borrow rhythmic fragments, cop certain feels and musical quotes from the past, to craft and give shape to contemporary ideas and feelings. Whether our references are iconic and others more abstract, we are attempting to connect ideas in the here and now within the context of the social event we call music.
As primary actors upon this diverse stage, what we do takes many forms and serves many functions. Who we are is often defined according to the musical context and our contribution to it.
Collectively, we are artists, supporting artists, collaborators, and session players. Among us are skilled craftsmen, animated showmen, technical wizards, groove masters, beat monsters or arena-rock animals. Some are traditionalists- indebted to upholding prior innovations and traditions but not interested in advancing them, approaching music more like highly-skilled professional workers or craftsmen.
Drummers are skilled, context-driven players expected to contribute just what is needed. We have a job to do and getting it done in a way that is right for the music defines our success. Many of us consider ourselves supporting artists, in that our ‘art’ lies in contributing our own special sauce to make the music, the leader and the other players, sound their best. By intuition and just the right feel; through experienced gear and sound choices, etc., we support, connect and contribute a positive vibe that inspires the group sound and energy.
In less representational and more artistic music, we spontaneously define what is ’right’. Perhaps it means to push the limitations of ‘acceptable’ rhythmic language by manipulating the very fabric of music, altering its primary parameters and structural components. Here we may be abstracting within a form. Not simply improvising within a song form or progression, but by bending, shaping, and twisting the fundamental norms of musical expectations. As artists we routinely acknowledge musical ‘rules’ while intentionally breaking them.
Following the period in the 1980s and ‘90s, when musicians and non-musicians alike digitally sampled and sequenced mid-century drummers, drummers today deconstruct sampled and sequenced grooves. Coming full circle, the sampled sounds are re-incarnate, back on the instrument, altered further, creating and re-creating new sounds via the drumset for a new century.
We are navigating our place within the spectrum of creativity and conformity.
On the spectrum between conformity and risk, what Bill Bruford calls the Functional / Compositional Continuum (FCC)[1], we find a limitless range of interpretations, whether they be faithful or those taken with liberties. Context, enculturation and self-determination play significant roles in formulating our place on the continuum. In any creative activity, knowledge of the past informs the present. Diverse cultural awareness widens the possibilities and choices creative artists make. We take more informed risks. We will explore the neuroscience of improvisation in future entries.
Outwardly, it is expected that we support, communicate and collaborate, and in most cases, serve as conductor. Drawing on instinct we know when it is appropriate to lead, when to follow, or both. We make it feel good no matter what. What we do complements others, and we assist others in sounding good. We are expected to make the music feel good, to make our bandmates and listeners feel good. Our success depends upon the success of others.
Essentially we are charged with the expectation of lifting others higher.
Along with the tremendous freedom of playing drumset, there are important responsibilities. The music holds the intrinsic expectation that we do the right thing at the right time. As long as we do that, we can do whatever we want. Ears, experience and instinct guide us to know what the right thing is with little, if any, instruction. The music is the teacher.
There are infinite tiny details and foundations to lay. We set the rhythmic tone, the feel, even the attitude of the song, and use dynamics to add contour to rhythm. We are responsible for listening, conducting, supporting, being reliable and flexible, regulating tempo, controlling dynamics, and setting the general feel of the music.
We must be experienced diplomats. Drummers are flexible, fluid and accommodating, onstage and off. Typically there are no parts written for us. Drummers are expected to have huge ears, impeccable instincts and intuition, and to know when and how to be creative. We are expected to have technical ability, provide the backbone, to play with dynamics, strength and sensibility, have access to a diverse musical language…all while making it look easy. “… In the broader sense, to create a framework within and around the music that portrays the style, flow, feel and meaning in a way that engages the other musicians and transports the listener. Simple, right?” … LA drummer Sinclair Lott.
Of all our assets, the most valuable is our touch. With the right touch we can make almost anything sound good. Touch is developed through the distillation of the fineries of our hearing. It is as much sensibility as it is control. Through our touch we connect points of sound with energy, space, people and history to create flowing, forward momentum. Touch is the secret sauce. One must not use too much of the secret sauce.
We develop, maintain, and punctuate the groove while playing with fluidity. Magic lies in rhythmic embellishment while maintaining the groove.
Simultaneously, we acknowledging rhythmic episodes within the chord structure and song form, introduce or set up figures, kicks, accents, breaks and cadences, all without losing the groove. We play in a way that is solid yet fluid; is human and accessible. We play in a way that reaches everyone without stepping on anyone.
We have the sensibilities to know when to push a singer or soloist or when to hold back. Other times we follow the singer or lead voice wherever they go, and make it sound like it was supposed to be that way. We make the music feel and sound good no matter how poor the bass player is or how loud the guitar player is.
We create a seamless, enduring groove that is an agreement, a foundation for an ongoing collaboration that feels good, is unshakable yet fluid, is locked in, and infectiously syncopated. Other times we create a light groove that it is implied rather than explicitly articulated.
The drumset brings together rhythms and instruments from around the world, expressed via the inter-dependence of all four limbs and the gathering of all the parts of who we are to create rhythm that unifies the group sound and energy. We have access to ample cognitive capacity on-the-fly for attentiveness, are cognizant of the entire group sound while drawing upon experience and intuition to play what supports and unites the music and musicians at each moment. Our playing lifts others higher, through music delivered with kindness, respect, humility and a big, big heart.
[1] Bill Bruford, Making it Work: Creative Music Performance and the Western Kit Drummer, Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Surrey, 2015
Thanks for reading. . . . Brett F. Campbell, 2018
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