An Evolution Of Beats

1,138 bare-hand drum strokes in sixty seconds. That is the speed at which Mike “Da Man” Mangini hit his floor tom during the World’s Fastest Drummer competition in April of 2002. Each new percussionist develops a unique style, most influenced by the music of their teen years. The manner in which they hold the sticks, utilize the double-kick bass pedal, crash the cymbals, or even tap a strategically placed cowbell is achieved through a process of trial and error. Drummers, especially those in the Heavy Metal scene, make an art of the beats they create. Sharing a communality with Heavy Metal music is the Indonesian style of music Gamelan. Gamelan musicians use a special type of drum, the kendhang. Wesleyan University in Connecticut features one such kendhang from Java. The exact date of the kendhang is unknown; however, it is set in the time period of the latter portion of the first millennium CE to the early years of the second millennium. The end of the first millennium is set as either the year 999 or 1000. The path drums have take from the kendhang of Java to Mike Mangini’s floor tom is interesting. The purposes for which drums were and are used- communication, ceremony, or entertainment- vary from culture to culture, just like the style of the basic drum evolves into the drum kits of present day.

The history of drums is interwoven with the development of civilization. Paleolithic peoples of Africa and Australia fashioned drums out of sinew and animal skin with a hollow piece of tree trunk or pot as a frame. Drums have been used for many purposes. The easiest to distinguish is communication reasons. A drum with a deep sound would have been the most suitable for communicating across long distances. Other drums, such as the African talking drum served as means of communication as well. Dr. Albert Good, who spent a considerable amount of time living in Southern Cameroons, West Africa, relates that “[a]n ordinary drum... can be heard three or four miles by day, ten or 15 miles at night”. For the Bulu peoples, drums were an essential part of communication because their spoken language is one of tones.

Drums also serve a purpose in ceremonial rituals. One basic use of the drums in ceremonies is to call order to the people. Each culture uses drums differently in their ceremonial practices. In the rituals of the Native American peoples, drums are used to contact the Spirits. Shamans use drums to transport themselves into the transient states in which they can conduct healing rituals. The drum plays in integral part in the shamanic journey through the energy fields used for healing. A steady drum beat is essential because it is allows the shaman to tap into their “physic inner ability”. In Calcutta, up to 50 drummers congregate to play in a five-day festival celebrating the Durga Puja and worship the goddess Durga.

Taking into account the importance of drumming in ancient civilizations, another use of the drum can be observed. Most commonly in current societies, drums have become part of the entertainment field. However, drums were used by other cultures for entertainment as well. The Aztec civilization used drums in their festivals. Gamelan- which refers more to the instruments themselves than the actual musicians- is an important part of the culture of Java. It is used in rite-of passage proceedings, to accompany theatrical shows, and “communal festivals”. The gamelan has a deep history in the traditions of Java resulting in the formation of multiple styles of the ensemble. Gamelan history pre-dates the appearance of Hinduism in Indonesia in the 8th century. The kendhang’s role in gamelan ensembles is crucial as it is the kendhang (or a combination of different kendhangs) that lead the company.

Kendhangs are of the cylindrical drum type. Other drums families are the bowl, barrel, conga, goblet, and waisted. These classifications are based on the shape of the drum. While the kendhang tapers slightly at one end like the conga style drums, it is considered a cylindrical drum because it has two heads. The conga drums only have one head (the head of the drum is the portion that is struck to produce the sound). A musician can use their hands or a tool- drumsticks or mallets in the case some steel drums- to strike the drum. The kendhang is a hand drum. Transposing the art of drumming to modern societies and popular culture shifted the emphasis from the use of the hands to utilizing sticks of some sort. Although hand drumming is still popular in some regions, it is seen as a link to the past.

The complication of the drum has also increased through the ages. Gamelan ensembles feature single drums, the kendhang being the lead, that are tuned to different pitches and played in conjunction to produce a full piece of music. This method has some functionality in contemporary societies; however, drums evolved into “drum sets” that constitutes only a portion of an ensemble. A basic drum set consists of a “small bass drum, tom-tom [one or two that are mounted on the bass drum], side drum, hi-hat cymbal, suspended cymbal, [and a] large floor tom-tom”.

While the style of drumming and the make-up of the drum has evolved, the significance of the instrument has not. Drums have maintained their place as the path forgers of the music scene. The survival of gamelan ensembles in the Java culture evidences this fact in that the kendhang sets the tempo and mood for the performance and is the foundation on which the rest of the ensemble builds the more melodic tones. Musicians, starting in the 20th century with the jazz movement, began to once again incorporate the drums as an essential to the music. Compositions of the Middle Ages and Renaissance leaned more toward orchestration and the stringed instruments.

After the reintroduction of the drum as a integral member the “band” in the jazz era of the 1920s, other styles of music sought to incorporate the instrument into their basic structure. The Punk music of the late 60s and 70s is a good example of the return of the drum. While the origins of Punk music are rooted in the English music scene, the Americans added their own flavor to it. Bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Stooges stand out as the American symbols of punk. Drummers once again took the spotlight as coveted musicians.

A drummer’s abilities affects the success of the band as a whole. Substandard skills in the percussionist can leave the listeners or other performers feeling confused as to what the music is attempting to accomplish. In gamelan ensembles, the kendhang is responsible for upholding the integrity of the piece; in current pop culture, the drummer is charged with the same duty. Jimmy Sullivan (The Reverend), drummer for the popular Metal band Avenged Sevenfold carries this mantel well along side fellow percussionist such as Joey Jordison, Mike Mangini, and Jesse Margera. The drum set which Sullivan uses includes: three bass drums (with double-kick bass pedals for the necessary rib pounding vibrations of Metal music), a snare, and six toms ( four mounted- two to each bass drum- and one floor tom). The kit also features several cymbals: a hi-hat, Paragon Chinese, Chinese Brilliant, three crash cymbals, an effects symbol, two splash cymbals, and a Metal Ride.

Drums underwent a blistering evolution to produce such monstrous sets from the relatively small hand drums like the kendhang. While the instruments appear to have abandoned their roots in communication and ceremonies, the heart of drumming has gone unchanged. The mediums of expression have been altered, but drummers must infuse themselves with an equivalent amount of dedication to the instrument they play. Being skilled in the art of drumming comes at a price. Drumming takes “muscle conditioning, endurance, strength, and coordination”. A deep admiration for the drums themselves and a desire to share inspiring rhythms they can generate is significant to a drummer’s life as a musician. Using a hand drum such as the kendhang requires the player to know the drum intimately. Knowing exactly where to strike on the drum head to produce the correct note at precisely the right moment in a song takes hours of practice. Hence, though the drum itself has evolved into an elaborate set-up of multiple drums and cymbals, the devotion to the instrument has remained the same.