DRUMMING MUSIC PRACTICE
The THEMATIC STRUCTURE ‘Soloing’.
A different view to the percussing workout
In the work with Thematic Structures, not only the mere use of the term in its musical sense is addressed; since in conventional drumming practice the musical sense is determined by the style and form in which it is worked, and for each use a “technique” and “mode of operation” is assigned. The concept of Thematic Structure comes from the idea of the Instrument Body (the body is the instrument), since it is the body “who” plays (the drums) and it is from the body that the entire specific bio-mechanical universe is erected to manipulate it; and this is subject to each specific need of the stylistic and formal context where it takes place. But in simpler words, the concept of Thematic Structure is: the Theme is placed in the Body (Structure) and develops “freely”. Everything else is consistent with the knowledge and development of History and when we decide to participate in it.
Working from the body structure allows (or not) the realization of certain forms of movement and physical effort — not everything is paradiddles or accents or any of the rudimentary schemes exposed in the dictionary of particular drumming use — there are properties of the body, whether intuitive or empirically or with a knowledge of their particular structural functioning within the entire musculoskeletal and proprioceptive system — which are natural to each physiological type, which if we know, explore and work on them, allow us to build neuromuscular behavior patterns from which diverse possibilities of unlimited percussive motion-emotion.
The notion of “theme” comes from the same African melo-rhythmic concept, with the exception of the use of “infinite melody” with which I work. I do not limit the theme to a pattern determined by the cultural reference (melodic or rhythmic) because it leads me to closed cyclical movement and limits the capacity for muscle memory and body mechanical behavior to the mere repetition / copy of the same material, which results in a practice dedicated to repeating what is already known and reviewed, what germinates in de-evolution i.e. chronic stagnation. These passages of the first seconds in Thematic Framework III are achieved using 3 specific kinesthetic resources. The Theme is the same as for Structures I and II, taken from various songs of the Gangan Yoruba, but the treatment of percussive energy alters it from the concentration of the particular effort-work of each muscle group involved. Everything is almost a natural result of the search for a particular sound in the membranes …
The first resource is the integrated use of the muscles that give movement to the scapula or shoulder blade; both the protractor muscle groups, chest and serratus, as well as the retractors, which are the rhomboid major muscles and less at the vertebral edge of the scapula, and the levators, which are the trapezius muscles; in conjunction with various and changing degrees of contraction of the 6 shoulder muscles, they allow me to sustain a state of contained energy towards the biceps and triceps and released through the extensor, adductor and pronator groups of the forearms, and which will lead to in the work of my hands.
A similar process occurs in my leg and foot work. I do not limit it to the use of a particular technique but to the conscious process of contraction-release and integral energy flow that I gradually direct from the center of gravity, supplied with energy from my psoas, supported by more abdominal and lumbar muscles; leading to the pedals.
You can observe how these states of contraction and relaxation gradually change (and thus the percussive acoustic sense) in the general body gestures from the bridge with cymbals, from where a completely different and diverse body state emerges with the 4-voice singing of Gangan!
Link to video https://youtu.be/bll7rKYLw2Y