X8 Drums Blog

Dr. Gareth Dylan Smith has written a book entitled, ‘I Drum, Therefore I Am: Being and Becoming a Drummer’. Sonic State reports that the book is an academic account of what it takes to be a drummer from the perspective of drummers. Dr. Smith is a drum tutor and Diploma Programme Leader at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, which hopes the book will help people better understand the world of drummers. Covering drummer stereotypes and exploring gender and ethnicity as it relates to m …

An email that seemed like a typical “send money to this foreign land” scam turned out to be the drumming adventure of a lifetime. Brian Chippendale, drummer for Lightning Bolt, was invited to Sharjah, UAE, by sound artist Tarek Atoui to participate in an art biennial. Impose Magazine reports that although Brian was suspicious, he noticed enough drummer names in the email to take a chance and it paid off. He ended up in Sharjah drumming all around the city and learning from other drummers, as wel …

Part of what’s so fun about watching djembefolas is seeing the drama of the communication play out. In djembe duos, this can be especially exciting because the intensity and passion that can be seen during drumming is connecting the two people. It is an intimate vision, this conversation. Drummers talk without words all the time and sometimes, we are lucky enough to be embraced by their dialogue.For thousands of years, drums have been used to celebrate, collaborate, and communicate. Across the p …

Denver Westword recently published an interview with Soilwork’s drummer, Dirk Verbeuren. The melodic death metal band from Sweden has a drummer who has taken an interesting road to death metal. Dirk began as a violinist who found his niche once he was exposed to metal bands like Napalm Death. The drums really spoke to him, so his first drum kit was made of cardboard boxes that he beat with wooden rulers. Eventually, his parents bought him a jazz drum kit from a second hand shop and a legend was …

Drums are the rhythm keepers in any genre of music. Whether jazz or techno, a good drum beat can become hypnotic and alluring, adding more depth and sound to the music in sometimes inexplicable ways. Drummers hone their craft for decades, allowing who they are as people to become something we recognize and relate to every time we hear them play. When we listen closely enough, we can hear not only the rhythm, but the very pulse of the song inviting us to become one with it.Drum set add-ons are a …

A video shoot on a reservation resulted in a complaint about the drumming. The Progress recently reported that recording artist Inez Jasper was working on a music video for her new song, “Dancin’ On The Run”, when the police notified her entourage that someone had called them about the noise. The video was being filmed on the Skowkale reserve and helps portray how the First Nations cultures were able to survive after the potlatch ban of 1884. The song features traditional drumming and the singer …

Jackson Elementary School in Davenport, Iowa, is using a drum circle to help teach their girls about teamwork, respect, and self-esteem. Quad City Times reports that a group of fourth-grade girls meet once a week to hone their drumming skills on overturned buckets. The girls really enjoy the group and they will share their creativity with other students during a school assembly later this month. The group is facilitated by Gene Bechen, a music professor at St. Ambrose University. The drumming gr …

Drum circles have been around for many years and are enjoying another heyday for several reasons. Many people find drumming, especially in a group setting, to be a cleansing, cathartic experience that helps them feel more connected to something greater than themselves. As a form of expression, drumming is both primal and primordial. Considered by many to be the heartbeat of Mother Earth, drumming allows individuals an opportunity to tap into their essence and bring out what they find. For this r …

Kenneth Schweitzer has written his first book, The Artistry of Afro-Cuban Batá Drumming: Aesthetics, Transmission, Bonding, and Creativity. The music professor and ethnomusicologist has researched percussion in the Cuban Lucumí / Santerían religion for over fifteen years and his book is a “seminal contribution” according to Michael Spiro, a Latin music expert. In 2004, Kenneth was initiated into the fraternity of Santería ritual drummers and, according to Washington College’s online news portal …

X8 DRUMS, SWAN PERCUSSION and VORTEX Repertory Company invite you to the "Austin Community Drum Circle."X8 Drums, VORTEX Repertory Company and Swan Percussion invite you to drum in the first day of Spring at the Austin Community Drum Circle on Wednesday, April 17th. In addition to the music, we'll be raffling off musical prizes to those in attendance.Spend some time feeling the rhythm and invest yourself in the interactive experience of an evening drum circle around a bonfire right in East Austi …