Rock I Funk I Blues I Reggae I Latin I Metal
Paul Jutras
DRUM KIT AND HAND PERCUSSION LESSONS 35+ years experience- Private / One 2 One / Customized / Fun
Beginner to advanced - In your home or in my studio in Duncan
250-732-7735 I chopsdrumschool@gmail.com
Exploring Ancient Percussive Sounds Paul Jutras, founder of CHOPS, drumming is my passion, and teaching is from my heart.
O
n a recent family trip to our West Coast, I found myself completely captivated by the waves and the thunderous noise they made smashing against rock. Wielding a commanding concussive vibration, it encompassed all acoustic space around me. At the moment of impact, nothing else could be heard. Being a drummer, this inevitably thrust my mind into speculation. What was the first percussive sound ever made? Were drums the first instrument conceived and fashioned by the hand of man? Did nature play the major role in its conception ? Well obviously, right?
Idiophones, meaning “ own voice “ were the first concussive/percussive instruments, and possibly the first ever musical instruments, along side the bone flute. Strike two rocks or sticks together, you have a concussive idiophone, very prehistoric. A percussive idiophone is hit by a striker, a stick or hand, causing the instrument, such as a wood block or rock gong, to vibrate. Around 35,000 years ago, some very interesting idiophones were being used. Animal jawbones were possibly the first rattles. Cleaned then dried to make the teeth loose, they made a buzzing sound when shaken.
a musician. People seeking shelter during winter, might have found these caves were incredible resonating chambers. Stalactites when struck send a resounding “boooong” echo, these were possibly the first percussive idiophones. You can still hear them played by musicians, at Luray caves in Virginia. So let’s get to the drums. Otherwise known as a membranophone, instruments with a stretched membrane (snake, cow and goat hide etc.) that vibrate when struck and produce sound. 10,000 years ago the first evidence of drums with animal skin heads emerged. But hold on... Mother Nature plays the first role here. Our eardrums are a timpanic membrane, and transmit sounds that vibrate it. It’s likely early people would not have known this when building the first drums. Our ancestors genius, imagination
and intuition, unknowingly recreated something we already naturally possessed. Early man experienced a cultural explosion when our tools became more advanced. Our communities grew larger and more complex with emerging sensibilities, and a highly developed sense of sacred. We began a dialogue with the spirit world through ritual. Noise and rhythms were created from the sounds found in the materials we had at hand, including the body itself. In a way we’re creating what Mother Nature has already provided us, a voice of our own. For those interested in exploring your own ancient rhythms Chops Drumschool is now taking registration for the Fall 2020 season. All lessons are one on one with physical distancing and safety measures in place.
Some 17,000 years ago in a cavern in southwestern France, an artist painted our first known picture of 47
