Ever sit behind the kit, wishing that you had one more limb to pull off that crazy polyrhythm with? Well, the possibility of that may not be too far away. A team at Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology is currently developing robotic prosthetics that can not only be useful to drummers who have lost a limb, but could also allow two-armed percussionists to add a third, fully controlled by the performer’s brain activity.
Tag: percussionist
-
John Beck’s story-filled percussion collection
Teaching percussion at Rochester, New York’s Eastman School of Music since 1959, John H. Beck has amassed quite the incredible collection of instruments, method books and other items. Beck, technically now retired, spoke recently with the Democrat & Chronicle about gradually sorting through the items and the memories.“Almost everything in here has a story,” says Beck. “The stories are what hold me back from getting this done. I open that door and walk in here, and there’s memorabilia all over the place.
He taught hundreds of students in his years at Eastman, one of the most popular being the legendary Steve Gadd. But about his time with Gadd, he says, “”I didn’t really teach him . . . I just guided him.”
Read the full D&C story here.
-
Aerodrums founders take their product to the Dragons’ Den
After their recent appearance on Dragons’ Den, Aerodrums founders Yann Morvan and Richard Lee feel that the show’s investors didn’t quite understand the potential value of their rad little product and company.Combining Lee’s love of drumming with Morvan’s real-time motion tracking tech know-how, the two created Aerodrums to allow drummers to “air drum” for real. What this means to a percussionist is suddenly having the ability to practice or perform virtually anywhere. Even silently, as to not disturb those in their apartment building or other surroundings.
Although impressed by the pair’s computer and high-speed camera wizardry, the Dragons’ Den crew were not entirely sold on the idea of supporting it.
“Looking back we were not really able to make them understand the size of the market. It is true that musical instruments are not something everyone is interested in, there are a lot of people out there who don’t play music and even less who play drums. But that doesn’t mean it’s a tiny market. We felt their valuation of the company was completely wrong.” – Yann Morvan
In the end, an offer was indeed made to the Aerodrums team. How did it all pan out? Read this article from The Guardian for all the details!