TSB IV - Oral Presentations
Nadia Azar (on Behalf of Aurélie Sarcher) -- Metal Drummers Use Ankle Physiological Tremors to Speed Up Double Bass Drumming
In metal music, double bass drumming pushes human movement to its limits. Drummers strike the bass drum by alternating both feet on two pedals at frequencies matching the music’s tempo with remarkable precision. This presentation investigates the biomechanics of double bass drumming’s ankle technique in metal music, showing that trained drummers achieve exceptionally high foot-strike frequencies by refining movements similar to physiological ankle tremors. While efficient performers exhibited lower overall muscle activation and better endurance, others showed excessive activation in the lower back and hip flexors, suggesting compensatory strategies that may increase musculoskeletal disorder risk
Anne Chabot-Bucchi -- Comprovisation as a Compositional Method
Anne Chabot-Bucchi’s research-creation project explores comprovisation as a method for designing a neuroscience-inspired contemporary music performance for percussion and electronics aimed at toddlers aged 0–2. By creating an immersive live experience, documenting infants’ engagement, and developing tools for future creators, the project investigates how very young children respond to contemporary musical styles and seeks to broaden accessibility to contemporary music from the earliest stages of life.
Stuart Jackson -- Reconstructing Coefficient: Frictional Percussion and Electronics (1991) by David Tudor
Stuart Jackson’s presentation details the reconstruction of David Tudor’s Coefficient: Frictional Percussion and Electronics (1991), a rarely performed and undocumented feedback-based work written for Michael Pugliese. Drawing on archival materials from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company Foundation at the New York Public Library and sketches from the Getty Research Institute, the project cross-references documents and recordings to decipher Tudor’s feedback system, enabling live performance of the work for the first time in over three decades.
Ken Shorley -- Off The Grid: Hand Drum Ensemble Music
Ken Shorley’s presentation explores how he developed a globally inspired hand drum repertoire with his ensemble KST, blending Middle Eastern and Indian techniques with influences ranging from Carnatic music to jazz and minimalism. Shorley discusses his use of off-the-grid, text-based, and cipher notation, and reflects on how such poly-cultural approaches can inform decolonizing practices and alternative pathways in academic percussion programs.
Will Martin - “It Takes a Village”: Fostering Community Through Percussion Ensemble
Join Darrel Bueckert and Will Martin to talk about the 13-year journey of growing community through the Prairie Music Residency, a 5-day Brass Band and Percussion course held in Saskatoon every August.