[Music]
nice how they do I’d like to thank my
helpers Jen and Cynthia and also Eliana
and Chris well hello TEDx Oshkosh hi mom
a little over 25 years ago I just got
out of a Grateful Dead show was
wandering around the parking lot
encampment uh kind of enjoying the after
show glow of things when I heard some
beautiful percussion music coming from
off in the distance so I searched it out
it was coming from an old school bus
converted to a motor home and I was
going to compliment the guy on the
awesome sound system and see who it was
so I could go get the CD and I rounded
the front of the bus and I was amazed to
find fifteen or twenty folks sitting in
a circle play in a variety of drums and
percussion instruments after listening
and and watching him for a while it
became clear that they weren’t a
practiced for percussion ensemble but
more just a random collection of people
playing music in the moment based on
what was going on right then and there
that music as I sat there and listened
permeated my being like even the
Grateful Dead had not and they were the
masters of transcendental music
so as I as I notice everyone in the
circle was paying close attention to
what everybody else was doing they were
listening to each other they were calm
and focused and they were respecting
each other’s contribution to the whole
song and every one of them was wearing a
contagious smile I didn’t know it at the
time but that moment set me on a path
that’s brought me where I am today you
see at that point in my life I’d worn
out the party phase already and I was
looking to cultivate my resolve to
become part of the solution to actively
be a part of something that was going to
make the world a better place to live
and so with that in mind that I guess
that was kind of where a shift in my
mind’s eye was happening for me in the
party to community and the party so I
returned home and began using my
do-it-yourself superpowers to learn
about and build drums through trial and
error I found out that it wasn’t
necessarily when I listen to percussion
music or even when I drummed by myself
but when I drummed with other people I
got this overwhelming sense of wellness
and a feeling of hope and support from
the other people in the group so it was
definitely that playing with other
people in that sense of community in the
drum circle and in the music that made
it what it is to me and so healing and
helpful so for the next several years I
continued to make bigger and better
drums and invited as many people as I
could to come and drum with me about
this time I got introduced to the World
Wide Web the first thing I used a search
engine for was drum circles that’s when
I found out that what I had been doing
wasn’t just a hobby but it had a name
and was an actual thing I was a drum
circle facilitator so I found some
places offering some training went and
got some
and I learned so much from people like
Arthur Hall who we call the father of
the modern drum circle movement also
Christine Stevens and dr. Barry Bittman
the Oshkosh rhythm Institute facilitates
about a hundred and twenty five drum
circles a year now and we just wouldn’t
be doing that without influences like
them so as they’re an historical premise
for drum circles absolutely music and
drumming has been a central part of the
healing arts for as long as we can find
out in history music song and dance has
also been in the glue that’s held
communities together for thousands of
years the traditions and knowledge of
these drums the rhythms the songs the
music has been passed down from
generation to generation Babatunde
Olatunji was pivotal in sharing that
knowledge and tradition with us when he
came here in 1950 from Nigeria the song
we were playing when you came in is a
prime example it’s called fungi the
rhythm was based on a traditional
Liberian invocation to earth and sky
then later in 1959 there was a dance
developed by pearl Primus in conjunction
with the library and national dance
company and in the early 60s Babatunde
came up with a song to go with it he
used the Yoruba language and also a
melody that was popularized by American
minstrels called lil Eliza Jane so if it
sounded familiar that’d be why in drum
circles today we use many traditional
instruments but in a non-traditional
setting the most common one you’ll find
is the djembe from West Africa the name
literally means everyone gather together
in peace it doesn’t take a lifetime to
master the instrument to be able to
contribute to the group song in fact in
just a few minutes as you witnessed up
here these guys sounded pretty good
you can get a couple different tones out
of the drum and the rest comes from our
intuitive rhythms and are willing
willingness to collaborate with our
neighbors in the group so what does drum
circle technology look like well we we
gather in at first where a group of
individuals we bring with us our moods
feelings and issues that that we’ve
accumulated in the day and then we sit
down to express ourselves through the
drum as we do that the sound mixes with
all the other sounds in the room
everybody hears that sound that’s mixed
up and it gets changed a little bit by
it as we continue to play that cycle
repeats itself and you can see that
eventually the rhythms are going to
become more aligned with each other and
a unique common song emerges
now we’re grooving and in that groove is
it becomes effortless and some real
physical mental and spiritual changes
can take place in fact dr. berry Bittman
some of you might remember he used to
write the call column in the newspaper
called laughter is the best medicine
well him and his health rhythms team did
some research research to kind of
document some of those changes that were
taken place and they found that stress
levels reduced which is good for our
heart among other things they also found
increased immune system function as well
as increased white blood cell count
which is how our bodies fight disease so
I was learning about all this stuff and
I thought it was cool but it wasn’t
until I heard him explaining that they
had started some regular drum circles
for their cancer patients and they had
found out that they could reduce their
meds and get the same effect while
they’re participating and at that time I
was just convinced that playing music
for recreation is not just fun but it’s
physically healing and just this year a
group in the UK did another study and
they showed that group drumming reduced
anxiety and depression
and also increased social resilience in
some of their mental health service
users over a 6 and 10 week span when
they went back three months later they
found that these effects were still
apparent so it’s it’s real and it has a
lasting effect so one of the things one
of the many many things that I’ve
learned on my journey is that each and
every one of us has an awesome creative
spirit some of them might be pretty well
hidden or buried under a ton of baggage
but with a little bit of facilitation
it’s often very rewarding to see it
emerge in someone who does just didn’t
think they had it in them I was given a
string of drum circles down the street
here at Washington Elementary and
afterwards a young boy came up to me he
totally reminded me of myself at that
age and you know the kind of kid bullies
thrive on and he gave me a big hug and
he said you changed my life and it was
so satisfying to know that well it
looked like a hippie just having fun
drumming with people that there was real
physical healing taken place so that
awareness that I have of everybody’s
awesome creative spirit makes it easy
for me to see that while there’s so many
things trying to divide us in this world
that intuitively and naturally what we
want to do is respect each other and
unite and make beautiful music together
as we try and build a stronger community
we need to take note of the barriers
that seem to be between us and determine
if those are fake or real I can tell you
that most of them are an illusion but we
need to deconstruct those barriers
accordingly and one of the best ways to
do that is to participate in a community
drum circle there you’ll you’ll
experience firsthand and in real time
honest-to-goodness community because the
music that’s created is a direct
reflection of the group’s relay
ship so the same things that make a team
work well together
respect attentive listening open an
honest expression of your ideas and your
feelings these all make the music feel
and sound better as we get more
comfortable unleashing our creative
spirits naturally our confidence and
self-esteem improves and we wind up
taking that out into the world spreading
it around a little bit and voila more
so what do you think shall we experience
them in the moment music right now let’s
do it I have some helpers that are going
to come and pass out some instruments
here I guess we’re going to have to
spread out a little more than we
originally thought and I’m sorry we
didn’t have time to put something in
everybody’s hand but I encourage you to
join in clapping use your voice stomp
your feet whatever you got I also want
to encourage everyone to find a drum
circle near you and go check it out at
least once then you’ll know what it’s
all about community drum circles or
family-friendly events they’re not just
so what we’re going to do is I’m going
to invite the drummers the exceptional
drummers we have in the front row to lay
down a heartbeat rhythm and then if you
have an instrument in your hand all you
got to do is listen to that beat and put
in your simple pattern keep it simple
and remember to leave a lot of space for
other others to fill in remember there’s
no way to make a mistake while we’re
doing this this is our song for this
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
you guys are beautiful I don’t want to
thank you very much for being willing to
share your rhythmical spirits with each
other and enjoy the rest of your day [Applause]