ADAM PATRICK BELL
adam patrick bell is an Associate Professor of Music Education in the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary, Canada. He is the author of Dawn of the DAW: The Studio as Musical Instrument (Oxford University Press, 2018), and has written several peer reviewed articles and chapters on the topics of music technology in music education, and disability in music education. Prior to his career in higher education, Bell worked as a kindergarten teacher, elementary music teacher, and support worker for adolescents with disabilities. Bell has also worked as a freelance producer, creating commercial music for clients including Coca-Cola.
|
CORNEL HRISCA-MUNN
Cornell Hrisca-Munn is a philosophy and theology graduate from Keble College at Oxford University. He is a drummer, bass player, youtube channel owner, and musical blogger. Check his work out at youtube.com/cornelmunn
|
Drums, Bass, and Disability
"See the trick is only pick on those that can't do you no harm, like the drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm."
- from the Bloodhound Gang’s “Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ On Me” (1996)
What is especially significant about this ableist mid-1990s popular culture reference is that Def Leppard’s Rick Allen has long been the public face of the disabled drummer. As the Bloodhound Gang’s lyrics make clear, Allen has more often than not been identified primarily by his disability (e.g., ‘the one-armed drummer’ and so on), as opposed to by his name, or solely by his role (e.g., ‘the drummer’). Like some disabled musicians that came before him such as Django Reinhardt, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder, Allen’s disability is visible, and as a result, for many in the music-consuming public, his disability defines him more so than his musicianship. Such perceptions are typically tied to the tired trope of overcoming disability, which is rooted in the belief of a normal body, that ought to conform to the built environment such as musical instruments, and more specifically in our case study, the drum kit. Blake Howe asserts that in the case of music, this ‘normal performance body’ is above-average with regard to the musculature and dexterity needed to play an instrument. Applying this theory to the drum kit, drummers are presumed to play their instrument with two hands and two feet.
In our paper presentation we will examine the intersection of drumming and disability. Whilst Rick Allen is undoubtedly the most famous drummer with a disability, he is certainly not the only drummer with a disability. The World Health Organization estimates that 15 percent of the global population have disabilities, and therefore by extension we can safely presume that many drummers do or will experience disability at some point in their lifetimes. By seeking to learn about the experiencers of other drummers with disabilities, the drumming community can broaden and deepen its understanding of how disabilities affect drumming, if at all. This line of logic can be extended more broadly to musicians with disabilities in the interest of working towards increased accessibility and equity in music education.
Our research process took the form of the following stages: First, we engaged in multiple semi-structured conversations to generate possible themes and topics to examine at the confluence of drumming and disability. These conversations were then transcribed to text and analyzed for their most salient ideas. We mutually agreed upon how we would address the overarching concept of how disability, drumming, and the drum kit intersect with each other, applying concepts from the field of disability studies to consider the significance of our discussion for the drumming community and music education community at large.
In Tom Shakespeare’s Disability Rights and Wrongs, he suggests that case studies of people with disabilities are crucial to advancing our understanding in the field of disability studies because they draw out the nuances of disability experiences. His theorization is consistent with Cornel’s case; he wants to be evaluated on his drumming alone, yet there are other aspects in his life when a disability identity and/or classification is needed to live his life. We will present the case of Cornel beginning with him describing his disability and how it affects his drumming. Following, Cornel will describe his approach to playing ‘Everlong’ (1997) by Foo Fighters. We pose the following question: in the act of playing ‘Everlong’ on his drum kit, is Cornel disabled? From an auditory-only perspective, if the same notes are being played, there would be no way of knowing about Cornel's disability. But, in our visual-centric society, watching Cornel play his drums in addition to hearing him play them is integral to the listening experience. How we see Cornel play drums changes how we hear him play drums. As Cornel explains, understanding how he plays ‘Everlong’ necessitates not only a description of his performance, but also his disability and his drum kit. In Cornel's experience, observers of his drumming tend to pay more attention to his body than his drum kit. Such a perspective exemplifies medical model thinking as the focus is on the individual as opposed to the environment (the drum kit in this case). Cornel’s case is congruent with Elizabeth Barnes assertion that, ‘Having a disability is something that makes you different, but not something that by itself makes you worse off because of that difference. Being disabled is simply something that makes you a minority—it is a way of having a minority body.’
- from the Bloodhound Gang’s “Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ On Me” (1996)
What is especially significant about this ableist mid-1990s popular culture reference is that Def Leppard’s Rick Allen has long been the public face of the disabled drummer. As the Bloodhound Gang’s lyrics make clear, Allen has more often than not been identified primarily by his disability (e.g., ‘the one-armed drummer’ and so on), as opposed to by his name, or solely by his role (e.g., ‘the drummer’). Like some disabled musicians that came before him such as Django Reinhardt, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder, Allen’s disability is visible, and as a result, for many in the music-consuming public, his disability defines him more so than his musicianship. Such perceptions are typically tied to the tired trope of overcoming disability, which is rooted in the belief of a normal body, that ought to conform to the built environment such as musical instruments, and more specifically in our case study, the drum kit. Blake Howe asserts that in the case of music, this ‘normal performance body’ is above-average with regard to the musculature and dexterity needed to play an instrument. Applying this theory to the drum kit, drummers are presumed to play their instrument with two hands and two feet.
In our paper presentation we will examine the intersection of drumming and disability. Whilst Rick Allen is undoubtedly the most famous drummer with a disability, he is certainly not the only drummer with a disability. The World Health Organization estimates that 15 percent of the global population have disabilities, and therefore by extension we can safely presume that many drummers do or will experience disability at some point in their lifetimes. By seeking to learn about the experiencers of other drummers with disabilities, the drumming community can broaden and deepen its understanding of how disabilities affect drumming, if at all. This line of logic can be extended more broadly to musicians with disabilities in the interest of working towards increased accessibility and equity in music education.
Our research process took the form of the following stages: First, we engaged in multiple semi-structured conversations to generate possible themes and topics to examine at the confluence of drumming and disability. These conversations were then transcribed to text and analyzed for their most salient ideas. We mutually agreed upon how we would address the overarching concept of how disability, drumming, and the drum kit intersect with each other, applying concepts from the field of disability studies to consider the significance of our discussion for the drumming community and music education community at large.
In Tom Shakespeare’s Disability Rights and Wrongs, he suggests that case studies of people with disabilities are crucial to advancing our understanding in the field of disability studies because they draw out the nuances of disability experiences. His theorization is consistent with Cornel’s case; he wants to be evaluated on his drumming alone, yet there are other aspects in his life when a disability identity and/or classification is needed to live his life. We will present the case of Cornel beginning with him describing his disability and how it affects his drumming. Following, Cornel will describe his approach to playing ‘Everlong’ (1997) by Foo Fighters. We pose the following question: in the act of playing ‘Everlong’ on his drum kit, is Cornel disabled? From an auditory-only perspective, if the same notes are being played, there would be no way of knowing about Cornel's disability. But, in our visual-centric society, watching Cornel play his drums in addition to hearing him play them is integral to the listening experience. How we see Cornel play drums changes how we hear him play drums. As Cornel explains, understanding how he plays ‘Everlong’ necessitates not only a description of his performance, but also his disability and his drum kit. In Cornel's experience, observers of his drumming tend to pay more attention to his body than his drum kit. Such a perspective exemplifies medical model thinking as the focus is on the individual as opposed to the environment (the drum kit in this case). Cornel’s case is congruent with Elizabeth Barnes assertion that, ‘Having a disability is something that makes you different, but not something that by itself makes you worse off because of that difference. Being disabled is simply something that makes you a minority—it is a way of having a minority body.’