What Is A Drum Ensemble?

Introducing Goro-Goro

Goro-Goro is an ensemble of musicians, singers, and dancers based in San Diego, California. Performances include drumming, percussion, melodic instruments, dance, and vocals to create a blend of audio and visual entertainment. The music has roots in many world cultures, but is developed with few intentions of ethnic identity or authenticity. It is not African or Latin or Indonesian; it is San Diegan.

Performances are geared towards stage performance for a seated audience, dance clubs, or a mixture. Emphasis is on percussion and physical movement over melody or verbal content, though all elements are involved. The percussion ranges from sparse, light rhythms with melodic accompaniment to massive, powerful beats that shake the walls, massage your heart, an move your feet. All music is acoustic and natural, with no electronics or amplification.

What Is a Drum Ensemble?

Drums, being some of the earliest musical instruments, have been used in all capacities: as vehicles of shamanic communications with the gods, as instruments to drive celebrants into alternative consciousness, as signalling devices for villages and armies, and as percussive support for orchestras and bands.

Humans have been fascinated with rhythm throughout history. Rhythm permeates nature, from our mothers' heartbeats to babbling brooks, from falling rain to the cycle of the months and seasons. Rhythm is intriguing because it is so simple, yet can be limitless in its complexity. Humans stretched the possibilites of rhythm by experimenting with different beats on a drum, then integrating multiple drums together.

This combining of drums added further complexity and provided a way for drummers to communicate with each other. It became a community activity. Drum ensembles have existed in some capacity in most cultures of the world. The interaction of drummers is not unlike people uniting to dance together or even the cooperative rhythms of sexual intercourse.

Entrainment is the phenonenon in which natural elements that are in close proximity tend to synchronize with each other. Even two clocks, when placed side-by-side, will eventually tick in unison. Humans also entrain with each other. This is the essence of a drum ensemble. An ensemble reenacts the harmony of nature.

Over the centuries, drum ensembles have developed common elements throughout the world. Most ensembles feature an array of distinct percussion instruments, each supplying a different voice and part in the rhythmic structure. The rhythms themselves became increasingly complex, with synchopation, tempo changes, and the integration of regular and irregular parts together.

Perhaps the epitome of drum ensembles is the batucada or carnaval music of Brazil. A batucada is a rhythm piece used by Brazilian drummers to practice their techniques while integrating with fellow percussionists. The rhythmic compexity and instrumental variety go hand-in-hand as drums from huge surdo bass drums to tube bells and shakers form a rich tapestry of acoustic, percussive sound.

Today, while North America and Europe have largely lagged behind, Sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, Japan, Indonesia, and Korea, among others, have developed their unique versions of percussion ensembles that are now becoming more popular outside their homelands through the recent world music boom. It's time North America and Europe caught up.

Developing a Drum Ensemble

A group of San Diego area drummers are developing a group that is less-structured than a cultural band, but more-structured than a drum circle. We have been inspired greatly by Kodo, a drumming group on an island off the shore of Japan. They began as a taiko group, playing the rhythms and songs of the various regions of Japan, but have evolved into a group that may fit better in the world beat section of your local CD store. They mostly compose their own works, with influences from all over the world. They personalize the music so that it is their own. Though it still retains Japanese cultural influences, it is really no longer merely taiko music; it is Kodo music.

The U.S. has developed a wealth of music styles, but Europe and North America, including the U.S., are weak in one area of music that is central to many world cultures: the drum ensemble.

This percussion ensemble, named "Goro-Goro", the Japanese onomatopoeic (sound imitation word) for the sound of thunder, is venturing on a similar path as Kodo, but from another starting point, from Southern California. The focus is an ensemble of musicians who explore rhythms together, eventually developing their own pieces, perhaps inspired by familiar cultural music, but also formed from within them.

To avoid initial chaos, the group has begin by exploring from familiar starting points, developing rhythms from West African, rock, Latin, Jazz, funk, taiko, reggae, rai, big band, samba, Afropop, ragas, hip hop, etc. We even reproduce modern electronic dance rhythms on acoustic drums.

Types Of Music Performance

There are generally two kinds of musical performance: music for an audience to dance to (called Club Music on these pages) and music for an audience to listen to (referred to as concert music here).

Club Music
Samba and Afro-Cuban are good examples of dance drumming. The rhythms are fairly constant, almost to the point of being monotonous, for the purpose of accomodating dancers, whether for performers onstage or the audience. These rhythms are generally easy to learn and develop.

Concert Music
The latter is usually the more intricate of the two. Kumi-daiko (ensemble taiko) is a good example. Kumi-daiko has orchestrated parts and physical movement among the musicians. The rhythm, dynamics, and tempo may change frequently. The audience normally doesn't dance, but watches the performance unfold.

The Goro-Goro drum ensemble encompasses both styles. Some performances, in certain venues, or for certain occasions, are for watching. Other shows, in clubs or at festivals, include mostly dance rhythms. Some are mixed. Performances can also include humor and non-musical elements, like characterization, drama, and stunts.

Brian Pound is a performing percussion enthusiast living in San Diego, California. His music has been heavily influenced by world percussion styles which include Japanese Taiko, Brazilian Batucada Samba, West African Mande drumming and other world styles. Brian has a special love for the Brazilian bass drum known as Surdo. He has been involved in several San Diego percussion ensembles, most recently Diaspora. Previous ensembles have also included Goro-Goro and the Super Sonic Samba School. You may also visit the San Diego Drum Community site for info on drum circles and much more in the area.