Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer

by Bill Bruford PhD

Overview

What do expert drummers do? Why do they do it? Is there anything creative about it? If so, how might that creativity inform their practice and that of others in related artistic spheres? Applying ideas from cultural psychology to findings from research into the creative behaviors of a specific subset of popular music instrumentalists, Bill Bruford demonstrates the ways in which expert drummers experience creativity in performance and offers fresh insights into in-the-moment interactional processes in music. An expert practitioner himself, Dr. Bruford draws on a cohort of internationally renowned, peak-career professionals and his own experience to guide the reader through the many dimensions of creativity in drummer performance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780472053780
Publisher:	University of Michigan Press
Publication date:	01/17/2018
Series:	Tracking Pop
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bill Bruford spent a working life as an internationally known musician and teacher before starting to investigate aspects of creativity in popular music performance. Having earned his PhD from the University of Surrey in 2016, he now writes and lectures on the topic. Dr. Bruford was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group Yes in 2017.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction: Setting Up 1

1 Action and Experience 20

2 Sinta and Roach: Two Modes of Performance 38

3 A Variety of Scripts: Performance in Context 53

4 The Biggest Challenge: Selecting Content 82

5 It's All What We Do with It: Constructing Difference 108

6 Reaching Others: Communicating Experience 128

7 I Never Heard It Before: Assessing Significance 165

8 The Experience That Disappears: Perceptions and Meaning 182

9 Breaking Down: Conclusions 206

Appendixes 217

Glossary 233

Notes 237

References 261

Index 275

Editorial Reviews

… an intelligent, thought-provoking treatise on the notion of creativity in Western popular music. Over the course of a number of interviews and case studies involving expert drummers, Bill Bruford examines how such practitioners approach and understand creativity. In the process, he crafts a relational processual model for understanding creativity and the creative process for real-time interactive performing arts (theatre, dance, music). The result is a fascinating and rewarding read that will surely affect players and listeners alike as they think about the concept of finding ‘creative meaning in making it work and making it matter.’”
—Rob Bowman, Grammy Award Winning Professor of Music


“It is no surprise to find Dr. Bruford so eloquently putting into language that which springs from such a non-linguistic source. Bill’s scholarly insights matched with a career’s-worth of personal experience shed an authoritative light on the creative role of the drummer. In today’s world of computer-generated rhythmic music, how wonderful to tap into this most organic and visceral element in music’s heritage, and deepen our appreciation of this immense creativity, past and present.”
—Tim Garland
 

From the Publisher

"Uncharted is more about creativity than it is about drummers; and it is more about the group of expert drummers than it is about Bill Bruford. However, any
drummers keen on reading it will enjoy a rare opportunity to have a practitioner in the field such as Bruford being able to share not only some of his insights from a lifetime’s worth of experience, but also many insights from that selection of expert drummers in such a candid fashion. Those involved or interested in the field of creativity studies will find rare and crucial insights into the nature creativity at a fundamental
and essential level - an uncharted one, until now."
—Popular Music

Popular Music

"An extremely interesting read, which has the merit of analyzing in depth, as never before, the point of view of the performer regarding the theme of creativity in music."
—MusicOff 

MusicOff

"Uncharted is a fascinating, forensic look at creativity and collaboration, with reverberations that go far beyond the world of music."
—Moving the River

Moving the River

"The book is reminiscent of a semester in college spent in the thrall of a favorite professor/lecturer. Bruford traded his sticks—and perhaps his iconic status—for the persona of a scholarly educator, confidently striding through a term's worth of dense, theoretical material, consistently making points filled with "ah hah" moments, and dazzling impressionable undergraduates with the depth and breadth of his knowledge."
—All About Jazz

All About Jazz