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Drumming in the North

by Dr. Sean Dowgray, CMS Faculty Organizer and Term Assistant Professor of Music

It doesn’t take a trained percussionist to know that drumming is central to life. Ever since I began playing the drums myself, I have believed strongly that it is something everyone should do at some point. The feeling of activating a drum (typically through striking but also rubbing and scraping in some cases), hearing its resonance, and feeling its vibrations, provides a visceral experience that is raw and meditative. Whether one plays the drum themselves or listens to someone else, drumming unveils key features of life and nature: pulse, rhythm, and vibration.

My time in ����vlog���� has shown me that drumming is primary to many musics of the Circumpolar region (alongside singing and dancing). I’m grateful we have been able to feature various types of drumming in many of our CMS events over the past three years from groups such as Pamyua, the Pavva Iñupiaq Dancers, the Troth Yeddha’ Dance Group, and the Iñu- Yupiaq Dance Group. Approaches to drumming vary greatly in the north, even within the groups listed above. Take for example the (“Pavva” meaning “away from the sea, towards the mountain") from the 2011 Festival of Native Arts. Here, we see a distinct approach to drumming that is associated with the Inupiaq style. A long, thin stick (Mumiq) is struck against the rim of a drum (Qilaun) that is large in circumference relative to its depth (typically only a few inches). As is seen in this video, it is often the case that a song begins with the sound of wood against wood - stick against frame - followed by a motion that is much more forceful the second time around. As the frame is struck harder, the middle of the stick bends and touches the membrane that has been glued to the wooden shell. Via the resonance of the membrane, the drum sings. In western percussion practices, the downstroke is the primary motion used towards the activation of a drum while the upstroke is more of a preparatory gesture. I asked about the use of an upstroke as the primary motion for the Inupiaq style to a fellow event goer when I attended Quyana (an event that gives thanks to Alaskans statewide for supporting the Native community in a pro-subsistence vote in 1982) last fall, and they observed that perhaps similarly to dance, this approach was meant to demonstrate strength. Fragments of a drum of this design have been found in the permafrost on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait dating to about 2,000 years ago. The oldest preserved evidence, found in the Disko Bay area of Greenland, dates from 4,500 years ago and illustrates the act of drumming as an almost timeless ritual. 

In , the group demonstrates the Yup’ik style. Here, the drum (Saguyak) and stick look very similar to those of the Pavva dance group. However, Pamyua uses a downstroke as opposed to an upstroke, playing directly on the membrane with the stick. The illustrates the Athabascan style in which both the drum and stick differ greatly. These drums do not have handles but are held from the cord or sinew underneath that stretches the membrane around the frame. The stick is not thin and cylindrical but flat and bent back around on itself at the end. These drummers also stand and move around with the dancers circling them, contrasting with the previous examples which situate the drummers behind the dancers in a line. In Ben Boyd’s , you can see the creation of a drum of the Athabascan type from start to finish. Through this drum making process, it is understood that while drums have similar characteristics from region to region, each drum is individual and unique in both the materials foraged and the way it is constructed. A similar drum is seen in the Tlingit Sheet'k'á Ḵwáan Dancers (People of Sitka) , although the stick used to play the drum is noticeably different - in this case a rounded head that is wrapped, eliminating the brighter sound of wood against membrane.

The rhythmic material performed in each of these examples is pulsating, repetitive, and unifying. One drum alone contains significant power, but together in a group, their sound fills each space entirely; it is both heard and felt. The drumming is closely tied to the sung material, and while there are notations of drum parts formatted into standard western notation, subtle yet important nuances in the rhythms are not well represented within this system.

Drumming is a ritual, therefore taken very seriously within these cultures. , it is expressed that the drum is not a toy to be played with, “I just don’t drum any old time any old way,” one of the drummers in the video explains. The drum itself has a spirit and should be respected and well cared for. The drum represents many things beyond itself as an object: the heartbeat of a great eagle as the same drummer in the video goes on to explain, or according to others, the heartbeat of the Earth. Furthermore, drums are commonly the possession of an individual, but sometimes a drum might be the property of an entire community. In this case, an individual is given the responsibility of caring for and looking after the drum, which is considered an honor. This is another way of illustrating drumming as a communal endeavor, which is something I have witnessed across many cultures of drumming, regardless of the differences of their performative techniques and traditions.

The Circumpolar Music Series will feature a number of drumming focused events this semester. On February 21st at 7:30pm in the Davis Concert Hall, we will feature a musical program that embraces the arctic winter, featuring pitched and unpitched percussion in various formats. On Tuesday, March 4th at 11:30am, Brian Walker II will present on his time teaching drum making at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Sean Asikłuk Topkok - drummer of the Pavva Inupiaq Dancers - will visit the department on Tuesday, March 18th at 11:30am along with his wife, Amy Ahnaughuq Topkok, to demonstrate some of their group’s songs. Outside of CMS, the Festival of Native Arts will run at the end of February into March (2/27-3/1). Lastly, the Circumpolar Music Series has a few more event dates pending for the spring, so be sure to follow the UAF Department of Music’s social media for future updates.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Dr. Sean Dowgray is a classical percussionist specializing in modern and contemporary music. Dowgray is a proponent of creative collaborations which has resulted in recent musical works by Daniel Tacke (Vorrücken and einsamkeit), Josh Levine (Shrinking world/expanding and Les yeux ouverts) as well as new chamber works by Justin Murphy-Mancini (Sic itur ad astra and A Song of Grecis.) and Lydia Winsor Brinadmour (As if, sand). In the recent past, Dowgray has collaborated closely with composers including Jürg Frey (Garden of Transparency), Christopher Adler (Strata), Ioannis Mitsialis (Machine Mode), Lewis Nielson (Where Ashes Make the Flowers Grow and NOVA), and James Wood (Cloud Polyphonies). As a soloist, Dr. Dowgray has focused extensively on works that stretch the technical and expressive capabilities of both instrument and performer. This includes the work of Jason Eckardt, Josh Levine, Daniel Tacke, Salvatore Sciarrino, Lewis Nielson, David Lang, Christopher Adler, Brian Ferneyhough, Luciano Berio, Richard Barrett. Dowgray has been featured as a soloist at the Oberlin Percussion Institute, the Percussive Art Society International Convention (PASIC), the WasteLAnd New Music Series, Harvard’s Institute for Advanced Learning, the University of Arizona, the SoundON New Music Festival, and Eureka! Musical Minds of California. As a creative practitioner, Dowgray has focused recently on his project, WHEN for mixed ensemble set to premiere in 2025. He recently completed the interdisciplinary collaboration, In A Time of Change: Boreal Forest Stories featuring artists and scientists. As part of this collaboration, Dowgray created the work Moving Through the Boreal Forest in partnership with Maïté Agopian (light and shadow work) and Daryl Farmer (poetry), Associate Professor of English at UAF. Dr. Dowgray is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy where he studied with John Alfieri, the Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.) where studied with Michael Rosen, the ����vlog���� (M.M.) where he studied with Dr. Morris Palter, and the University of California San Diego (D.M.A) where he studied with Steven Schick. In Dr. Dowgray's dissertation, Time Being: Percussion as a Study of Time, he presents an analyses of new and rarely heard works for and with percussion through theoretical frameworks of time study from authors including Jonathan Kramer, J.T. Fraser, Edward T. Hall, and others. Recent notable performances include John Corigliano's percussion concerto, Conjurer with the ����vlog���� Symphony Orchestra and Lewis Nielson's Lengua Encubierto for solo percussion at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC).