Measurements of arm motion, timing, and striking force in a simple drumming task
Sofia Dahl, Virgil P. Stokes · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1999
How does the percussionist’s playing technique and feedback from the instrument influence the performance with respect to timing and striking force? In an attempt to answer this question the motion of the right arm and drumstick, and the timing and striking force in a simple repeated drumming task were measured for three professional percussionists and one amateur. The task consisted of single strokes with interleaved accents played at three different tempi and at three dynamic levels. Three striking tools (drumsticks, mallets, and brushes) and three different types of striking surfaces were used. Differences between the players’ performances under the different experimental conditions will be reported. [Work supported by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation.]