Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer (Tracking Pop) - Softcover

Bill Bruford

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472053787 ISBN 13: 9780472053780

Publisher: The University of Michigan Press, 2018

Synopsis

Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer is a study of creativity in the context of expert popular music instrumental performance. 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 music performance and offers fresh insights into in- the- moment interactional processes in music. An expert practitioner himself, Dr. Bruford draws on the perceptions of a cohort of internationally renowned, peak- career professionals and his own experience to introduce and guide the reader through the many dimensions of creativity in drummer performance.

About this title

Review:

..". 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

About the Author:

Bill Bruford spent a working life as an internationally known musician and teacher before stepping out of practice 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0472053787
• ISBN 13: 9780472053780
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296