East Coast Stickings

In 1999 I was introduced to the music of multi-instrumentalist Kim Seok Chul, a master performer of shaman ritual music from Korea’s East Coast, who passed away in June 2005. Kim Seok Chul’s community performs a style of ritual music unique in Korea for its demanding technical requirements and complex rhythmic structures.

In order to navigate complex structures, the drummers of Korea’s East Coast have developed a large variety of rhythm/sticking variations that feature triple strokes, hemiola, and unison. As seen in the pieces SamulNori Drumset and Chil Chae (drumset) [both appearing on this site], Korean percussion motifs achieve rhythmic development through the ornamentation of consistent archetypal models. In East Coast ritual music however, motifs are treated as structures over which a drummer can improvise his own variations, depending on their technical and rhythmic abilities.

A common element found in East Coast rhythm cells is the appearance of a triple stroke played with either the right or left hand. The triple stroke adds a layer of complexity to rhythm/sticking cells, and enhances the inherent “poly-rhythmic” possibilities within a given rhythmic pattern. By poly-rhythmic I am referring to the effect of rhythmic counterpoint that eventuates when a single rhythmic pattern is played across two sound sources. The resulting rhythm can thus be interpreted as both a single rhythm stream (both sounds sources considered two parts of single rhythm stream) or as two independent streams (each sound source considered an autonomous rhythm stream).

As a direct response to the music of Kim Seok Chul, I created a series of rhythm/sticking cells inspired by variations found in East Coast ritual music. The cells feature unison notes and triple strokes, and are grouped in combinations upward from three to seven. East Coast cells can be linked to form more complex structures and may be orchestrated across the drum set in a myriad of ways, allowing for a highly interactive vocabulary applicable to even and odd meters. When notes labeled RH are sounded on the ride cymbal, the “jazz-pulse” time continuum remains almost intact throughout the resulting even and odd groupings of eighth notes.

When playing East Coast stickings, be sure to play unison events as unison (not flammed). At first it may seem uncomfortable to play unison as we are so accustomed to flams as they appear in the rudiments. Focus on relaxing your limbs and dropping the sticks in unison. I’ve found that practicing these variations across two sound sources helps one to hear the two independent “rhythm streams” and helps develop the effect of rhythmic counterpoint.  

Try playing through Ted Reed's syncopation with the following sticking code, remembering to play unison strokes as unison and not flammed. I would also reccomend playing Quintuplet Study and Septuplet Study with the following East Coast sticking code as well. The following exercise moves from hand to hand so a Right hand double stroke (quarter note) would lead to a left hand eighth note or left hand quarter note (double stroke).