‘Time Is A Construct.’ is an old rubric, but what has that got to do with drumming? What we have as our own, is not the past. It is our perspective on the past. Energetics here. We keep that stuff alive by pondering it, reworking the ending, contemplating commensurate results of said event, and generally trying to make sense out of the moments in our lives. This is sometimes referred to as therapy, or meditation, or poetry, or the blues. The point of view is what is cogent to the drummer. With the right grooves we can slip and slide into and out of ‘time’ and rhythmically affect reality, that includes the past, as well as present time and future time.
The drummer reveals the fabric of time, and we witness that it is not substantial. It is our group agreement. Much like the downbeat in drumming. It is an immediate consensual instant when people agree to sharing the downbeat. Community happens. Time stands still. Or time can go where you want it to go. We have a time machine.
Visiting the past while you keep a steady very relaxed groove is an interesting journey. The action of hitting the groove yourself is protective and cleansing.
We can take care packages back to our former selves; things to help them survive. A prayer if nothing else. But in the long run we sense a change in the present time when we feel this has been a successful sojourn into what we call ‘our past’.
excerpt: “History of the Groove” Russell Buddy Helm ©2015 buddyhelm.com