Pressure + Velocity = Sound

This post will be discussing the application of pressure and velocity of stroke in the creation of sound and color control.  This idea goes hand and hand with my previous posting "Creating Lines of Music on Mallet Keyboard Instruments" in the sense that it's an often overlooked yet important part of playing percussion and music making. 

Pressure + Velocity = Sound

"Sound" is an absolutely imperative component to music making.  When playing percussion or any musical instrument we are responsible for the sound we actively create.  While mallet choice is often the go to solution for issues pertaining to sound, the color, character, and intensity of the sound can all be manipulated by the player via pressure and velocity of stroke.  When these two elements are added into our playing they have the potential to make our music more three dimensional.  By combining excellent pressure control and velocity of stroke with a solid listening foundation, we are able to achieve a wide variety of color and sound variations.

It is an extremely old fashioned idea that there is only one stroke type or "one way" to strike a percussion instrument.  Every piece of music has different emotions and levels of intensity that the performer must work to express and convey to their audience.  The true artist leads with their ears and has a wide variety of stroke types in their arsenal to create the necessary required sounds.

Pressure 

Pressure is the amount of firmness with which we hold the stick or mallet.  When playing we can choose to apply either a strong or weak pressure.  By using strong or weak pressure and everything in between we are able to create a full color/resonance spectrum in our playing.  

Weak Pressure

Weak pressure does not restrict the sound.  It allows the sound to "sound" uninterrupted because our hands interfere as little as possible with the natural vibration of the stick or mallet. When playing with weak pressure all of the overtones of the instrument are allowed to ring to their fullest extent.  Weak pressure is extremely useful for fluid, legato, connected resonant playing.  

Strong Pressure

Conversely, when we apply strong pressure we restrict the sound and the natural vibration of the sticks or mallets in our hands.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  It's just important to know when to use it and when not to.  Using strong pressure is useful when we want a more controlled less resonant sound.  It restricts some of the natural overtones of our instruments.  I often instruct students to use more pressure when the sound requirements are heavy, muted, dark, and restricted.  

Velocity of Stroke

Velocity of stroke is how fast or slow the stick or mallet moves or is moving towards its destination (either a drum head, mallet keyboard bar, or any other percussion instrument). Velocity affects the overall intensity of the sound.  It is how we control the intensity of the sound we are trying to create.  Velocity is also extremely useful in differentiating between staccato and legato strokes. 

Fast Velocity of Stroke

In a fast velocity of stroke the stick or mallet travels quickly to reach its destination.  Doing this creates a more energized and intense sound.  It can also useful in creating staccato style stokes. When playing fast passages in a fast tempo, players will sometimes naturally use a faster velocity of stroke.  This adds to the energetic sound of fast playing (in addition to the tempo itself).  When playing in a slow tempo, using a fast velocity of stroke makes the music much more pointed and intense.

Slow Velocity of Stroke

A slow velocity of stroke has less energy and intensity.  It is generally more relaxed.  It is very useful when a big sound is needed that doesn't necessarily have a lot of intensity.  It can also be used for legato strokes.  I have always found that for students, a slower velocity of stroke is a much less intuitive concept.  Many are not even aware that this type of stroke exists.  It's important because having a solid slow velocity stroke type opens the door to a lot of variety in the sound.  It allows for much more control in the stylization of music making.

Combine both pressure and velocity of stroke to create variety in your playing

Now that we've explored these two concepts we can imagine some of the possibilities that exist when combining them.  For example, weak pressure combined with a fast velocity of stroke will create an intense yet free and uninhibited sound while strong pressure with a fast velocity of stroke creates an intense yet more muted sound.  Weak pressure with a slow velocity of stroke is a completely uninhibited and unencumbered sound with a low degree of intensity while strong pressure with a slow velocity of stroke is a forced heavy sound that can be useful in extremely tense musical situations.  

It's very important to understand that beyond strong and weak pressure and fast and slow velocity, we can also use everything in between (medium pressure, medium velocity etc) to sculpt and further develop our sounds. There truly are no absolutes and/or right and wrong answers when it comes to the creation of sound.  Be creative and try experimenting and using different combinations of pressure and velocity of stroke to see what kind of sounds can be created.

Complete the musical picture

Every piece of music has a specific sound and style.  While tempo and dynamics help to play an important role in conveying these attributes, pressure and velocity of stroke complete the picture. I can't emphasize enough how fundamental these ideas are to music making. By even slightly applying these ideas to your playing you will create a tremendous amount of depth that didn't exist before.  In doing so you will truly be on your way to creating music that is highly stylized and sonically diverse.