00:00:26
I'm not quite sure whether
I really want to see a snare drum
00:00:29
at nine o'clock or so in the morning.
00:00:31
(Laughter)
00:00:33
But anyway, it's just great
to see such a full theater,
00:00:37
and really, I must thank
Herbie Hancock and his colleagues
00:00:40
for such a great presentation.
00:00:43
(Applause)
00:00:46
One of the interesting things, of course,
00:00:48
is the combination of that raw hand
on the instrument and technology,
00:00:55
and what he said about listening
to our young people.
00:01:00
Of course, my job is all about listening.
00:01:05
And my aim, really,
is to teach the world to listen.
00:01:11
That's my only real aim in life.
00:01:15
And it sounds quite simple,
but actually, it's quite a big, big job.
00:01:21
Because you know, when you look
at a piece of music, for example,
00:01:26
if I just open my little motorbike bag --
00:01:31
we have here, hopefully,
00:01:34
a piece of music that is full
of little black dots on the page.
00:01:41
And, you know, we open it up ...
00:01:47
And I read the music.
00:01:49
So technically, I can actually read this.
00:01:54
I will follow the instructions,
the tempo markings, the dynamics.
00:01:58
I will do exactly as I'm told.
00:02:02
And so therefore, because time is short,
00:02:06
if I just played you, literally,
the first, maybe, two lines or so --
00:02:13
It's very straightforward; there's nothing
too difficult about the piece.
00:02:17
But here, I'm being told
that the piece of music is very quick.
00:02:21
I'm being told where to play on the drum.
00:02:24
I'm being told which part
of the stick to use.
00:02:28
And I'm being told the dynamic.
00:02:31
And I'm also being told
that the drum is without snares.
00:02:36
Snares on, snares off.
00:02:39
So therefore, if I translate
this piece of music,
00:02:45
we have this idea.
00:02:48
(Drum sounds)
00:03:15
(Drum sounds end)
00:03:18
And so on.
00:03:19
My career would probably last
about five years.
00:03:23
(Laughter)
00:03:24
However, what I have to do as a musician
00:03:28
is do everything that is not on the music;
00:03:32
everything that there isn't time
to learn from a teacher,
00:03:37
or to talk about, even, from a teacher.
00:03:41
But it's the things you notice when
you're not actually with your instrument
00:03:46
that, in fact, become so interesting,
and that you want to explore
00:03:51
through this tiny, tiny surface of a drum.
00:03:55
So there, we experience the translation.
00:03:57
Now we'll experience the interpretation.
00:04:02
(Drum sounds)
00:04:43
(Drum sounds end)
00:04:47
(Applause)
00:04:55
Now my career may last a little longer.
00:04:57
(Laughter)
00:04:59
But in a way, you know,
it's the same if I look at you
00:05:02
and I see a nice, bright young lady
with a pink top on.
00:05:06
I see that you're clutching
a teddy bear, etc., etc.
00:05:10
So I get a basic idea
as to what you might be about,
00:05:14
what you might like, what you might do
as a profession, etc., etc.
00:05:19
However, that's just the initial idea
I may have that we all get
00:05:26
when we actually look
and we try to interpret.
00:05:29
But actually it's so unbelievably shallow.
00:05:31
In the same way, I look
at the music; I get a basic idea;
00:05:34
I wonder what technically might be hard,
or, you know, what I want to do.
00:05:39
Just the basic feeling.
00:05:40
However, that is simply not enough.
00:05:43
And I think what Herbie said:
please listen, listen.
00:05:47
We have to listen
to ourselves, first of all.
00:05:51
If I play, for example,
holding the stick --
00:05:55
where literally I do not let go
of the stick --
00:05:58
(Drum sound)
00:06:00
you'll experience quite a lot
of shock coming up through the arm.
00:06:04
And you feel really quite --
believe it or not --
00:06:07
detached from the instrument
and from the stick,
00:06:10
even though I'm actually holding
the stick quite tightly.
00:06:14
(Drum sound)
00:06:15
By holding it tightly,
I feel strangely more detached.
00:06:19
If I just simply let go
00:06:21
and allow my hand, my arm,
to be more of a support system,
00:06:26
suddenly --
00:06:28
(Drum sound)
00:06:30
I have more dynamic with less effort.
00:06:33
Much more --
00:06:34
(Drum sound)
00:06:36
and I just feel, at last,
one with the stick
00:06:39
and one with the drum.
00:06:41
And I'm doing far, far less.
00:06:43
So in the same way that I need
time with this instrument,
00:06:46
I need time with people
in order to interpret them.
00:06:52
Not just translate them,
but interpret them.
00:06:54
If, for example, I play just
a few bars of a piece of music
00:07:02
for which I think of myself
as a technician --
00:07:07
that is, someone who is basically
a percussion player --
00:07:11
(Marimba sounds)
00:07:22
(Marimba sounds end)
00:07:24
And so on, if I think of myself
as a musician --
00:07:28
(Marimba sounds)
00:07:47
(Marimba sounds end)
00:07:49
And so on.
00:07:51
There is a little bit of a difference
there that is worth just --
00:07:55
(Applause)
00:07:57
thinking about.
00:07:59
And I remember when I was 12 years old,
00:08:02
and I started playing timpani
and percussion,
00:08:06
and my teacher said,
00:08:08
"Well, how are we going to do this?
You know, music is about listening."
00:08:14
And I said, "Yes, I agree with that,
so what's the problem?"
00:08:18
And he said, "Well,
how are you going to hear this?
00:08:21
How are you going to hear that?"
00:08:22
And I said, "Well, how do you hear it?"
00:08:25
He said, "Well, I think
I hear it through here."
00:08:29
And I said, "Well, I think I do too,
but I also hear it through my hands,
00:08:34
through my arms, cheekbones, my scalp,
00:08:37
my tummy, my chest, my legs and so on."
00:08:41
And so we began our lessons
every single time
00:08:45
tuning drums, in particular,
the kettle drums, or timpani
00:08:49
to such a narrow pitch interval,
so something like --
00:08:55
(Marimba sounds)
00:09:00
that of a difference.
00:09:01
Then gradually:
00:09:02
(Marimba sounds)
00:09:03
And gradually:
00:09:04
(Marimba sounds)
00:09:06
And it's amazing that when you do
open your body up,
00:09:10
and open your hand up to allow
the vibration to come through,
00:09:14
that in fact the tiny, tiny difference --
00:09:17
(Marimba sounds)
00:09:19
can be felt with just the tiniest
part of your finger, there.
00:09:25
And so what we would do
is that I would put my hands
00:09:28
on the wall of the music room,
00:09:30
and together, we would "listen"
to the sounds of the instruments,
00:09:35
and really try to connect
with those sounds
00:09:39
far, far more broadly
than simply depending on the ear.
00:09:44
Because of course, the ear
is subject to all sorts of things.
00:09:48
The room we happen to be in,
the amplification,
00:09:51
the quality of the instrument,
the type of sticks --
00:09:54
(Marimba sounds)
00:10:00
(Marimba sounds end)
00:10:02
Etc., etc., they're all different.
00:10:04
(Marimba sounds)
00:10:09
(Marimba sounds end)
00:10:11
Same amount of weight,
but different sound colors.
00:10:15
And that's basically what we are;
we're just human beings,
00:10:18
but we all have our own
little sound colors, as it were,
00:10:21
that make up these extraordinary
personalities and characters
00:10:25
and interests and things.
00:10:27
And as I grew older, I then auditioned
00:10:30
for the Royal Academy of Music in London,
00:10:33
and they said, "Well, no, we won't
accept you, because we haven't a clue,
00:10:37
you know, of the future
of a so-called 'deaf musician.'"
00:10:41
And I just couldn't quite accept that.
00:10:46
And so therefore, I said to them,
"Well, look, if you refuse --
00:10:53
if you refuse me through those reasons,
00:10:56
as opposed to the ability to perform
00:11:01
and to understand and love
the art of creating sound --
00:11:08
then we have to think very, very hard
about the people you do actually accept."
00:11:14
And as a result,
once we got over a little hurdle,
00:11:18
and having to audition twice,
00:11:20
they accepted me.
00:11:22
And not only that,
00:11:24
what had happened was that it changed
the whole role of the music institutions
00:11:29
throughout the United Kingdom.
00:11:31
Under no circumstances were they to refuse
00:11:35
any application whatsoever
00:11:39
on the basis of whether someone
had no arms, no legs --
00:11:43
they could still perhaps play a wind
instrument if it was supported on a stand.
00:11:48
No circumstances at all
were used to refuse any entry.
00:11:54
And every single entry
had to be listened to, experienced,
00:11:59
and then, based on the musical ability,
00:12:02
then that person
could either enter or not.
00:12:07
And so therefore, this in turn meant
00:12:10
that there was an extremely
interesting bunch of students
00:12:14
who arrived in these various
music institutions,
00:12:17
and I have to say, many of them now
in the professional orchestras
00:12:22
throughout the world.
00:12:24
The interesting thing
about this as well, though --
00:12:26
(Applause)
00:12:31
is quite simply that not only were people
connected with sound --
00:12:37
which is basically all of us --
00:12:39
we well know that music
really is our daily medicine.
00:12:44
I say "music," but actually
I mean "sound."
00:12:47
Because some of the extraordinary
things I've experienced as a musician --
00:12:51
when you may have a 15-year-old lad
00:12:55
who has got the most
incredible challenges,
00:13:00
who may not be able
to control his movements,
00:13:03
who may be deaf,
who may be blind, etc., etc. --
00:13:06
suddenly, if that young lad
sits close to this instrument,
00:13:12
and perhaps even lies
underneath the marimba,
00:13:15
and you play something
that's so incredibly organ-like, almost --
00:13:21
I don't really have
the right sticks, perhaps --
00:13:23
but something like this --
let me change --
00:13:29
(Soft marimba sounds)
00:14:15
(Soft marimba sounds end)
00:14:17
Something that's so unbelievably simple --
00:14:20
but he would be experiencing
something that I wouldn't be,
00:14:25
because I'm on top of the sound.
00:14:27
I have the sound coming this way.
00:14:29
He would have the sound
coming through the resonators.
00:14:33
If there were no resonators
on here, we would have:
00:14:36
(Marimba sounds)
00:14:43
So he would have a fullness of sound
00:14:45
that those of you in the front few rows
wouldn't experience,
00:14:48
those of you in the back few rows
wouldn't experience, either.
00:14:51
Every single one of us,
depending on where we're sitting,
00:14:54
will experience this sound
quite, quite differently.
00:14:58
And of course, being
the participator of the sound,
00:15:01
and that is, starting from the idea
of what type of sound
00:15:06
I want to produce,
for example, this sound:
00:15:10
(No sound)
00:15:16
Can you hear anything?
00:15:19
Exactly -- because
I'm not even touching it.
00:15:21
(Laughter)
00:15:23
But yet, we get the sensation
of something happening.
00:15:28
In the same way
that when I see a tree moves,
00:15:30
then I imagine that tree
making a rustling sound.
00:15:34
Do you see what I mean?
00:15:36
Whatever the eye sees,
then there's always sound happening.
00:15:40
So there's always, always that huge --
00:15:44
I mean, just this kaleidoscope
of things to draw from.
00:15:48
So all of my performances
are based on entirely what I experience,
00:15:54
and not by learning a piece of music,
00:15:57
putting on someone else's
interpretation of it,
00:15:59
buying all the CDs possible
of that particular piece of music,
00:16:02
and so on and so forth,
00:16:04
because that isn't giving me enough
of something that is so raw and so basic,
00:16:10
and something that I can fully
experience the journey of.
00:16:15
So it may be that, in certain halls,
00:16:19
this dynamic may well work.
00:16:25
(Soft marimba sounds)
00:16:32
(Soft marimba sounds end)
00:16:34
It may be that in other halls,
00:16:35
they're simply not going
to experience that at all,
00:16:39
and so therefore, my level of soft,
gentle playing may have to be --
00:16:43
(Marimba sounds)
00:17:05
(Marimba sounds end)
00:17:07
Do you see what I mean?
00:17:08
So, because of this explosion
in access to sound,
00:17:15
especially through the Deaf community,
00:17:17
this has not only affected
how music institutions,
00:17:22
how schools for the deaf treat sound,
and not just as a means of therapy --
00:17:28
although, of course,
being a participator of music,
00:17:31
that definitely is the case as well --
00:17:34
but it's meant that acousticians
have had to really think
00:17:39
about the types of halls
they put together.
00:17:43
There are so few halls in this world
00:17:45
that actually have
very good acoustics, dare I say.
00:17:51
But by that I mean, where you can
absolutely do anything you imagine.
00:17:56
The tiniest, softest, softest sound
to something that is so broad,
00:18:01
so huge, so incredible.
00:18:04
There's always something:
00:18:05
it may sound good up there,
may not be so good there;
00:18:08
it may be great there,
but terrible up there;
00:18:10
maybe terrible over there,
but not too bad there, etc., etc.
00:18:14
So to find an actual hall is incredible --
00:18:19
for which you can play
exactly what you imagine,
00:18:23
without it being cosmetically enhanced.
00:18:26
So therefore, acousticians
are actually in conversation
00:18:31
with people who are hearing impaired,
00:18:34
and who are participators of sound.
00:18:39
And this is quite interesting.
00:18:41
I cannot give you any detail
00:18:45
as far as what is actually happening
with those halls,
00:18:49
but it's just the fact
that they are going to a group of people
00:18:53
for whom so many years, we've been saying,
00:18:57
"Well, how on earth can they experience
music? They're deaf."
00:19:00
We go like that, and we imagine
that's what deafness is about.
00:19:04
Or we go like that, and we imagine
that's what blindness is about.
00:19:07
If we see someone in a wheelchair,
we assume they cannot walk.
00:19:11
It may be that they can walk
three, four, five steps.
00:19:14
That, to them, means they can walk.
00:19:18
In a year's time,
it could be two extra steps.
00:19:22
In another year's time, three extra steps.
00:19:25
Those are hugely important
aspects to think about.
00:19:29
So when we do listen to each other,
00:19:34
it's unbelievably important for us
00:19:37
to really test our listening skills,
00:19:42
to really use our bodies
as a resonating chamber,
00:19:45
to stop the judgment.
00:19:47
For me, as a musician who deals
with 99 percent of new music,
00:19:51
it's very easy for me to say,
00:19:53
"Oh yes, I like that piece.
No, I don't like that piece," and so on.
00:19:56
And I just find that I have to give
those pieces of music real time.
00:20:02
It may be that the chemistry
isn't quite right between myself
00:20:05
and that particular piece of music,
00:20:07
but that doesn't mean I have the right
to say it's a bad piece of music.
00:20:12
And you know, one of the great things
about being a musician
00:20:17
is that it is so unbelievably fluid.
00:20:20
So there are no rules, no right,
no wrong, this way, that way.
00:20:25
If I asked you to clap --
maybe I can do this.
00:20:30
If I can just say, "Please clap
and create the sound of thunder."
00:20:36
I'm assuming we've all
experienced thunder.
00:20:39
Now, I don't mean just the sound;
00:20:41
I mean really listen
to that thunder within yourselves.
00:20:46
And please try to create that
through your clapping.
00:20:48
Try, just -- please try.
00:20:50
(Loud clapping sounds)
00:20:58
(Clapping ends)
00:21:00
Snow.
00:21:01
(Laughter)
00:21:03
Snow.
00:21:04
(Soft clapping sounds)
00:21:07
Have you ever heard snow?
00:21:08
Audience: No.
00:21:09
Evelyn Glennie: Well, then, stop clapping.
00:21:12
(Laughter)
00:21:13
Try again. Try again: snow.
00:21:17
(No sound)
00:21:20
See, you're awake.
00:21:23
Rain.
00:21:24
(Light clapping sounds)
00:21:26
EG: (Laughs)
00:21:29
Not bad. Not bad.
00:21:32
The interesting thing here, though,
is that I asked a group of kids
00:21:36
not so long ago
00:21:38
exactly the same question.
00:21:40
Now -- great imagination,
thank you very much.
00:21:44
However, not one of you got out
of your seats to think,
00:21:47
"Right! How can I clap?
00:21:48
OK, maybe:
00:21:49
(Clapping sounds)
00:21:52
Maybe I can use my jewelry
to create extra sounds.
00:21:55
Maybe I can use the other parts
of my body to create extra sounds."
00:21:59
Not a single one of you thought
about clapping in a slightly different way
00:22:04
other than sitting in your seats
there and using two hands.
00:22:07
In the same way, when we listen to music,
00:22:10
we assume that it's all being
fed through here.
00:22:14
This is how we experience music.
00:22:16
Of course, it's not.
00:22:18
We experience thunder, thunder, thunder.
00:22:21
Think, think, think.
00:22:22
Listen, listen, listen.
00:22:24
Now, what can we do with thunder?
00:22:29
I remember my teacher, when I first
started, my very first lesson,
00:22:34
I was all prepared
with sticks, ready to go.
00:22:38
And instead of him saying,
"OK, Evelyn, please, feet slightly apart,
00:22:42
arms at a more or less 90-degree angle,
sticks in a more or less V shape,
00:22:48
keep this amount of space here, etc.
00:22:51
Please keep your back straight,
etc., etc., etc." --
00:22:54
where I was just probably going to end up
absolutely rigid, frozen,
00:22:58
and I would not be able to strike the drum
00:23:00
because I was thinking
of so many other things,
00:23:02
he said, "Evelyn, take this drum
away for seven days,
00:23:05
and I'll see you next week."
00:23:07
So -- heavens! What was I to do?
00:23:09
I no longer required the sticks.
00:23:12
I wasn't allowed to have these sticks.
00:23:14
I had to basically look
at this particular drum,
00:23:18
see how it was made,
00:23:19
what these little lugs did,
what the snares did.
00:23:22
Turned it upside down,
experimented with the shell.
00:23:25
(Drum sounds)
00:23:27
Experimented with the head.
00:23:28
(Drum sounds)
00:23:30
Experimented with my body.
00:23:32
(Drum sounds)
00:23:33
Experimented with jewelry.
00:23:35
Experimented with all sorts of things.
00:23:37
(Drum sounds)
00:23:44
(Drum sounds end)
00:23:48
And of course, I returned
with all sorts of bruises.
00:23:51
(Laughter)
00:23:52
But nevertheless, it was such
an unbelievable experience,
00:23:56
because where on earth are you going
to experience that in a piece of music?
00:24:00
Where on earth are you going
to experience that in a study book?
00:24:04
So we never, ever dealt
with actual study books.
00:24:08
So for example,
one of the things that we learn
00:24:11
when we are dealing
with being a percussion player
00:24:15
as opposed to a musician,
00:24:17
is basically, straightforward
single-stroke rolls.
00:24:20
(Drum sounds)
00:24:24
Like that, and then
we get a little faster --
00:24:26
(Drum sounds)
00:24:27
and a little faster --
00:24:29
(Drum sounds)
00:24:30
and a little faster,
and so on and so forth.
00:24:32
What does this piece require?
00:24:34
Single-stroke rolls.
00:24:35
(Drum sound)
00:24:38
So why can't I then do that
whilst learning a piece of music?
00:24:42
And that's exactly what he did.
00:24:45
And interestingly, the older I became,
and when I became a full-time student
00:24:50
at a so-called "music institution,"
all of that went out of the window.
00:24:55
We had to study from study books.
00:24:58
And constantly, the question, "Well, why?
Why? What is this relating to?
00:25:02
I need to play a piece of music."
00:25:04
"Well, this will help your control."
00:25:06
"Well, how? Why do I need to learn that?
00:25:08
I need to relate it to a piece of music.
00:25:11
You know, I need to say something.
00:25:13
Why am I practicing paradiddles?
00:25:16
(Drum sounds)
00:25:20
Is it just literally for control,
for hand-stick control?
00:25:23
Why am I doing that?
00:25:25
I need to have the reason,
00:25:27
and the reason has to be by saying
something through the music."
00:25:33
And by saying something through music,
which basically is sound,
00:25:37
we then can reach all sorts
of things to all sorts of people.
00:25:42
But I don't want to take responsibility
of your emotional baggage.
00:25:46
That's up to you,
when you walk through a hall,
00:25:48
because that then determines
what and how we listen to certain things.
00:25:54
I may feel sorrowful, or happy,
or exhilarated, or angry
00:25:59
when I play certain pieces of music,
00:26:01
but I'm not necessarily wanting you
to feel exactly the same thing.
00:26:06
So please, the next time
you go to a concert,
00:26:09
just allow your body to open up,
00:26:12
allow your body to be
this resonating chamber.
00:26:16
Be aware that you're not going
to experience the same thing
00:26:19
as the performer is.
00:26:21
The performer is in the worst possible
position for the actual sound,
00:26:24
because they're hearing
the contact of the stick --
00:26:28
(Drum sound)
00:26:29
on the drum, or the mallet
on the bit of wood,
00:26:32
or the bow on the string, etc.,
00:26:35
or the breath that's creating
the sound from wind and brass.
00:26:39
They're experiencing that rawness there.
00:26:41
But yet they're experiencing
something so unbelievably pure,
00:26:45
which is before the sound
is actually happening.
00:26:49
Please take note of the life of the sound
after the actual initial strike,
00:26:56
or breath, is being pulled.
00:26:58
Just experience the whole
journey of that sound
00:27:02
in the same way that I wished
I'd experienced the whole journey
00:27:06
of this particular conference,
rather than just arriving last night.
00:27:10
But I hope maybe we can share
one or two things as the day progresses.
00:27:15
But thank you very much for having me!
00:27:18
(Applause)
00:27:24
(Applause ends)
00:27:37
(Music)
00:32:02
(Music ends)
00:32:08
(Applause)
