Evelyn Glennie practice pad

I just acquired this little pad, a two-sided affair that was apparently designed by Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Glennie is a Scottish drummer and percussionist who is known for her total-body approach to performing, for commissioning new percussion works throughout her five decade career, and for being deaf since childhood. Her first drum teacher taught her to hear music with various parts of her body, and she performs barefoot in order to better feel the resonance of the instruments she plays on and with.

I’d heard of Evelyn Glennie, and admired her work from afar. We’re close to the same age and I loved that a woman had gained so much fame through her hard work in what was still considered, in our youth, a “man’s” field.

Some years ago, when my Sweetie worked as the program annotator for the Oregon Symphony, she scored two tickets for us to see Glennie perform with the Symphony. It was a glorious evening filled with sound, movement and wonder that I’ve never forgotten.

One of Glennie’s philosophies is that the practice pad is another musical instrument, and should be approached and used as such. That philosophy may help to explain the design of this pad.

I haven’t been able to find any literature specifically about this pad, though I was able to locate a video in which she demonstrates her philosophy and demonstrates it with this pad.

The actual pad measures roughly a foot long and about eight inches wide, and each side has three small discs of rubber or foam. Each rubber disc measures 3 1/2” diameter by 1/4” thick, and each foam disc (on the obverse) measures 3 3/4” diameter by about 1/2” thick. All of the discs offer varying degrees of rebound.

The base appears to be some kind of compressed wood particleboard, dyed red and stamped with Glennie’s name on both sides. (I assume the shape connects to the Loch Ness Monster, a nice nod to Glennie’s Scottish roots.)

While the pad is very small and the playing surfaces smaller, it works fine on a flat surface like a table top.  Adding a drum mute underneath reduces unwanted bumps and resonances, though experimenting with those resonances could also be fun.

I’ve reached out to Dame Glennie through her web site, asking for more specifics about when and why this pad was designed. The video is almost ten years old, though the pad may be older than that. I hope she will respond and help fill in the blanks. Meanwhile, it’s a really cool little pad and I am glad to have it in my studio.

I’ll post an update if I get a response.