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Jimbo Talbot remembers watching as a group of 100 fourth and fifth graders got off of a school bus and ran toward him after an hours-long ride. Jumping and screaming, Talbot described the group as “squirrely.”

But within just a few minutes of leading the children in drumming together, the rowdy crowd had calmed. So, Talbot decided to take his healing drums worldwide, creating his brand DrumQuest: Adventures in Rhythm.

Talbot has facilitated drum circles for the past 20 years. DrumQuest has worked with many programs at Syracuse University, including First Year Seminar and at events like the total solar eclipse this April.

“Participants are guided rhythmically, like their spirit, to come together in unity and connection so that they could become their highest potential,” Talbot said.

Along with typical drum classes, Talbot has conducted sound bathing, a meditative practice using vibrations to promote relaxation. Although drumming and sound bathing are different techniques, they offer the same outcome: releasing negative emotions. Since college life can be challenging, releasing these emotions is crucial for students’ mental health, said Ryan Szuch, outdoor recreation coordination at the Barnes Center at The Arch.

“DrumQuest events in its most basic form have always been a way of bringing people together,” Szuch said. “The atmosphere, the noise and energy are able to generate a magnetic force that draws people into the moment and out of their own heads.”

Talbot begins every circle with a “community pulse,” encouraging each participant to beat the drum to the same rhythm. Once everyone is connected, participants build different rhythms, sing and dance.

“It’s all about an expression that the community decides for themselves,” Talbot said. “As a drum circle facilitator, we follow all the people in the drum circle following us.”

The premise of the drum circle is that everyone is equal. In the circle, nobody is ahead or behind, and each person contributes to the circle’s success, Talbot said.

Talbot’s work goes beyond emotional connections as there is a direct correlation between drumming and the physical mind and body, he said. The vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain to the stomach, controls the fight-or-flight response. When drumming, the vagus nerve vibrates, causing the body to relax.

“The brains, heart and lungs all have a pulse, so the drum becomes a way to understand how your heart is beating, what your thoughts are like and what your breathing is like,” Talbot said.

When someone uses the drum, it modulates the body to produce oxytocin and dopamine chemicals that psychologically work to make people feel happy, Talbot said.

His message resonated with Scott Catucci, the Barnes Center’s associate director of outdoor recreation, and Talbot was brought to SU shortly after COVID-19 lockdowns to bring students together.

“I had heard of DrumQuest through colleagues in the outdoor education team and leadership development field in the central New York area,” Catucci said “As we were contemplating new programming aimed at building connections and community amongst students, I thought this could be a possible new program.”

Talbot hosted his first event at SU in March 2021. He taught students percussion and drums, which helped them destress and form stronger connections with each other in a socially isolating time.

“Community drumming offers an opportunity for students to not only engage in a fun, shared experience with each other but also may help them to connect in a unique way with peers in their class, which in turn may lead to more robust conversations in their classroom settings,” Catucci said.

For first-year students, drumming can offer a break from typical surface-level meetings through social media and offer a deeper avenue of connection.

Disconnecting students from their phones and having them spend that time together in the drum circle has proved to relieve anxiety and stress for participants, according to post-session survey feedback from participants, Catucci said.

“When we have devices and things that keep us in our own little world, sometimes we become disconnected from one another in the world,” Talbot said.

Catucci and Szuch plan to continue events with DrumQuest this semester, and Talbot hopes to reach more schools within SU to share the benefits of drumming.

“Everybody has a drum, it’s in your heart, it’s in the center of your chest,” Talbot said. “The externalized drum is a tool that helps you discover what’s going on inside and then you can direct that outward to what you want to have.”

Published on September 2, 2024 at 11:01 pm