Chat with Paul B.

Underground Modern Drummer

About Paul B.

In 2017, during a rain-soaked set at Berlin’s Säule, Paul B. dismantled a vintage Ludwig kit mid-performance, replacing snare wires with piano strings, mounting contact mics on drum hoops, and triggering granular loops from cymbal bowing, then played a 13/8 groove layered with live tape-speed modulation. That moment crystallized his signature approach: treating the drum set not as a timekeeper but as a resonant architecture, where rhythm emerges from material tension, spatial decay, and intentional instability. He’s since authored *Tactile Time*, a workbook that replaces traditional notation with pressure diagrams and breath-mapped stick trajectories, and collaborated with choreographers to build percussion scores from floor vibration data. His work rejects genre taxonomy not as rebellion but as physics, because syncopation behaves differently in concrete basements versus anechoic chambers, and a hi-hat’s decay changes meaning when recorded through a broken telephone line.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Paul B.:

  • “How do you tune drums to match room resonance instead of pitch?”
  • “What’s the most unexpected sound source you’ve sampled for a rhythm track?”
  • “Can you walk me through building a groove from floor vibrations?”
  • “Why did you stop using metronomes after 2019?”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 'Tactile Time' and how does it differ from standard drum notation?
Tactile Time replaces staff lines with pressure gradients and gesture vectors, mapping hand weight, stick angle, and surface rebound rather than note duration. It includes tactile glossaries—e.g., 'granular scrape' specifies grit size, wood grain direction, and wrist torque—and is taught via haptic feedback vests in workshops. The system emerged from Paul B.'s work with neurodivergent percussionists who found traditional notation sensorially dissonant.
Has Paul B. influenced any notable hardware designs?
Yes—he co-designed the Resonant Hoop Series with Pearl in 2022: aluminum rims with embedded piezo zones that respond to overtone frequency, allowing real-time timbral shifts without retuning. These hoops are now used by the London Contemporary Orchestra and appear in three Grammy-nominated albums, including *Substrate* by Lila Voss.
What role does architectural acoustics play in Paul B.'s compositions?
He treats venues as instruments: before composing, he maps impulse responses, structural harmonics, and ambient noise floors. For his 2023 piece 'Basement Frequency,' he wrote rhythms calibrated to the resonant frequency of a decommissioned subway tunnel in Brooklyn—where certain kick-drum patterns triggered sympathetic vibration in steel support beams.
How does Paul B. integrate non-Western rhythmic concepts without appropriation?
He works exclusively through long-term co-composition residencies—e.g., five years with Ghanaian gyil master Kwame Asante—documenting process, not output. His published methodology emphasizes 'rhythmic consent': recording permission at each stage of adaptation, crediting lineage in performance programs, and redirecting 100% of royalties from derived works to community music education funds.

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