Remo Develops NSL Drum To Help Heal, Educate

Posted by: Perry Smith in Health And Beauty February 19, 2014 - 12:44 pm 0 274 Views

Remo, a world-renowned maker of drums and percussion instruments headquartered in the Santa Clarita Valley, has a new innovation in a line of products using drums to educate and heal.

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The newest drum implements Comfort Sound Technology to create the NSL, or Not So Loud drum, which has myriad applications, said Remo Belli, the founder of a company whose name has become synonymous with drumming and drumheads.

Taking advantage of decades of studies, research and experience, Remo’s newest drum produces a beat allowing for it to be more effective in group settings where multiple drums can be used at once.

“(The NSL) is certainly directed specifically at the therapeutic community,” said John Fitzgerald, manager of recreational music activities at Remo.

One beneficial element is because the drum employs the Comfort Sound Technology, it’s not as loud, making it useful settings such as the classroom, where you might otherwise have volume concerns if there’s a different class next door, Fitzgerald said.

There’s also a growing list of applications for the Comfort Sound Technology behind the drum, from healing to education to behavioral modification, Belli said.

“The Comfort Sound Technology employed in NSL drums reduces the volume of many of the frequencies that are found to be disturbing with those who have sound sensitives, such as the autistic, and returning veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Fitzgerald said.

This latest product is part of a musical evolution beginning more than two decades ago, of which the Remo brand has consistently been on the forefront.

The engineering behind the drum involved taking out the higher intonations that a drum produces, explains Belli.

How Remo’s healing through music began

“The whole picture has to do more with a thought that developed 22 years ago, when a combination of things happened,” Belli said. “The music products industry was wondering, ‘Where do we go? What can we do? Where else can what we do be used?’”

The first obstacle is often removing the threat most people feel when approached with the idea of playing an instrument, Belli said.

Traditionally, fewer than 10 percent of the population plays an instrument, Belli said.

But the idea was not to train musicians, it was to have more people engage in the process of playing music.

Once it became clear there was this need, and an opportunity to help, Belli led his company down a path that would make the Remo name pioneers in the field.

The concept of Comfort Sound Technology offers benefits for everyone from premature babies to those suffering from alzheimer’s, through a variety of different instruments, Belli said.

The NSL drum comes in several different sizes, which is useful for different-sized groups.

The Comfort Sound Technology applications go beyond medical or therapeutic uses, though, Belli said.

“We’re the toolmakers,” Belli said, “so what kind of a hammer do you need to build that house?”

Using drum music in education and healing

“It does contribute to the learning process, even if you never become a musician,” Belli said, citing numerous music studies that have been conducted.

The promise of a study by neuroscientist Barry Bittman, which Remo has been a big supporter of, led to numerous other applications, Belli said.

There are approximately 24,000 secondary schools using Remo equipment, a list that grows constantly.

Remo also offers training sessions at its facility for those interested in treating patients, clients and students with therapeutic drum work.

The behavioral modification aspect of it has myriad applications, Belli said, but the concept has also gained a great deal of traction in the traditional medical community.

“In a nutshell, there’s a neuroscientist (Bittman), who believes that drumming is not just good for the soul, but good for the body,” said Atonia Bouyer, who took part in one of the HealthRHYTHMS trainings Remo offers. “It helps to decrease the stress, mood is enhanced, there’s more of a connection with the people who you’re drumming with, and there’s a connection with the immune system.”

Bouyer is a therapist who’ll be leading the drum program at Action Family Counseling, a Santa Clarita Valley family and drug counseling center, is a licensed marriage and family counselor volunteering her time to help at Action.

One of the places where music and healing come together in Santa Clarita Valley

One of the growing populations that Remo is looking to serve locally and internationally with its new technology is the “at-risk” youth population, which is one of the fastest growing segments worldwide, Belli said.

In Santa Clarita, Action Family Counseling recently began offering a new treatment for teens and families looking to help themselves, courtesy of a partnership with Remo drums.