Why shamans use drumming

To do a shamanic journey, we need to venture into a trance state. We can do that by dancing or other repetitive rhythmic movements such as shaking or swaying, singing and chanting, fasting, and the use of hallucinogenic plants. Most common, though, is the use of the drum and the rattle.⁠
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𝗙𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀⁠
There are few shamanic cultures that do not extensively⁠
use the drum or some other form of rhythmic instrument. The Kahuna shamans of Hawaii are a notable exception. Other cultures where the drum is not much used are those cultures where it is very difficult to keep a drum-skin taut and protect it from rotting due to the high humidity in the environment, such as in tropical rainforests. These cultures tend to rely more on the use of hallucinogens.⁠
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𝟮𝟬𝟬-𝟮𝟰𝟬 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲⁠
For shamanic journeying, the drum is used in a very particular way. It is usually played at somewhere between 200 to 240 beats a minute - so around 4 beats per second or slightly slower. I once read that this rhythm has a particular effect on the human brain, in that ten minutes⁠
of shamanic drumming can produce the same level of theta brainwaves as two hours of transcendental meditation. ⁠
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𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁⁠
As well as the effect on the brain of playing the drum at that particular speed, the drums are also usually tuned to produce a lot of overtones and undertones. The human brain has trouble processing this and tends to start ‘making things up’. When listening to a shamanic drum, it is common to start hearing not just the drum, but chanting, pan-pipes, whistling, singing, bird-calls, other drummers, and all sorts of other sounds after a while. ⁠
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In addition to this, overtones and undertones tend to produce 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮, which is where the senses become crossed over. So, the drum sounds start to be perceived as colours and visual images, sensations, smells, and even tastes. This further aids the shamanic journey in making it a rich multisensory experience. In this way, the shamanic drums are a beautifully crafted piece of technology, perfected over thousands of years and used worldwide to enter a rich meditative state.

What is your favourite drumming track?
On  :: Therapeutic Shamanism courses, we usually use Carol Waver's