Story #4: incorporating Real Drum Circles as part of LARP/RPG Storyline - RPG Story of the Template

Preamble

I thought I would start sharing more anecdotal experiences with the public as a regular series, postings about the frequent experiences of the many RPG programs going on now from the human level.

These will be less formal than the many research essays, and also not so much about project status updates.

Instead of the usual heavier numbers, statistics, and formal analytical speech, it will be more about sharing individual and group experiences. This won't actually be every day, but I will make an effort share as frequently as possible.

I hope we can get other members of the RPG Research community to share their stories in similar fashion as well.

If you have similar interesting anecdotal stories to share, please post them on the http://www.rpgresearch.com/blog site,

In sharing these anecdotes, when appropriate to do so, be sure to change the names of clients and others, and avoid too much personally identifiable information (unless you have explicit written permission to share such information).

While others' posting will show up on the RPG Research Project's website as quickly as the authors desire, I will be posting the rest of my own stories on The RPG Research Project's Patreon page first, http://www.patreon.com/rpgresearch, at least 2 weeks before they are made available to the general public. This is as ongoing thanks to those monthly supporters helping to fund our efforts. If you are not already a supporter, please consider joining today, even just $1 per month, from enough people, adds up to helping many others.

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Use this page as the template for your submissions: http://www.rpgresearch.com/blog/rpg-story-of-the-day/rpg-story-day-tempate

Story Title

A reader asked about an earlier posting, "How was drumming incorporated into the event?", referring to our programs at the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Summer Camp in Idaho, July, 2017.

For the 'Battle Royale" (link to article explaining that), we used the drumming to summon the warriors to gather for battle, and get themselves "stoked up". Using very up-beat, aggressive, "war like" drumming patterns, the drumming would summon them from "feasting" (dinner at the cafeteria), to come out to the field of battle.

Then after everyone went through various drumming facilitation techniques to build cooperative interaction and direction following (echo and repeat, variable rumble, guided grooves, etc.). This would continue as long (or as short) as necessary, until they were showing good group cohesion, participation, and instruction compliance.

Then we would transition to going over the adventure and combat rules, team allocation, shield artwork, etc.

And then the battle.

When the battle was over, they are summoned off the field of battle, and we use drumming to help them "rev down", though by then most were utterly exhausted (which was a critical goal for the MDA activity).  Now we used  a mellower general groove to help them unwind. It was also to help them join once again as a cohesive whole, setting aside any of the rivalry from the field battle, and generally calm down their adrenaline, before heading to bed for the night.

For the "Epic Quest" (link to article explaining this), the drum circle was about celebration.

First celebrating a town event, finishing planting all their crops, etc., which was interrupted by Rangers running in and announcing the disappearance of many from the nearby village and asking for help to find out what happened.

Then after the quest was over, going back and celebrating the freedom of the prisoners, the new friendship between the villages built through this quest, the defeat of the witch and her henchman, the curing of the Ent, and the welcoming of the neighboring villagers to the original town's celebrations.

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