A brand new drum technology designed by the Santa Clarita-based drum manufacturer Remo, Inc. to be accessible to individuals with disabilities has been been helping those with special needs in Oceanside, Calif. for almost three years.

The nonprofit TERI, Inc. uses drum tables with Comfort Sound Technology to help improve the quality of life of people of all ages with autism and other developmental and learning disabilities.

“There’s some really remarkable progress that we’ve been able to see,” said George Thompson, the organization’s director of performing arts.

The technology is a composite drumhead material that produces a unique quality of sound by eliminating or suppressing higher frequencies and delivering a low fundamental tone. The sound may not be overstimulating to individuals with sound sensitivities, such as those with autism, Alzheimer’s disease or PTSD.

Related: Exploring Music Therapy: The Comeback Of The Drum

“You hit it and then there’s a moment when the tone of the drum settles in, and you can literally feel the tone of the drum on your body when you’re standing next to it or if you put your hand over it,” Thompson said. “The quality of the sound is just such a deep, rich vibration. It’s just a different experience than playing other drums.”

In addition to the unique sound, drum tables with Comfort Sound Technology can help encourage socialization among people with special needs.

“It naturally lends itself to how people socialize because it looks like a table and you can either sit at it like a table or you can raise it up high and have people stand around it as a table,” Thompson explained. “One of the greatest things is you get some people together who sometimes wouldn’t normally socialize with each other, and it’s a lot easier to use their peripheral to watch other people play and to get people playing together.”

Because it doesn’t produce a very loud sound, drum table participants can also talk to each other easily as they play.

“A lot of other drums, they’re too loud so it’s hard to talk over the drum,” Thompson said. “And a lot of times it being loud can kind of be unsettling to some of our students who have auditory sensitivity, so it was really neat to see that we could actually all play the drum together and still talk.”

Since TERI, Inc. first started using drum tables with Comfort Sound Technology about three years ago, organization staff have made related videos, developed a curriculum and lesson plans and created 10 activities in partnership with Remo, Inc. to help boost the presence of drumming in schools.

“Unfortunately in the general community, music has become kind of boring. Not as many people tend to play as much anymore,” Thompson said. “(A drum table with Comfort Sound Technology) is non-intimidating. It’s a drum (but) it’s different. It looks like a table and it’s really easy to get people to come over and start playing and they don’t feel like they need to take classes to learn how to play the drum.”

Santa Clarita hometown manufacturer Remo Inc. has partnered with leading neurologists and drum education experts to develop evidence-based wellness programs that use rhythm as a tool to support better living.  Music therapists often use these tools for their music therapy work. Sometimes people refer to this as drum therapy. One such program, called HealthRHYTHMS, utilizes drumming as a tool for communication and personal expression by guiding participants through a 10-step process. Other Remo wellness programs consider the needs of people with autism who drum, and people with Alzheimer’s and PTSD who also use the drum to improve the quality of their lives. Remo, Inc. is one of the leading drum manufacturers, making drums with recycled material.