The Santa Clarita-based drum company Remo, Inc. has been a pioneer in the field of music and medicine since the early 1990s, when the drum wholesale company first partnered with the music therapy community during the 1991 Senate Special Committee on Aging, according to company officials.

Neuroscientist and bestselling author Dr. Oliver Sacks testified alongside Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, music therapists and others on the benefits of music for elderly consumers. As a result, major provisions from the Music Therapy for Older Americans Act were enacted in the Older American Act of 1992.

“Since that time, Remo has continued to work alongside experts in health, education and the social sciences to develop instruments and evidence-based programs as tools for improving health and wellbeing and crossing the age spectrum,” said Alyssa Janney, health program development and marketing manager for Remo, Inc.

“From using music therapy to improve outcomes for premature babies to providing a peaceful and meaningful transition for families and their loved ones at the end of life,” Janney continued, “Remo is with you.”

Comfort Sound Technology

In early 2015, the drum makers of Remo Inc. released Comfort Sound Technology, a drumhead composite material designed to deliver a unique quality of sound by suppressing high-frequency overtones.

“Strong vibration, shortened decay and focused low frequencies provide a comfortable sound that is not overstimulating, and is described as ‘irresistible,’” Janney said.

Related: Valencia Drum Company Uses Power Of Rhythm To Heal

Roughly 6 percent of the American population plays a music instrument, according to a comparison of 2010 U.S. Census data and information from Americans for the Arts, but Janney said it is the other 94 percent of people who may benefit most from Remo drums with Comfort Sound Technology.

“There are no wrong notes on a 40-inch drum table with Comfort Sound Technology,” she said. “Most people have not yet realized that rhythm can be used to orchestrate a better quality of life without requiring mastery of the instrument. We’re talking about outcomes that have less to do with music performance and more to do with health and education.”

Studies by the cognitive neuroscience department at Northwestern University suggest that being able to synchronize to an external beat may correlate to better language and reading skills, Janney added.

“Frequently when I meet with psychologists, special education teachers or music therapists I hear how some people with autism may be able to hear things happening blocks away as if they are in the same room,” she said. “How difficult that must be amidst the cacophony of noise to isolate and filter the sounds that are important for developing language.”

Drums and Autism

Comfort Sound Technology fits in virtually any music activity or population for recreation, education or therapy, according to Janney, but a stark contrast can be drawn with Comfort Sound Technology drums and autism.

For example, a young autistic student with significant sensitivity to sound recently experienced the transformative effects of Comfort Sound Technology at a school test site. While the student was initially fearful and ran away from the drum table with his hands over his ears, he eventually decide to return and cautiously touched the surface of the drumhead.

“After a few moments of exploration, bravely, with only fingertips, he tapped it gently. As he did, something amazing unfolded,” Janney said. “Upon hearing the sound he created, the child instantly transformed from a posture of fear to one of joy. And he started beating the drum rapidly with both hands as if he were hearing for the first time.”

“For musicians, playing a new drum is a small step,” Janney added. “But for someone with autism who exhibits sound sensitivity, comfortable participation in music-making is a giant leap.”

Comfort Sound Technology was designed to be a tool to help orchestrate a better quality of life, used for gross motor development, sensory-motor integration, psychosocial self-regulation, auditory sequencing, speech and language, focus, attention skills and more.

“And for families,” Janney added, “it provides a fun group activity that can be enjoyed by the whole family, including members with disabilities.”

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.