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A drum circle is a modem American invention where individuals come together in a circle to create in-the-moment music using hand drums and percussion instruments. Drum circle participants at the REMO Recreational Music Center or the R.M.C. in North Hollywood use the hand drum and REMO Inc.'s authentic marketing strategy to create spiritual meaning and significance at a time when change in religious ideologies is occurring. Through an altered state of consciousness known as entrainment, drum circle enthusiasts reinvent traditional drumming practices with mass-manufactured commodities. In this process, capitalism and spirituality intersect, giving individuals reason to connect, create, believe, and buy. In buying corporate and inauthentic hand drums, participants concretely validate their spirituality, coming together to share in a ritual practice that asserts their individual beliefs.
While tourism, changes in production, and marketing strategies are familiar topics to urban anthropologists, how manufactured commodities are reconstructed to form new traditional value and meaning has yet to be discussed. The REMO Recreational Music Center's drum circles satisfy the participant's search for an authentic spiritual experience by strategically selling entrainment. The place offers musical recreation in various types of circles where the drummers are able to gradually explore entrainment and find their niche within the capitalist system.
Advisor: | Wilson, Robert Scott |
Commitee: | Rousso-Schindler, Steven, Scott, George |
School: | California State University, Long Beach |
Department: | Anthropology |
School Location: | United States -- California |
Source: | MAI 51/05M(E), Masters Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | American studies, Marketing, Music, Musical Groups and Artists |
Keywords: | |
Publication Number: | 1522251 |
ISBN: | 978-1-267-97746-5 |