Musician Builds Wheelchair Accessible Drums

posted on Jun 10 by amelia in the Disability News, Fun, Technology, Wheelchair Accessibility, Wheelchair Technology category

Jason Gerling was at the top of the Minneapolis music scene back in 1994.  He was 23 years old and had already won many local drumming competitions as well as played regularly around town.

Heading home from a gig one night, he fell asleep at the wheel.  The vehicle flipped five or six times, and they used the jaws of life to free him from the mangled car.

He was paralyzed from the chest down, and doctors told him that he would probably never walk or play drums again.

“It was like a nuclear bomb was dropped on my life. I thought my career was over.”

Within a few years he regained the use of his arms, but he has not gotten back the use of his legs.

With drum sets the drummer typically controls the high hat and bass drum with the feet.  For a while he got around this by using a special pad that triggered a bass drum noise when he hit it with his drumstick.  Regardless, this wasn’t enough.

Gerling took it upon himself to create something new that would allow him better control.  He started with a mouthpiece provided to him by Origin Instruments, a company that helps disabled people, particulary quadrilplegics, operate computers.  He rigged the mouthpiece to control rubber sensors underneath each cymbal.  Now, anytime he sucks or blows on the mouthpiece, a bass drum noise comes out of a subwoofer placed within the drum casing.

Gerling spent over 10 years creating the device, and he has no desire to patent it.

“If people want to know how to build their own triggers, then, by golly, they can just contact me,” he said. “I’ll give them the information for free. Encouragement shouldn’t come at a price.”

Now Gerling is a worldwide figure for his industry, and many people reach out to him to continue their own dreams of playing live music for an audience.

On April 28th, Gerling performed live for the first time with his new device at the Minneapolis Guthrie Theatre.  He received a standing ovation.

After going public with his invention, he’s now planning to show others how to create it for themselves with “innovative drumming clinics” that could grow into a music tour with other artists.

“People need encouragement,” Gerling said, “and if I can be in the position to help someone else, that’s just an honor you can’t take lightly.”

Contact Jason directly through his facebook page

Read the whole story and watch a video from CNN