Phase | Pattern | Pulse - Drumming

Enter a world built from rhythm, repetition and change.

Celebrating Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, Drumming surrounds you with one of his most radical and influential works, reimagined in full 360° immersive audio.

Created in the early 1970s, Drumming is a landmark of Reich's pioneering approach to rhythm and phasing. In this immersive audio experience, sound patterns shift around you, allowing you to follow Reich’s musical process as it unfolds through both time and space.

Spatial audio designers Loss﹥﹤Gain, working with the Colin Currie Group, transform Drumming into a fully three-dimensional sound world. Percussive lines drift, collide, and realign around the listener, revealing the precision, patience, and pulse at the heart of the iconic work. Lighting design by award-winning designer Ed Warren completes the experience.

Part of Phase | Pattern | Pulse, this is a rare chance to encounter a landmark composition not as a performance in front of you, but as a sound environment you inhabit.

Please note that Steve Reich and Colin Currie Group are not performing live at this event.

"It was an incredible experience to hear the music of Steve Reich played in that environment - to hear it like that, in that space and with the lighting as well...it was absolutely amazing. It just really blew my mind."

"It’s like being in a great big ball of music, being in a universe of sound."

"You could hear lots and lots of layers which I’d never heard before…it brought it totally to life in a way I’ve never heard before."

Hear how Drumming transforms a simple rhythmic idea through repetition, phasing and gradual change.

About Phase | Pattern | Pulse

Created for Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, Phase | Pattern | Pulse offers three ways to experience his music in full 360° immersive audio. Created by Loss﹥﹤Gain and Colin Currie Group, each programme places you inside the music, revealing its patterns, relationships and inner workings in new ways. 

Music for 18 Musicians - Richly coloured, mesmeric and immediately rewarding - a great place to start if Reich is new to you.

Drumming - An immersive journey into rhythm, process and hypnotic repetition.

The Sextets - Compact, intense and alive with interlocking rhythms, resonance and pulse.

Book more, Save more: Enjoy 15% off when you book more than one Phase | Pattern | Pulse session in one transaction. The discount will be applied to your basket automatically.

Find out more

Don't miss a moment of Steve Reich in Focus, a series celebrating the 90th birthday of one of the most influential musical minds of our time.

Explore the day-by-day schedule and catch every event.

Browse the full schedule

What to expect

Phase | Pattern | Pulse is an immersive experience created from the music of Steve Reich, inviting you to experience the music in a new way. We want everyone to enjoy this experience free of distractions and in complete comfort. 

Relaxed performances

We understand that not everyone experiences the joy of music in the same way. A number of relaxed performances are available, where visitors who may make more sound and movement within the space are welcome. There are a few brief moments where lighting or audio affects may be disorientating or surprising. If you’re concerned about this, please contact us in advance and we’ll be happy to describe the effects in more detail.

If you have specific access needs, please contact our ticket office and we will do our best to accommodate.

Relaxed performance times

Tuesday 29 September 12:30
Sunday 11 October 14:15