{"id":696695,"date":"2026-04-01T07:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/696695\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T07:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:03:16","slug":"chimpanzees-drum-solo-offers-clues-to-origins-of-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/696695\/","title":{"rendered":"Chimpanzee\u2019s Drum Solo Offers Clues to Origins of Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers who analyzed dozens of spontaneous performances by a captive male chimpanzee named Ayumu say the animal\u2019s steady rhythms and expressive \u2018play face\u2019 hint at how early humans may have transformed vocal emotion into instrumental sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ayumu<\/a><\/p>\n

Ayumu the chimpanzee spontaneously produced long, multicomponent instrumental displays by drumming, dragging, and throwing self-detached objects. Transition and rhythm analyses revealed non-random sequencing partially resembling pant-hoot structure, predominantly isochronous timing, and a more stable tempo when using tools than with the body. Accompanying play-face and silent bared teeth expressions suggest high arousal and positive affect, supporting the idea that affective vocal expression can be externalized through instrumental sound. Image credit: Hattori et al., doi: 10.1111\/nyas.70239.<\/p>\n

In February 2023, Ayumu \u2014 a 26-year-old male chimpanzee at Kyoto University\u2019s Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior \u2014 treated researchers to a spontaneous musical performance.<\/p>\n

He removed floorboards from a walkway and used them to drum, producing complex, structured sounds resembling vocal expressions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAyumu\u2019s drumming is nothing new,\u201d said Dr. Yuko Hattori and colleagues from Kyoto University.<\/p>\n

\u201cChimpanzees are well known for their instrumental behaviors, and are particularly adept at drumming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on this occasion, Ayumu\u2019s combination of drumming and vocalization \u2014 exhibiting multiple rhythmic components \u2014 was a completely novel case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between February 2023 and March 2025, the authors recorded a total of 89 spontaneous performances by Ayumu.<\/p>\n

The recordings documented how he removed floorboards from a walkway and used them as tools to make music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fascinating for me to see how the chimpanzee used tools to produce various sounds while also expressing a vocal display,\u201d Dr. Hattori said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Using Ayumu\u2019s performances, the researchers examined whether vocal expression could transition into instrumental sound.<\/p>\n

They began by assessing his behavior and breaking it down into elements such as striking, dragging and throwing.<\/p>\n

They then evaluated the connections between these elements using transition analysis, determining which transitions occurred by chance and which were deliberate.<\/p>\n

Finally, they analyzed the intervals between strikes and compared the rhythmic stability of tool use with that of drumming performed using the hands or feet.<\/p>\n

The analysis revealed that the sequence of sounds produced with the tools was not random, and that the intervals between strikes were isochronous \u2014 maintaining a constant tempo, like a metronome.<\/p>\n

In fact, tool use produced a more stable rhythm than the hands or feet alone.<\/p>\n

The scientists also observed facial expressions such as the \u2018play face,\u2019 typically associated with play, indicating positive emotions.<\/p>\n

Such expressions are not typically reported in vocal displays, suggesting that emotional signals once conveyed vocally may have been externalized and developed into tool-based sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAyumu\u2019s performances prove that non-human primates also possess the ability to externalize vocal-like expressions with instruments,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext, we are interested in analyzing the reactions of other chimpanzees, and the impact Ayumu\u2019s display has within his social group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Yuko Hattori et al. 2026. Combinatorial Instrumental Sound-Making in a Captive Chimpanzee: Evolution of Vocal Externalization. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1557 (1): e70239; doi: 10.1111\/nyas.70239<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers who analyzed dozens of spontaneous performances by a captive male chimpanzee named Ayumu say the animal\u2019s steady…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":696696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[27],"tags":[182143,150548,208754,16278,291480,975,47136,11146,291481,246922,159,55283,291482,67,132,68,837],"class_list":["post-696695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ape","tag-chimpanzee","tag-drum","tag-evolution","tag-great-ape","tag-music","tag-musical-instrument","tag-pan","tag-pan-troglodytes","tag-rhythm","tag-science","tag-sound","tag-tool-use","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116328176443357834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}