Drummer and researcher Satoshi Yamaguchi will present a public lecture at SoCA Feb. 23 (PROVIDED BY S. YAMAGUCHI/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
For any musician, losing the ability to play their instrument sounds like a nightmare.
For Satoshi Yamaguchi, drummer for the Japanese rock band RADWIMPS, this became a reality while on a national concert tour in 2009.
Having developed musician’s dystonia, a rare neurological condition impacting his motor control, Yamaguchi continued to perform until 2015 when he made the decision to step away from drumming due to progressing symptoms.
Yamaguchi will visit the University of Windsor Feb. 23 as part of his Yamaha-sponsored national speaking tour to discuss his experience with dystonia and the eventual research that led him to co-develop the voice-activated drum system that allowed him to return to performing.
Yamaguchi’s connection to the University of Windsor came about through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) partnership development grant through which UWindsor Human Kinetics professor Dr. Nadia Azar and her collaborators across Canada expanded the Canadian Percussion Network (CPN).
School of Creative Arts (SoCA) professor, percussionist and CPN collaborator Dr. Nicholas Papador explains that he and Azar first met Yamaguchi at the CPN’s Space Between conference in Montreal and were taken by his work.
“His presentation was both informative and moving,” says Papador.
“Injuries or diseases that affect performance are not often at the forefront of conversations in formalized music training. The research by both Nadia and Satoshi are critical additions to the field.”
Azar, who leads the Drummer Mechanics and Ergonomics Research Lab in UWindsor’s Faculty of Human Kinetics, was contacted by Yamaguchi who was interested in speaking at the University of Windsor.
“We are thrilled to have Satoshi joining our partnership,” she says.
“His lived experience, both as a professional drummer and having experienced musician’s dystonia first-hand, will be an invaluable asset to our partnership.”
Beginning his musical career as a teenager, Yamaguchi performed with RADWIMPS, gaining notoriety in the Japanese music scene with their major debut in 2005, with the band eventually writing and performing the soundtracks for the internationally renowned anime films your name and Suzume.
A few years later, Yamaguchi found he had difficulty with the accuracy of hitting the bass drum with his right foot, leading to a diagnosis of musician’s dystonia.
It was not until 2021, six years after stepping away from drumming, that he became a visiting researcher at the Keio University SFC Research Institute and began participating in studies on dystonia that would eventually see publication in Frontiers in Neurology.
This led to a residency at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) in 2023, and in 2024 a collaboration between Keio University and Yamaha Drums to co-create voice-activated drums.
“For me, having dropped out of music college and having no prior background in research, everything was a surprise,” Yamaguchi says of his experience in pivoting toward academic research from performance.
“In particular, being able to verbalize and visualize the true nature of my own musician’s dystonia—something I had struggled with for many years—through research was deeply meaningful and, in many ways, a form of personal healing.”
After more than a decade off-stage, Yamaguchi sold out a seven-show solo tour in 2025, performing using the voice-activated drum interface (VXD) he co-developed with Yamaha.
His current speaking tour of North America allows him to share his experience with music, research and technology.
“The original idea actually emerged from discussions I had in 2023 with Associate Professor Takako Fujioka at CCRMA Stanford,” says Yamaguchi.
“I wanted to present the research outcomes at CCRMA, and that became the starting point for this speaking tour. The long-standing and close relationship between Yamaha and CCRMA also helped make this collaboration possible.”
Papador emphasizes the importance of sharing research into conditions and injuries impacting musicians.
“Percussion instructors in the field primarily work on advancing techniques and musicality,” he explains.
“But we need to be asking what support and opportunities we can provide those who’s training are careers are impacted by injury or movement disorder like dystonia.”
Having worked with other performing artists with dystonia, Papador describes the musicians’ research on alternative ways to perform as inspiring.
“I’m inspired that these artists pivoted toward research and/or alternative performance models. Their impact and identity is not diminished despite the setbacks they have faced,” he says.
While technology has been a major aspect of his return to drumming, Yamaguchi nonetheless cautions about relying too heavily on technological solutions.
“Personally, I feel that we are currently leaning a little too much toward a ‘technology-first’ mindset,” he says.
“Ideally, the starting point should always be the human being, with technology serving as a tool to help realize what that person wishes to express. I hope we will see a shift back toward this more human-centred relationship.”
Beyond the technological aspects of VXD, Yamaguchi’s experience and research may also illuminate disparities in the incidence rates of musician’s dystonia across countries.
“His own research has shown that musician’s dystonia is quite common among drummers in Japan,” explains Azar.
“The apparent disparity in the prevalence of the condition between Japan and North America is an area of inquiry we plan to collaborate on in the near future.”
Satoshi Yamaguchi’s public lecture takes place at the School of Creative Arts (SoCA) Feb. 23 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Alan Wildeman Centre for the Creative Arts (360 Freedom Way, downtown Windsor), Room 107.