All hell is breaking loose in an elementary school gymnasium in the town of Dorsten. Around 400 kids are pounding on little African drums. In front of them, on a small dais, Johnny Lamprecht sets the rhythm. He's swathed in a colorful African robe; dangling from his neck is a small drum.

Lamprecht has clued the kids into a secret signal -- whenever he lays his finger on the drum, silence falls in the room for a brief moment.

He's used to making himself heard among a horde of overeager elementary school students.

"I know that through music, you can learn a whole lot about life," he says. "Discipline, for example. Learning an instrument takes discipline."

Drawn to Africa

Lamprecht was always musically inclined. At the age of six, he took his first piano lessons, at 12, he taught himself how to play guitar.

Despite his musical talent, his career goal was to become a Catholic priest. But as he reached the end of his theology studies, he met some African and South African drummers, and began to make other plans for his future.

"Everything changed, it was really powerful," he said. "I realized that drumming fascinated me, and I had to learn it. I had no clue, all I knew was -- Western Africa. There you can learn how to play the drums."

Six weeks later, Lamprecht found himself in a small village in Senegal, on the Atlantic coast. And he was lucky. He befriended the African master drummer, Bacari Ole, who agreed to be his teacher for the next six months.

"He had six and a half teeth in his mouth, was illiterate, and a real character," Lamprecht said. "The way he plays the drums is unbelievable. With four large drums, he makes music -- real music."

Lamprecht and his teacher played the drums outdoors, sitting in the shade of a tree. At night, they slept in a tent in order to let themselves be inspired by the sounds of Senegal at night.

Musical fairytale

Lamprecht began to write and compose. His goal? To share his enthusiasm for music with others, especially children.

"I thought of a story, a kind of musical fairytale, incorporating the sounds of Senegal, of the bush," Lamprecht said. "Even if you were just to compose music based on the sounds of the birds there, you'd have more than enough to do."

Eight years ago, Johnny Lamprecht took out an ad in a magazine dedicated to kindergarten education, and was besieged with calls from interested parties. He got together with other drummers and founded the "Trommelzauber Team" or "drum magic team." Since then, he's been travelling the world. The German has a packed calendar -- each year he plays the drums with more than 100,000 people.

On the side, Lambrecht also works as a family therapist -- a role into which he's incorporated the pedagogical concepts behind his drumming program.

"It really doesn't matter how well you can speak German, or how good you are in math," Lamprecht says. "Quiet children learn to step over their shadow, and the louder ones suddenly become more introspective, because they notice one thing -- by cooperating, they have more fun."

Lamprecht also plays the drums with adults. He's booked by companies that hope to improve their team atmosphere, and says he's always fascinated to see what a difference drumming makes to adults' behavior.

"The secret is, I give the adults permission to become children again," he says. "And they have fun."

In the stands at the gymnasium in Dorsten, the parents of the children look on. Some swing their hips to the rhythm of the music, or drum their fingers on their thighs. One mother can no longer resist the temptation, and climbs down to grab a drum and join in. Perhaps the magic in Lamprecht's drumming really does lie in the fact that it has the exact same effect on you, no matter how old you are.