The Gradual Progression is a studio album by American drummer Greg Fox, released on September 8, 2017 by the label RVNG Intl. It depicts his first use of Sensory Percussion, a set of sensors created by drummer Tlacael Esparza where drum hits send MIDI data to virtual instruments. Fox used Sensory Percussion as a way to become flexible with his drumming skills and combine his interests in electronic music with drumming. The album was recorded in Brooklyn in six days and also features instrumental performances from Curtis Santiago, Michael Beharie, Maria Kim Grand, and Justin Frye. The LP garnered favorable reviews from music journalists upon its release. Production and composition The press release from RVNG Intl. explains The Gradual Progression "focuses less on [Greg Fox's] drumming and more on its untapped potential as one element in a polyphonic unity" and is intended to "externaliz[e] his polyrhythmic virtuosity into non-physical realms" and "activate spiritual states through physical means." To do this as well as have other sounds perform with the same "intensity and vibrancy" as Fox's drumming, all of the tracks were produced in what RVNG Intl. labeled as the musical form of action painting. The Gradual Progression is the first album where Fox recorded with Sensory Percussion, a set of sensors created by drummer Tlacael Esparza. He used the beta version of the device that was given to him by Esparza before its official build was released for public consumption. He placed the sensors on his drum kit for it to serve as a MIDI controller triggering sounds on modular synthesizers and virtual instruments he programmed on Ableton. On "By Virtue of Emptiness," each drum was responsible for the note performance of six virtual instruments, including a drum loop being played via the hits of the snare and kick drums, low-frequency bass sounds being triggered by the kick drum, and a high-pitched note being played when the "middle of the snare" is hit. The virtual instrument sounds he used on the album includes material he recorded on his own, such as his friends playing the note of an instrument or street field recordings, and sound effects and foley he pirated off the internet. Fox was first taught how to use this technology by Milford Graves while he was making his extended play Mitral Transmissions (2014). He wanted to use the sensor device as a way to combine his love for