Sometimes we forget.........the best thing is still having fun! - Page 1

I know we are all of like mind here. Restoring/cleaning/polishing/talking about/window shopping/dreaming all about drums/cymbals/hardware is what makes us all tick.

We all have our own way of doing things. We all have our own preferences. Speaking for myself, I know that I have certain heads that I always use, certain specific hoop types, certain ways of setting up my hardware just the right way etc.

Again, speaking for myself (but I'm sure we can all relate), I get so caught up in all of that stuff I mentioned above (plus more) that I forget why I love drums and everything drumming related in the first place.

BECAUSE IT'S FUN TO JUST PLAY THE DRUMS!!!

Here's a anecdote that I would like to share that was a good reminder for me, between restoring all kinds of drums, obsessing over cymbal gram weights and making sure everything is ready for all my gigs, analyzing the difference between 2.3 mm hoops and regular hoops and on and on and on. The moral of the anecdote is: Just have fun!

I recently picked some new, budget branded orphan drums at a local music store, they have 5 stores in the local area, but nowhere else. Once a year they hold a warehouse sale, where they liquidate all their odds and ends, abandined layaways, scratch and dent etc. I got cheap, no name, generic drums with generic lugs, completely unremarkable. $15 for a 22" Bass Drum, $15 for a 16" floor tom and $10 for a 13" Rack Tom (Power depth of 11" of course!), all in the generic wine red wrap used on many budget kits, but all were new (just had warehouse dust). At a different local place, I came across an unremarkable 10" generic tom in the same wine red wrap with the same generic lugs that matched the rest of the kit.

I got to thinking, and I set up a "club style" kit, by turning the 16" floor tom to a bass drum, and using the 10" rack tom mounted off a stand and the 13" as a suspended floor tom. I had all the extra and necessary equipment, so I just set 'em up. I played these completely generic drums, and had an absolute blast! I can't remember having so much fun playing on a kit in a really long time. I didn't care that there were generic clear heads on all the drums (I never use clear heads normally). I didn't care that the hoops were thin and generic, I didn't care that the toms didn't have suspension mounts, I didn't care that none of my hardware matched. All I did was the play the drums and had so much friggin' fun!

It was a great way to keep me grounded. The brand name on the heads, cymbals, pedal and hardware didn't matter. The fact that they were dusty and not polished/cleaned with Novus didn't matter. All that mattered was playing the drums and having fun.

It was a great lesson. I think we can and should all be reminded of this once in awhile!

I totally get it.

I have my "dream" kit in cobalt blue. But sitting behind the little be bob kit with a single pedal, ride and a couple crashes really forces creativity. I joke you can flail about in a seizure like motion and it sounds cool behind the big kit. Stuff to hit in every direction.

The small kit forces deliberate and planned actions. And it needs to groove! I guess that's why drummers like Keith Carlock really appeal to me these days. Very clean deliberate groove with a hint of complexity. It just flows.

I think I've come full circle. From the first time at a kit playing " boom chick boom chick" to today playing "boom chick boom chick" but it just sounds so right after spending so many years wringing everything out of my brain, arms and legs. To play "nothing" and make it sound good. Make it groove. Make your head bob involuntarily.

I get it. Finally. And I have fun. I wish I had more time to play...