You lift up your hardware case and think “OY! Why am I using boat anchors to hold a 800gram metal disc?”
My road hardware cases consists of mostly medium-duty stands (6 in total), but boy do they add up. At 50lbs each easy and with two awkwardly paced handle 60″ apart, they make for a good recipe for a hernia.
Sometimes I do wonder if hobbies in general are a major waste of time.
I mean, why spend so much time and effort to please only yourself? Especially music – the time to practice, the money for equipments, the efforts in doing shows, and all you get is the realization that you will never be as good as your hero on TV.
So, is it still worth it?
I work in the school system, the good is that I get July and August off.
The bad is that I don’t get paid for those two months. Now gotta try hard to manage my easly EI (means I can pay my bills but every meal I eat out equals to 3 meals at the parents) to stay alive.
But the extra time does have its benefits.. finishing my school paper, tidying / fixing up my place, plan for wedding, and now once again playing with 3 different music groups, albeit all short summer stints but I am still very much looking forward to it. Sometimes things just fall together, whether you intent for them to happen or not.
Still waiting for the chance to bring this puppy out to play:
Ok, everyone work hard now. I’ve gotta go to my weekend job, too. Which interestingly is technically unpaid because my earnings do not exceed that of the EI deductible. But I do it for the fun and experience. Better than staying home and FBing.
So in the past months I was busy getting settled in the new place, and downsized my arsenal to 2 kits and a few snares. I bid farewell to my trusty DTXplorer, not because I didn’t like it, but rather it has opened my eyes to just useful and practical an e-kit is, and I am now ready for more.
I’ve got my eyes set on something South of the border (I love Portland), but depending on how broke I am in the coming months, it might be a while still until I can get my hands on the new e-kit.
In the meanwhile, I’ve taken up another low budget drum project to keep myself busy. Will it sound good? Yes. Well..technically.
Lollipop to the first one who can guess what I’m going to do with it.
It’s been a while! We can plan all we want but sometimes things have their own way of working, just look at Japan. God bless all those who are affected.
Over here I am just grateful I moved in to a new place with minimal fuss, proposed to my now-fiancé , starting new job on April 4th, all the while trying to manage a boatload of side projects (Yes Real T the translations are coming!)…and of couse, there is the Carbon Fiber snare that I finished. It sounds fantastic, like maple on overdrive.
It’s a work in progress, but here’s a tease :
Update coming soon!
When I was ordering my custom Tempus durmset I spent a good many weeks debating whether I want 10-13-16-22 or a bigger 13-16-18-24 combo. Ultimately I went with the 10-13-16-22 set up for the versatility. The Tempus sounded great, but the yearning for a big rocking kit never went away. Perhaps for the simple fact that I never go to own one. Well this PDP maple set was close, real close..
Drumming is fun, but setup and teardown sucks. I am constantly looking out for new approaches to reduce set up time: memory locks, cases with wheels, lighter materials, even drums designed to pack inside one another like Russian Dolls. When the Arbiter Flats first came out they caught my attention almost immediately.
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Wishing you all a prosperous and transient Year of the Rabbit. However loud celebration is an annual tradition, and that brings me to my favorite cymbals ever: the CHINA.
This will mark the first post of The Quest category, where your drumming question will get answered, and others are free to chime in under the comment section.
GDL writes:
Hey Mati,
I have a friend that’s trying to buy this used Yamaha elec. drum kit over private sales for $700, but he doesn’t know anyone that plays drums so I’m just wondering if you could let us know if you think it’s a good deal, and perhaps some tips on what we need to know upon buying used drum kits. The seller claims that it’s brand new (maybe like used for a couple of months?). Please let me know 
Thanks a bunch! and Happy New Year!
