Dear Sir,
it was exactly an hour ago when i was informed that a great drumming persona such as yourself has actually bothered to spend some time off and grace this part of cyber space with his presence.....i think itll still take some time to sink in...
so anyway its an honour to be able to communicat with you in such a fashion. id lik u to know that uv been one of my mentors (along with danny carey, josh freese, tim alexander) ever since i heard in absentia for the first time.....which was about 2 years ago
im goin to leave all the praises out (for now) cuz i know im gona fall short of words to describe the beauty of ur playing skills. ill jump straight to the most annoying bit of being such a great drummer .....that is to be able to provide answers to the most naive questions possible so here goes
1) im from india....and sonor was recently launched here.....all this while iv been using a mapex q series kit (wch i love for the price) but now im ready for an upgrade
considerin the prices here in india are high even for the starter level kits....id like to know if it would be worth buying a sonor force drumkit (505, 1005 or 2005)
also kindly suggest wch of the above i should go in for
2) iv been using a mapex janus ergo double bass pedal.....but im really stuck up on the sonor big beat cuz danny careys been usin it for some time now
do u suggest i go in for one of those ?.....if not is ther any other pedal besides the longboard that i could try
3) i have a 32-note xylophone but have absolutely not the slightest idea of how to play it......all i can play are some random notes by ear....but id lik to learn the scales as well....so is ther a book or a dvd that ud recommend
4)
http://www.emusicpost.com/techtalk.html
if u ever find the time....pls read my interview wch was taken recently.....hehe it has ur name in it
5) also....is it possible for me to take ur interview and put it up on that site ?
cuz u hav a LOT of fans here in india and im sure theyd love to read one
6) lastly
im sure youv heard of the legendry Zakir Hussain.....well every year he invites great drummers from all over the world to play at a fuction that is held as a tribute to his late father
this year mr terry bozzio was down with his entire kit (phew) and i had the opportunity of meeting him
last year it was mr steve smith. i managed to meet him as well and get him to sign my hi hats...wooo hoooo
so i was wondering if ud come down here next year in feb....if i manage to get to mr zakir hussain and request him to request u to come down
its a dream to actually see u play in person
anyway thanks for taking time off to read this and sorry for having bothered you
hamza
(PS i play for a prog rock/metal band....we cover tool, opeth and porcupine tree)