What would you do if you couldn't play drums?

Thanks. However, my Tama Granstars are in constant use as well, and when kits are provided for me to play, they always involve a 22" bass drum and a couple of toms. My seat height is consistent and I know I'm not doing anything weird there. This is just something that has always been in the background and is now coming into the foreground.

Just saying, sometimes it's the smallest things.

5 years ago my right shoulder went completely out, and kept going out. It took me a few months, but I realized when my then baby son would fall asleep on my lap, I would twist my body to type on my laptop to pass the time while he slept. Once I eliminated that twist, I felt much better.

Until this anyway.

Neil Peart talked about a recent tour, his leg kept going numb part way thru shows. He was very distressed about it, but one day he moved his snare over 1/4 of an inch, and his leg issues went away.
 
Just saying, sometimes it's the smallest things.

5 years ago my right shoulder went completely out, and kept going out. It took me a few months, but I realized when my then baby son would fall asleep on my lap, I would twist my body to type on my laptop to pass the time while he slept. Once I eliminated that twist, I felt much better.

Until this anyway.

Neil Peart talked about a recent tour, his leg kept going numb part way thru shows. He was very distressed about it, but one day he moved his snare over 1/4 of an inch, and his leg issues went away.
This is true. As we age, our comfort envelope diminishes. We need to make more effort to accommodate our failing connective tissue, & sometimes it's the smallest of adjustments that's enough to make a difference. I know lifting my throne by less than one inch really helped my back/right leg issue.
 
Thanks. However, my Tama Granstars are in constant use as well, and when kits are provided for me to play, they always involve a 22" bass drum and a couple of toms. My seat height is consistent and I know I'm not doing anything weird there. This is just something that has always been in the background and is now coming into the foreground.

Any reason you couldnt play an e-kit and play softer and just turn it up? I realize the kits are provided but I would think and e-kit would be an easy substitution for any sound crew. Others will know better. You could be all touch and no slam (which it seems to me you are already but I guess not at these shows).
 
If I couldn't play drums, I would simply sell them and take up a different instrument. Either piano or some sort of horn.

If I couldn't do that, I'd sell them and buy a lifetime supplies of CD's to listen to and invest the balance of the cash for my daughter.
 
Any reason you couldnt play an e-kit and play softer and just turn it up? I realize the kits are provided but I would think and e-kit would be an easy substitution for any sound crew. Others will know better. You could be all touch and no slam (which it seems to me you are already but I guess not at these shows).

Part of me thinks those years of beating a second generation Roland Octapad (1989-93) contributed to my hand numbing condition, but back then I could totally fly on the octapad.
However, out of personal preference, I've sworn off most things electropercussive a while ago (Zendrum notwishstanding - but it is unused at the moment) only because I like the entire dynamic range of an acoustic instrument. Believe it or not, nothing sounds better to me than a nice quiet buzz roll done on my Supra, and even when I played the top-flight Roland V-Drums, you can't get anywhere close to that kind of dynamic articulation (I don't care what Roland and their legion of fans say).

And the nice thing about acoustic drums, unlike their electric cousins, when I start to thunder, they actually go with me (it might not sound good past a certain point, but it'll keep up with me). What humans need is a third leg and foot for the constant volume pedal you have to use when playing an ekit ;)
 
Any reason you couldnt play an e-kit and play softer and just turn it up? I realize the kits are provided but I would think and e-kit would be an easy substitution for any sound crew. Others will know better. You could be all touch and no slam (which it seems to me you are already but I guess not at these shows).

Despite what I said in the last reply in this thread, I did take the Zendrum out today and played it a bit. It may be part of my answer to having something to play as it can be played with just my fingertips. Working on my Zendrum technique a bit found me playing things with just about no shock to the hands, so in the future it may be a good thing.

However, at this point before visiting with my doctor, my left hand is positioned upside down (palm-side up) to play that part of the instrument the same way a guitarist handles the neck of a guitar, and the numbing seems to start when the hand flips over that way. But it goes a bit longer without the vibration of stick hitting drum. Still something to work on.
 
Well, I was pretty much there last night! :( I've been running a fever for a good few days now, & feeling pretty weak. Despite this, I decided to attend band practice. I muddled through, but my playing was diabolical! Nothing worked. It was all I could do to knock out a money beat, & even that was bereft of feel & texture. I really am having a crap week.
 
I'd play bass guitar. Though I've never played one, it's always been a fascination for me. Thanks to a Mr.Lake from the 1970's who had an enormous sound.
 
Bo I am no doctor but it sounds like maybe you have developed some carpal tunnel issues. It that is the case it can be reversed. Hope your doctor gives you some positive answers.
 
Well, I was pretty much there last night! :( I've been running a fever for a good few days now, & feeling pretty weak. Despite this, I decided to attend band practice. I muddled through, but my playing was diabolical! Nothing worked. It was all I could do to knock out a money beat, & even that was bereft of feel & texture. I really am having a crap week.

Andy, I hear you. I decided to go to band practice (in London - a couple of hours of driving thrown in for good measure) with the nasty part of a chest infection. To say I felt terrible and wasn't at my best rather understates the issue. The thing I find most ironic though is that I play at my worst not when I'm physically ill but when my depression is playing up. Just the other night I played a (functional) rehearsal but was well below my best and I felt awful afterwards for letting the bandmates down - although actually it was 'fine', just not 'good'.

Matt, I've worried about procedures too. I have a recurring shoulder injury that might need surgery but I'm putting it off to play the kit in the short-term. I hope I don't pay for it in the long term but I would go against my own actions and sort it out now, sooner rather than later if necessary.
 
I'd play something else, or I'd go back to photography, or I'd work on 2d visual arts like painting or drawing. Seems to me that there are too many cool ways to express myself to be down about not playing drums anymore. I'm sure it would hit me hard, but I'd get through.
 
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