Old guy getting back into playing needs advice

Steelydad

Junior Member
Hello. I am new to Drummerworld. This is my first post, so I appreciate your patience in advance.
I am 54, started playing drums at age 8. Studied percussion through college. Band, orchestra, stage band, marching band, pit band in college for musicals. Sporadically played some acoustic jazz post college in NYC when I could find people to play with. Studied keyboards for a couple of years in between Raising kids and wife have severely limited my ability/time/place to play since.

I am going to start playing again. I need advice on how to prevent my already damaged hearing from getting worse, a subject I never really addressed in the past. When practicing solo, do you people out there use noise reducing headphones, ear plugs, or what? Second, I would like to be able to play along with a music source (IPOD, CD etc) so that I can actually hear the music source and my drumming at the same time without losing my hearing. (Back in the day, I would just crank my stereo (who calls it a stereo anymore) as loud as possible and blast along in my basement growing up.)
Third, Should I want to actually record my drumming ( I would like to) with decent fidelity, and or also record my drumming along with music ( have seen several people do that and post it on Youtube—not my goal), what do I need to do that?

Finally, I own a 1968 Rogers jazz kit—bass, tom, floor and an early ‘70’s Ludwig chrome snare(all very clean), with original hardware, some of which I find to be less stable than I would like when played hard. Thinking of selling/trading for a new kit. Good or bad idea?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Hey Steelydad. Cool name. First things first...photos of the Rogers kit please :) Of course, I'd keep it unless it's in terrible condition. And I still call them stereos .. haha... Actually working on moving my turntable and speaks into my drum practice space. Too many LPs I have never made it to CD or iTunes.. I'm an old fogie at 46 but I have a Tascam mp3 recorder that is really great and easy to use for recording. There's many versions but get the $99 one - the model # escapes me now.. Anyway...that's about all I know to help.
 
Hi Steelydude,

Congrats on getting back into drumming; you’ll love it just like you did back in the day!

For jamming/rehearsing with (loud) bands, I use those little foam earplugs. The kind you squish up into a narrow cylinder, and then they expand to block your ear canal. There’s a few types out there to choose from. They don’t cut all frequencies evenly, but they’re dirt cheap and effective. Get them at your local drug store.

For practicing, I use isolation headphones like the “stereo isolation headphones” here:
http://www.vicfirth.com/products/headphones.php
You can plug them into a metronome or whatever takes the standard stereo minijack. Or you can just wear them without plugging into anything just for the db reduction.

For recording, you can mortgage the farm and buy load of mics, cables, stands, computers, software, etc., or just get one of those handy little all-in-one recorders that are widely available and sound pretty decent. I use a Zoom H4:
http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/products/handheld-audio-recorders/h4/

That old kit sounds cool. If you’ve got the cash, I’d keep it but buy a second kit that can take more of a beating.
 
Welcome to Drummerworld. And no, no info. Not until you post pictures of your Rogers kit. You give us what we want, then you get what you want. (kidding)​
Yeah, at 55, with 40+ years of drumming under my belt, I have managed to buff off quite a bit of my hearing. The isolation headphones are the ticket, in my book. I wore ear plugs, and shooter ear muffs, and still managed to damage my hearing ....​
The stereo headphones are great, if you jam a lot to pre-recorded tunes. Some headphones have built in mic's, which let you hear talking, etc. .... and then shut down the LOUD (usually somewhere between 35 and 85dB). Here's a list (partial) of what's out there. http://www.bestcovery.com/best-headphones-for-drummers There are a lot of products out there.​
don't own any recording gear, but probably soon will. Like the headphones, there's a lot to choose from. Any the spectrum, everything from hand/pocket portable units, to digital 32/64 track machines. Ant then you have to figure out ... do you wanna use your computer, go stand alone, save your songs on a flash card, CDR, etc. More options than my feeble mind can process. I'll probably have one of my studio cat friends recommend me a machine, and then buy it.​
 
I'm 60 and just got back to playing last summer.

The best thing I did was go electronic. When it was first suggested, I thought it was blasphemous.

When I finally did try it, I found that:

1) It extended my playing time dramatically as I can play anytime via headphones.

2) I can play with backing tracks instead of banging out rudiments for hours at a time.

3) I can hear every note I play. Nothing gets lost in the resonance of a big accoustic kit.

As for recording, all you have to do click record :)
 
Hi
Keep the drums,get new heads, get new stands and hi hat and bass drum pedal......and most important find the best teacher you can afford within a reasonable travel distance! Happy drumming...Denis
 
Welcome to the forum.

+1 on the advice so far, The Mp-3 recorders are really handy,most of them have a decent amount of storage so you can keep all kinds of tunes/loops and things you can practice with all in one place(no more piles of cd's and cassette tapes stacked to the ceiling next to your drums) couple that with your computer and a program like audacity (there is a free version) where you can slow down or speed up grooves,loop short sections etc and you have all kinds of resources for learning at your fingertips and all in one manageable place.

As far as your kit goes I have 1967 Rogers jazz kit that I love and you would have to spend a lot more money to get a kit with that kind of build quality,pics would help,but if you are having stability issues with the hardware they make all kinds of cool hardware these days, and there are some non permanent modifications you can do to address that problem.
 
I'm 60 and just got back to playing last summer.

The best thing I did was go electronic. When it was first suggested, I thought it was blasphemous.

When I finally did try it, I found that:

1) It extended my playing time dramatically as I can play anytime via headphones.

2) I can play with backing tracks instead of banging out rudiments for hours at a time.

3) I can hear every note I play. Nothing gets lost in the resonance of a big accoustic kit.

As for recording, all you have to do click record :)

I too got back into drumming about 3 years ago. (54 now) I too got electronic kit and love it. I would love an acoustic kit again but simply not practicale at this point. Any drumming is better then no drumming!
Personally, I would look at a Gretsch drum set if I was buying new. The local GC had a beautiful walnut finish 7 piece set for $900. VERY tempting.
I too use an H2 to record. Back in the day when I gigged, I used a cassette. Times have changed.
 
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