Who needs drums?

Bo Eder

Bo Eder

Platinum Member
Or more precisely, who needs sticks?

Got my Zendrum today, so of course I had to post a black&white and very grainy pic of me wearing it in the mirror. I'm trying to be artsy with an iPhone. Once I get a good sound module, I'm taking it on the road ;)

Before I post a clear, color pic of it, it's a beautiful zebra wood that is oiled to a satin finish. So it's not lacquered glossy like a guitar. I think it's a paradox - a very 'woody' natural look for a thoroughly modern computerized instrument.
 

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keep it simple said:
Your never ending kit reduction quest, last episode it be - young Skywalker. It's woodiness, impressed I am :)

Good luck with today's events Bo. Thinking of you.

Andy.
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Thanks Andy. A couple of times I thought of hiring Fired Up instead. But then there's those first class tickets you guys demand for all flights to America, and then Monique has to make an appearance which costs me even more ;)
 
Bo Eder said:
Or more precisely, who needs sticks?

Got my Zendrum today, so of course I had to post a black&white and very grainy pic of me wearing it in the mirror. I'm trying to be artsy with an iPhone. Once I get a good sound module, I'm taking it on the road ;)

Before I post a clear, color pic of it, it's a beautiful zebra wood that is oiled to a satin finish. So it's not lacquered glossy like a guitar. I think it's a paradox - a very 'woody' natural look for a thoroughly modern computerized instrument.
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That's all very well, but can you balance a beer on your floor tom? ;0)
 
keep it simple said:
Your never ending kit reduction quest,
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Man, I know. Glad he's "downsizing"......imagine how much crap he'd buy if he was going the other way!! :)

Don't know much about these Bo.....seen them, but not all that familiar with them. Looking forward to the reviews that follow.......and then the subsequent thread telling us you have too much stuff you don't need, so you've sold the Zendrum and bought a triangle instead.
 
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Bo, surely the Zendrum is like a Rhythm Traveler in that you sacrifice quality for smaller size. There's a tradeoff ... unless you're a better Zendrummer than a drummer ...?
 
Bo Eder said:
Thanks Andy. A couple of times I thought of hiring Fired Up instead. But then there's those first class tickets you guys demand for all flights to America, and then Monique has to make an appearance which costs me even more ;)
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We'd forsake the first class tickets Bo, but the other rider essential is not negotiable ;) Good luck with your special day :)

Pocket-full-of-gold said:
and then the subsequent thread telling us you have too much stuff you don't need, so you've sold the Zendrum and bought a triangle instead.
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Superb!!!! But forget not the follow on thread informing you the triangle has too many sides & can cover most genres with only two ;) ;) ;)

Anon La Ply said:
Bo, surely the Zendrum is like a Rhythm Traveler in that you sacrifice quality for smaller size. There's a tradeoff ... unless you're a better Zendrummer than a drummer ...?
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Oooo - potential revelation there Grea. Personally, I think Bo looks better behind a kit, rather than looking like a guy who wanted to be a guitarist but got stuck with drumming!
 
I just cannot get on board with this. I mean it's OK for anyone who does it, but personally, it's not for me at all. If I can't play a bass drum with my foot, and if I can't have a real foot operated hi hat, then I would be all over the bass guitar. Like I would never want to be a percussionist. My foot is the center of my rhythmic sensibilities. Without it I am lost, for real.
 
Now all ya gotta do it find yourself an electric banjo player.​
 
larryace said:
I just cannot get on board with this. I mean it's OK for anyone who does it, but personally, it's not for me at all. If I can't play a bass drum with my foot, and if I can't have a real foot operated hi hat, then I would be all over the bass guitar. Like I would never want to be a percussionist. My foot is the center of my rhythmic sensibilities. Without it I am lost, for real.
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That's ok Larry, I understand where you're coming from. Actually, it gives me two pedal input jacks for bass drum and hi-hat control but in the past I never used them because it negates the point of being mobile. But this time around I might try a bass drum trigger with but keep the option of bass drum with my fingers too.

And yes, there are limitations. I might even be a little more frustrated this time 'round. But it's something you work around and I just don't think in "drummy" terms but more "groovy without the ghost notes" terms. The fact that I can fit into a two-foot square and front a band is the perspective I use with this.

I'm picking up my sound module for it tomorrow so it should be happening by the end of the week.
 
Must admit, this is something I've never seen before. Looks interesting to day the least but I up think I'll stay with my conventional kit! Would love to see some vid of you playing it though.
 
And I have many tons of respect for you and your abilities Bo. You are much more adventurous and open minded than myself. I'm pretty sure I'll be sitting behind a kit until I die. I might as well save some money on a coffin and stipulate that I want to be buried in my not yet acquired Guru kick drum.
 
Watched the vid, thanks John. Listening to it beats watching it by a mile. It looks like anyone could do it with almost no skill. I guess I admire the skill that goes into making a real acoustic drum sound good. When you remove those things from the equation, the skill involved and a real acoustic drum, there's nothing left for me but button pushing. Oh man can that guy push buttons good. That's like saying , oh man that guy can blink his eyes good. Where's the skill? Henri, please spare me the vid with the guy who is the most amazing and skilled eye blinker the world has ever known.
 
Yea skill is a major thing for me. I know it is very limiting. Like a great rhythm isn't good enough, unless of course it's played on real acoustic instruments. Then it's amazing. Anything less than that is a huge cop out to my musical sensibilities, and a slap in the face to all the time I spend trying to make a perfect drum stroke. I want to know that it took a lot of real hard earned skill to produce that sound. It's very dinosaur-esque thinking, but that's what really triggers my trap.

Would you like to see real NFL football players drop the football field and instead play on a TV screen and push buttons to throw and catch the ball? That is exactly the same thing to me. Are the points the only focus? Or how hard you fought to get the points? There's no fight with pushing buttons, no technique that has to be honed. No skill. I don't regard pushing buttons as a skill. They have to be timed right, I'll concede that, but it's like blinking your eyes, anyone can do it.

I know you do a lot of computer music Duncs, but to me that has nothing to do with playing an acoustic instrument. Which is fine, just not for me. It's mental music not physical music in my mind if that makes any sense.

Composing is a different thing. The computer is an unbelievable tool. Writing a great song on a computer is great, but I want to hear it rendered on real instruments by skilled players, that's all I'm saying. Computer music played by pushing buttons and hearing computer generated sounds dilutes things so far down for me, that it turns it into a completely different thing from what I love. It's a music video game now. It's removing the very thing that I admire, the skill and most of all the tone of a real instrument, that is skillfully tuned and played by an expressive player, that is in the same room as me. Anything less and you lose me.
 
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It makes sense I just disagree very strongly.

In terms of skill, I find benching 500Ibs impressive but it doesn't mean that I find innate value in it. I tend to liken a lot of playing to that analogy. Unless it has a good result I think it's pointless.

For me it's all about results. Not the means that you used to get there.
 
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