Papa's got the same ol' bag

aydee

Platinum Member
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I started playing with some amount of seriousness when I was 15 years old. Went through a sabbatical in my 30s when financial instability intervened. Been playing some semi-pro/ some sometimes pro ever since.

I'll be 58 next month so thats 33 years of solid playing. And I think Im just beginning to get some of it... just maybe..

'Tis a mystery, this drumset thang. Time and space n' Rhythms n'accents. modulations, meters , innerclocks, the whole poly-ness of it all. It takes your whole life, godammit!

Anybody else got anything to say?


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I haven't gotten much of anything yet. I still have sobering, humbling moments on this instrument on a regular basis. It sometimes seems like a cruel joke; trying to strike membranes with sticks and beaters and have it all be musical and in great time. Kind of like baseball players when you contemplate that they're trying to hit a round ball traveling at 95 mph with a round bat. Or golfers doing what they do. The frustration can be disheartening at times. But once it gets in you, you can't stop doing it. You just can't.
 
I just want to play more, with more bands, but I haven't got the time for more than 3 bands at the moment, coupled with school and social stuff. Maybe I'll just lock myself in for a year after I'm done with school.
 
At about 10 months younger than you Abe, instead of focusing on what I can't do, I take great pleasure in what I can do.

It feels funny saying this, but I have enough physical technique to play the gigs that appeal to me. Which in the big scheme of things is not a whole lot compared to insert your favorite technical drummer here.

But it's plenty enough for what I need. So I'm at a point now where I improve when I improve. Whatever. I reached a major goal...sort of....close enough...of getting my weak hand as capable as my strong hand. Exploring the possibilities of an equal left hand is a dream come true in a way for me. I can now focus on what I'm playing as opposed to how I'm playing. I feel like I'm reaping a little reward....by allowing myself to enjoy what I do, instead of focusing on what I can't. My left hand no longer feels retarded, and it's a real pleasure to not have it majorly hold me back. So right now, I'm just enjoying the scenery with my equal hands and just letting that take me where it does on it's own.
 
I haven't gotten much of anything yet. I still have sobering, humbling moments on this instrument on a regular basis..

I remember your playing from some stuff you posted awhile back, and I'd say you do know a thing or two...
 
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I just want to play more, with more bands, but I haven't got the time for more than 3 bands at the moment, coupled with school and social stuff. Maybe I'll just lock myself in for a year after I'm done with school.
Thaardy, you badass! Bet you're badder than when we last talked ...
 
At about 10 months younger than you Abe, instead of focusing on what I can't do, I take great pleasure in what I can do.

I appreciate there's lots to be said about positive reinforcement and the sheer joy of playing, Larry. I didn't mean 'frustration in a negative, 'beat myself up because I can't do a vinnie lick kind of way'.. It's more like watching a stripper disrobing at a frustratingly slow pace..

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I just want to play more, with more bands, but I haven't got the time for more than 3 bands at the moment, coupled with school and social stuff. Maybe I'll just lock myself in for a year after I'm done with school.

Drop the social stuff.
Some of my favourite musical moments have been from staying in on a Friday or Saturday night and just playing.
 
I think because of forums like this, Youtube, Company sites etc, we tend to really over analyze drumming and music in general. Can we not just get together and make music or jam or whatever label you wish to use without wondering about every lug being the exact same tension or within 2 Khz of each other on an electronic tuning device? We speak of wanting to go back to vinyl because it just sounded better than digital and then we need 8 microphones just for the drums. Really? I know I'm an old bag and this forum has been a real awakening. Five different metal types for snares, ply, steambent, stave, segmented woods. Birch, maple oak etc etc etc . Please stop the insanity. OK, I'm finished.
 
I like analyzing drum stuff. I need to know how stuff works, why it works. It's the German in me I think. I look at drums like a science.
 
I don't mind analyzing ,I just don't want the sonic study, or science of sound to detract or from the fun of music. Vintage seems to be the sound we all like and yet we keep trying to improve on what we have rather than replicate the old sounds.
 
Abe, I feel the same as you. We are about the same age and we have been down similar routes when it comes to playing.
The past few years have really been good to me as far as obtaining personal playing goals. It takes a lifetime to become an accomplished musician. You never stop learning and perfecting.

BR once said when asked why he didn't play a larger kit that he hadn't fully learned how to play the drums that he already had.
It was a joke but I think that Buddy was being honest behind the humor.
 
I take great pleasure in what I can do.
I'm afraid I'm pretty much forced into that mindset, and before anyone says "awe Andy, you're not that shit" - I know I'm not, but I'm hugely flawed + limited, that's a fact, not an opinion. It's my own fault. I have a sprinkling of talent, but my time off the instrument, lack of any formal education structure, life distraction, sheer laziness, early success that wasn't earned, etc, equates to the situation I'm in now.

I'm both happy & sad about that. happy that I can play, happy that others want me to play (hell, I'm even getting paid sessions without soliciting them - WTF!), but sad that the totality of Andy is summed up by missed opportunity & poor decisions. I can never be one of the best drummers out there, I can't even become my best, but I can nail a groove & make musical choices that occasionally give me the ultimate playing high. I'll settle for that : And being one of the best damn drum builders / designers on the planet - ha!!!
 
I'm afraid I'm pretty much forced into that mindset, and before anyone says "awe Andy, you're not that shit" - I know I'm not, but I'm hugely flawed + limited, that's a fact, not an opinion. It's my own fault. I have a sprinkling of talent, but my time off the instrument, lack of any formal education structure, life distraction, sheer laziness, early success that wasn't earned, etc, equates to the situation I'm in now.

I'm both happy & sad about that. happy that I can play, happy that others want me to play (hell, I'm even getting paid sessions without soliciting them - WTF!), but sad that the totality of Andy is summed up by missed opportunity & poor decisions. I can never be one of the best drummers out there, I can't even become my best, but I can nail a groove & make musical choices that occasionally give me the ultimate playing high. I'll settle for that : And being one of the best damn drum builders / designers on the planet - ha!!!

There's always somebody higher up the ladder, and there's always somebody lower on the ladder. I'm just glad I'm on the ladder somewhere lol.
 
I think because of forums like this, Youtube, Company sites etc, we tend to really over analyze drumming and music in general. Can we not just get together and make music or jam or whatever label you wish to use without wondering about every lug being the exact same tension or within 2 Khz of each other on an electronic tuning device? We speak of wanting to go back to vinyl because it just sounded better than digital and then we need 8 microphones just for the drums. Really? I know I'm an old bag and this forum has been a real awakening. Five different metal types for snares, ply, steambent, stave, segmented woods. Birch, maple oak etc etc etc . Please stop the insanity. OK, I'm finished.

Ain't this the truth!I've just come back to drumming 12 months ago after a 40 year layoff. When I last played, I practiced with the band weekly, practiced individually and gigged once a week.Tuned the drums best I could.I don't think I even knew what my Premiers were constructed off! I had a lot of fun. Now I watch drummers on you tube and worry what I can't do and how poor technically I am compared with them. Thank goodness for the wisdom this forum that puts it in some perspective and helps me realise I am not alone in the world.
 
I don't mind analyzing ,I just don't want the sonic study, or science of sound to detract or from the fun of music. Vintage seems to be the sound we all like and yet we keep trying to improve on what we have rather than replicate the old sounds.

Agreed GD. At times its missing the the trees for the woods that the bear does its business in..
 
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