Your History with Drums and Drumming

[Ricardo]

I'm interested in the drumming history of many of the players here -- formal training ? -- professional income ?? -- recording credits ?

I'll go first and provide the example :

Age 11 - got my first kit - Slingy -- Played Beatles, Hermits, Stones, Animals along with recorded music and bounced in and out of a few bands through junior high and high school...........not much gigging.

Age 19 - got my second kit - classic Ludwig 3-ply -- 8 pc.
Was in the same band for 3 years and played classic rock covers -- a bit more gigging but still not a "good" band.

After that band I found a "good" band and was with them for three years also............again, classic rock covers............because of the singer's knack for sounding like Plant, we were known for our "Zeppelin set"...........usually done later in the night at our gigs............lots of gigging with these guys.

Age 24 -- entered music school -- percussion performance major. Of course focus on the kit but also had to learn the mallet keyboards, tympani, all the hand-helds, congas, chimes, bells, etc and piano.......as well as the usual ear training and theory courses...........loved the composition and counterpoint.
This is when I bought my third kit -- Gretsch USA Customs -- still the set I gig with today.

After graduation I went back to college for further study but shifted to statistics and economics.............lay off from music for a while.
Graduation again..........Then, immediately into graduate school -- more econ & stat.

After graduation I moved to another city and began a career.
Soon found another band to join at age 32.............played pop covers, lots of Beatles, Motown, Journey, ZZ..........etc. Stayed with these guys for 12 years............many, many gigs...........almost all private function contracts, i.e., corporate Christmas parties, weddings, birthdays, NYE parties, etc.
A lot of these years, I played electronic kits through a great PA.........started with the classic Simmons drums and soon got a really good set of Yamaha.
(My 4th and 5th kits.) This band had the best vocalist I've ever worked with.
We wrote some originals.............maybe a dozen in all. They are recorded and copyrighted............occassionally I'll listen.

Over the next few years I only played drums for studio work...........I gave up playing live for a few years.

Two years ago -- daughter leaves home for college and I buy a new set of Ludwig Epics (6th and most recent kit) for practice purposes and put them in daughter's now-vacant room.

Last year I get a call from a bass player friend of mine............he had worked with me on some of the studio jobs............he tells me he is in a power trio but they lost their drummer and he wants me to audition.
I figure that is the last thing I need -- another band.
Well..............got the gig and soon thereafter, played my first club date in many years...............loving the new music (75% originals; 25% covers), the power trio set-up and the two guys I'm with are great players and great people.............currently happy.

And as you all know...............I completely disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the old Gretsch kit with new Remos and wow............they are sounding better than ever. Nothing lined up in April but we have two great gigs booked for May...............very much looking forward to playing again.

[marko138]

My earliest memory of drums is going over to a friend's house and his dad having a massive drum kit. This had to have been around 1990 or so. His dad would let us bang on it for a few minutes.

I've played bass guitar since I was 15 (16 years now). Sometime in high school someone showed me the most basic drum beat of all time. From there I would try to bang around on drums whenever I was at band practice. Along the way my buddy Carlin would show me stuff that I just couldn't do. LOL.

Around 2004 or so my wife (then girlfriend) bought me a Tama Swingstar kit. I still sucked. In 2006 I joined my current band as their bass player. We auditioned a few drummers and decided it would be easier to find a bass player and I would just play drums. And here we are today.

I've been in the studio twice behind the drum kit (3x as a bass player). Recorded a 4 song EP in the fall of 2011 and a single in Fall of 2012.

[drummer]

Great thread idea Ricardo.

Age 0: I was born a poor black child.

Age 1: Started banging on everything in site.

Age 2: Featured on the cover of Modern Drummer as being the youngest drumming prodigy in history.

Age 18: Played in a few bar bands.

Age 32: Traveled the world playing with Elvis.

Age 68: Lead the drum circle at my nursing home.


Some of this has either been omitted or embellished.

[Markadiddle]

Great thread idea Ricardo.

Age 0: I was born a poor black child.

Age 1: Started banging on everything in site.

Age 2: Featured on the cover of Modern Drummer as being the youngest drumming prodigy in history.

Age 18: Played in a few bar bands.

Age 32: Traveled the world playing with Elvis.

Age 68: Lead the drum circle at my nursing home.


Some of this has either been omitted or embellished.

So, that means you are either Navin Johnson, Buddy Rich reincarnated, Ron Tutt or Jim Chapin reincarnated. Hmmmm...

[Texdrumr]

When I was 11, our school offered music class. The only, and I mean only instrument I wanted to play was the snare drum. That happened to be one of the few instruments that the school did not offer as loaners. You had to buy/provide your own. My parents didn't say no, they said hlle no.

Fast forward almost 30 years. I had picked up the guitar, taken lessons, and could play it fairly well. Enjoyed it, but didn't love it. Well, my wife and I were out somewhere and she saw an ad for a local music store offering drum lessons for adults. One month, $50, nothing else to buy. The night after my 2nd lesson, I bought my first drum set - Tama Imperialstars. I can count on one hand the number of nights I've been home and HAVE NOT practiced over the past 2 years.

Two years later (present day) I just bought a used set of Gretsch Renown Maples.

Haven't touched the guitar since the night of my 2nd drum lesson.

[Ricardo]

Age 68: Lead the drum circle at my nursing home.

This is the only line in your reply that I believe.

[Ricardo]

I just bought a used set of Gretsch Renown Maples.

Good move, Tex...................stick with it.
I gotta get back to New Braunfels some day.

[Pearl MCX Man]

This is the only line in your reply that I believe.

He meant the potty circle

[Pearl MCX Man]

Drummer a black man never figured that one. Unless that is his real picture in the Avatar.

[rickthedrummer]

Started at 10. Still playing at 66. Did a few things along the way, made a few bucks, retired, bought a house in North Carolina.

Spend my time learning the art of gardening. Coming from the land of concrete, gardening is a whole new world.

Bought a industrial strength leaf blower that, if I don't tie myself down, will blow me to Charlotte. Bought a rake. Still looking for the on-off button on the rake. Bought a shovel (whatever that is). Looking for a soup bowl big enough to accommodate it as I have no idea what they are for.

Looking for a supercharged riding mower so I can mow my lawn in 2 minutes. It seems that you have to mow grass every once in a while, which is a whole new concept for me as we never had to mow concrete.

I have a lot of bushes in my back yard that need to be trimmed. Not being a barber, it's something else I have to figure out. I also have ivy which I thought only grew at Wrigley field in Chicago.

There also seems to be something called weeds, which has a whole different meaning to me. They have to be pulled out of the ground, but, telling weeds from bushes is presenting a problem, so I figure I'll pull out every other "thing" and that way I'll be half right.

There is some wildlife here. It's mainly squirrels and a couple of little kids who visit my neighbor. Some squirrels took up residence in my attic several months ago. They tapped into my cable and the exterminator found some rolling papers up there.

Leaves are a big problem (although I'll take them over snow). I figured X amount of leaves in the fall. I did get X amount, plus a extra 20 tons that I didn't figure on, hence the industrial strength leaf blower. I could cut the trees down, but I like them. I'm trying to work a deal with them to throw the leaves into my neighbors back yard and let him worry about them. I think a couple of my trees are refugees from the "Lord of the Rings" movies because when I go in my backyard, they are not where I left them the day before.

Somewhere in there, I still find time to play my zither.

[pastor_bob]

I like this idea for a thread.

I was about 5 years old when I started showing a desire for rhythm. I was playing an old fashioned kit - oatmeal cans, and wooden spoons. My parents were impressed enough with my desire that they bought me a toy snare drum that Christmas. I didn't have any idea how to play it, and without real encouragement, it got damage (broken head), and was not replaced.

Fast forward to 4th grade (10 yrs old), and I wanted to be in the school band. I was thinking drums, but we had just moved to California, and the band director at the new school told my parents that the percussion section was full. What he needed was someone in the clarinet section, so I got a clarinet. I didn't like it much, but through it, I learned the basics of music.

12 yrs old - In 6th grade, I moved to a new school, and started group lessons during the lunch hour. I didn't really love the clarinet, but I was getting better. During the group lessons, the music director would ask us all to play the piece of music that we were to practice. One after another, we played it. I was always last, and apparently I was always wrong, because the director would shout "Wrong! Play it again," over and over. I knew that I was playing it exactly like everyone else, and he never said how I was playing it wrong, so I finally realized that I was simply his whipping boy, and he was good at taking out his frustration on me. I quit music, and made baseball my primary passion for the next 31 years.

44 yrs old - after a major upheaval in my life, that included a career change, I headed off for seminary. A friend of mine gave me a guitar, and told me that I should learn to play if I was going to do any work with kids. I played guitar for the next 8 years.

52 years old - I wanted to learn more about different rhythms to improve my guitar playing, so I bought a drum practice pad and sticks, and started learning rhythms. It didn't take more than a few minutes to feel like that 4 year old child playing on oatmeal cans with wooden spoons. I was back in touch with a passion that I thought was long gone. I bought drums, and I haven't looked back.

55 years old - After enduring a church that did not understand my desire for music, I moved to pastor a new church. This church has embraced my musical skills and I have joined with 4 other pastors to create a band. We meet at my house once a week, and although we are all amateurs, we love playing together. We're all growing as musicians, and that's the part that feels best. We don't get out to play much (a couple of times a year, if we're lucky, because we are all very busy at all hours), but we get out enough to make everything fun when we get together.

[inthpktplayer]

Age 6: Picked up sticks and started banging
Age 8: Started formal training
Age 13: Said the hell with formal training

Payed my way through college playing in some damn good bands and doing a little studio work. Gave it up for a while. Now as an old guy (55 y.o.), play in a couple of damn good bands. Never take anything too seriously. Do it to have fun and to help to keep me from feeling old. It's working.

[Pearl MCX Man]

Started drumming in the late 60's on a Pearl kit then got a second kit of Ludwig Classics and combined both into one huge kit. Got married in the late 70's. Worked as a bricklayer for 30 years. Retired in 2005. Celebrated my 35 Anniversary this year. No children to pass my legacy with. I have 6 bros and 4 sis and whole bunch of nieces, nephews with a bunch of their own kids. Still play my Pearls and live in the bush in a log home with hardly any leaves but lots of snow lol. Retirement is the good life doing a lot of fishing, snowmobiling, ATVing etc with the wife and my German Shepherd Jazz. What else could I ask for.

[late8]

Age 0: I was born a poor black child.

Great line from the movie "The Jerk"

[Markadiddle]

Great line from the movie "The Jerk"

Which means drummer is either Navin Johnson or Steve Martin. Although, I still think he is some famous drummer who is maintaining anonymity as a moderator on DC.

[late8]

Which means drummer is either Navin Johnson or Steve Martin. Although, I still think he is some famous drummer who is maintaining anonymity as a moderator on DC.

Dude, only you would of remembered Steve Martin's character's name was Navin Johnson. I even had to look up the fact that the movie title had the word "The" in it.

[Markadiddle]

Dude, only you would of remembered Steve Martin's character's name was Navin Johnson. I even had to look up the fact that the movie title had the word "The" in it.

My brain is a vast repository of useless information and trivia. I wish I could get it to remember how to play drums like I did 20+ years ago.

[gottdonn13]

Age 9-10: school started doing some basic instrument lessons, hitting things sounded like the most fun of the options! I bashed on a quality street tin, with braches, for long enough that it got annoying enough for parents to pay for some lessons.

Age 11-12: First drum kit, a CB Kit (that i still play the shells of today)

Age 13: Moved lessons from school to better drum techers, tried a couple then found the one i was happiest with.

First band, started just for fun with a few friends,one of the guitarists is still in the band today. Age 15 we got a bit more serious after a few coming and going of members and settled more, played some talent shows and battle of bands in schools and regionally

Age 18: Stopped having lessons, as i was heading into uni and the distance was too far,and the money too tight.

Just into us being at uni we decided to keep the band going despite the distance and dis-jointed practises and gigging, the bassist dropped out, but a guitarist from when we started it all re-joined. Took a more professional feel to everything. Weve since recorded fair amount, and played gigs all over the country, in the time we can squeeze them in when were not at uni!

Now 21, at the peak, weve had multiple local radio plays, and just had out first national play! Looking forward to finishing uni in a couple of months and hitting the gigs over summer

[Texdrumr]

I gotta get back to New Braunfels some day.

Look me up when you do. - Tex

[SpecialAnthony]

Age 10, first year I'm able to join the school band. I wanted to play drums after many years of banging around on various objects and listening to my dad play acoustic guitar, and growing up in Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Marley, and The Police (consequently my dad's cousin sang back up for them on the 83 Synchronicity tour). I was hit by a car on my bike after the first day of school. Broke my femur and was in traction and a body cast- missed the first 3 months of school. Didn't get to join band that year.

Age 11 - joined the school concert band, playing percussion and mainly snare. The school's drum instructor Will Digorgio - old Jazz/Bop Italian dude with a wooden leg, used to play drums for bands like Fats Domino. He sees something in me and tells my mom I must have been born with sticks in my hands, and need to be behind a kit. My parents bought me my first- a 5pc CB-700 kit with some crap cymbals. I take 2 years of private lessons with him after school on jazz, rock, and Latin rhythms on the kit and conga/bongos.

Age 13 - Will Digorgio leaves the school and moves away. I start listening to all sorts of music, and playing along, teaching myself various stuff mostly from Punk, Funk, and the new rock- Grunge. Fugazi, Freak Beans, Dead Milkmen, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, RHCP, Janes Addiction were all staples on my walkman. And of course, The Police became a focal point for me musically. Stewart Copeland's work on Zenyatta Mondatta hooks me, and was my ultimate turning point moment- I forever became a drummer after digging into that album. My mom tries to find another local instructor, but none really interest or inspire me. There'd be no more private instruction on that. I start playing drums with my Brother and his High School friends (all 5 years older than me) and we play a few local firehouse gigs, and actually recorded in a studio (no idea where that master went). I buy my first Zildjian - a 22" used ride of unknown vintage. My guess is late 70's early 80's A series. It's the only ride I have ever owned and still play it today.

Age 14 - Now in High School and not only in the school concert band, but jazz band and rock band as well. I purchase a new kit - a 6 piece Tama Rockstar. I have become a Tama fan for life, and give my CB-700 to the school. A few years go by and I've joined another of my older brother's bands - play some local small time gigs, record in a studio once more. Those recordings I still have. Somewhere along the way I meet my best friend (who I'm still friends with and work with today), and he introduces me to RUSH. New drumming inspiration!

Age 18 - Graduated HS and still play with my brother's band. I've also filled in as a session player for a few of his musician friends with their gigs and also on their locally recorded studio albums. I've started getting into Photography and go to school for it. Subsequently drumming takes a back seat, although I still play along to my favorite music a few times a week.

Age 22 - Haven't done much with drumming, nor played with musicians in a while. Dating my future wife, she knows I play and encourages me to start looking for new people to start a band with. I check the local musician's classified, and low and behold there's an ad that states "Seeking Stewart Copeland". Having studied and virtually mastered all Police tracks for years in my self practice, this was like a godsend to read. So I set up a meeting/audition and we hit it off. I have now discovered what it's like to have a musical connection with someone, and also having that intuition that drummers and bass players sometimes have. We are locked in tight, and this bass player is the best guy I've ever played with. Playing mainly original Police inspired music, we also play covers of the mainstream 90's grunge and rock stuff. We start playing local clubs around the Baltimore metro area- The Recher, ESPN Zone downtown, and get a monthly gig at Charles Village Pub in the Towson area (which has since burned down). We have a decent local following, and go to the studio a few times, recording close to 20 tracks. All goes pretty well until I get married, have a daughter, and can't afford to buy a house. So..

Age 26 - Move to TX, buy a house, settle in over the next few years and have a 2nd kid (son). My drums have gone from being in my Moms basement in MD, to their new home in my master closet (yes, everything is bigger in TX). Over these first few years my focus is on my job, adjusting to living in a new area, owing a home, and having two small kids. I play very sporadically. Once my son is about 2 I start playing again more consistently. Then in 2007 the news hits that The Police have reunited and will tour. Musical Dream come true! I've been a part of a community of Stewart Copeland fans on his personal website and forums, where he actually posts from time to time. We all get the idea to make a flag of his logo and the various forum members pass it along to each other and sign it, and it travels to each show during the tour. Since Stewart actually reads and interacts on his forum, he knows all about this thing. I see them from the 2nd row in Houston during one of the first shows in 2007, and am one of the first few ones to sign the flag. During the show I hold it up and low and behold he points at me! Amazing! During the rest of the concert he interacts with me this way, pointing his sticks at me as he plays whenever I hold up this little fan made flag. At the end of the show as they are bowing he points to me and gives massive waves and thumbs up- such an awesome experience to be recognized by my drumming idol! I pass the flag to a forum member that is taking it along to the next show. And so it goes- the flag travels to virtually every show on the reunion tour around the world, collecting signatures along the way, and garnering recognition via points and waves and such from Stewart when he spots it in the audience. It almost becomes a little game we forum members play with him.

2008 - the unthinkable happens - I get soundcheck access to The Police's 2nd stop in Houston, get on stage and sing with the band, and play Stewart's drums with Andy and Sting- we play Roxanne and Every Breath You Take. Musical pipe dream come true. I can die a happy drummer. I subsequently have started practicing more regularly now on my drums, which still sit in my master closet. I start recording drum covers and throwing them on youtube (which ultimately lead me here).

2010 - my kids are now old enough that I have time to devote to playing out again. I start searching the local classifieds, craigslist, and find a few people to play with. I'm clearly above their skill level and I get frustrated/bored quickly so I quit. I've got a profile on bandmix . com and through that and my youtube videos I get contacted by a guitarist who is deeply into RUSH. He also is in a Led Zeppelin tribute band, and owns his own business creating educational products for kids using music to teach. Gifted guy- we hit it off and form a RUSH tribute band. He's got all sorts of local connections so getting gigs isn't difficult. I move my drums to his recording studio in his house and we start auditioning guitarists. He decides to play bass and sing, and is quite good. We end up using his Zeppelin bass player as our guitarist for RUSH and it works out pretty well until

2012 - Guitarist decides to move away. So both the Zeppelin and RUSH bands are down a member. We search for a guitarist and find one in quick order who ends up being amazing, and has his own local studio where he teaches out of. Turns out he's interested in playing bass for the Zeppelin band too. Meanwhile, their drummer leaves and so low and behold I'm now the new drummer for the Zeppelin band as well! We practice weekly and play out about once every 3-4 weeks. During this last year I've also had alot of work done to the house, including turning a walk in Attic into a 5th room and soundproofed studio for my drums!

2013 - I've now got 1 student, a 7 year old that just got his first drumset and has no skill whatsoever. I've started teaching him the basics, and it's gone surprisingly well. So now the plan is to start increasing the private lessons and see if it can become a fulltime gig. I live in a perfect area where music and marching band is practically as revered as football is in TX, and there's constant growth and influx of people into the community (meaning endless source of students). The next 5 years will be very very interesting!

[Dominic]

this should be quick....

age 26 - Feb 2013 ----- Get my first electronic kit (yamaha DTXplorer)

[KCJones]

Age 10: Joined school band playing snare. Was pretty cool, but it wasn't baseball... gave it up.

Age 13: Started playing congas in school drum ensemble. Had a buddy who was really good and just tried to copy him as I had no idea what I was doing. Seemed to pick it up pretty quick. We had a huge group of instruments and it was quite a production. Played out at fairs and other random school functions.

Age 15: Started on the kit in high school, wanted to play in the jazz band, but it wasn't baseball or football... gave it up.

Age 16-39: Played beats on every random surface I could touch, wishing I wouldn't have given up drums.

Age 39: Started playing congas with a couple guitar buddies, just goofing off.

Age 40: Bought a Roland TD-9 and a practice pad. Started really having fun jamming with the boys, played rudiments on the pad till my fingers cramped, cursed myself daily for giving up drums... tried to remember all the stuff I forgot about drums, all I could recall was that I think sticks were involved somehow.

Age 41: Picked up a Gretsch Renown acoustic kit. Drums are my only hobby. Wanted to keep playing on a traveling fastpitch softball team, but it wasn't drumming... gave it up.

Now... play every day, still dreaming of where I could be if I didn't have a 20-some year gap in playing. Love playing, love coming up with new stuff, love getting that groove or fill that takes me a week to learn!

[ZildjianKid234]

Oh boy. From humble beginnings doesn't even begin to describe my drumming career.

Age 1-10: Banging pots and pans, the occasional drumset my mother would let me near:



(Yes I may have been trying to eat the stick)

Age 10: First drumset for Christmas, courtesy of my father. It was an "Astro" 5 piece kit...the "cymbals" turned inside out when hit. This is one of the few pictures I actually have of it. With better cymbals, of course.



Age 11-14: Played in middle school band. I learned a lot of my rudiments, stick technique, and other percussive knowledge here. Here's a video of my band in 7th grade playing a blink-182 song for a talent show. It's pretty rough, but we were 7th graders!



Age 14-15: High school marching band! Got mega-super chops and killer back muscles from playing the tenors. (Okay I might be exaggerating slightly) Anyway, here is my band picture from freshman year (Excuse the buzzcut, that got phased out shorty after)



Age 15: Got my new (current) set of Ludwig Accent CS Customs for Christmas! This was a sweet surprise that was long overdue. I love them.



Age 16 (current): Went to Music For All (A Nation-wide Instructional Band Camp) Got to meet Vic Firth himself, as well as other high-profile instructors and musicians. Here's a picture of me that they used in an ad for their program.


http://i.imgur.com/YoWeSnkl.jpg (Limited to 4 pics, gotta click it! Sorry!)


And for comparison to my band in 7th grade, here's my drum duet for the talent show this year:

If I had any advice to give to any drummers that are teenagers or even preteens, it would be to try to get involved in your school's band. Being a member of the band has helped my drumming immensely. Besides the instruction given to me at school, I am 100% self taught.

Thanks for reading!

ZK

[late8]

"In a Nut Shell"

age 4: - heard my first Beatles album




age 6: - parents bought me my first percussion toys:



age 20: - my dad went 1/2 in and helped me buy my first drum kit:



age 21: - played in my first cover band and discovered I wasn't going to be a Rock Star



age 23-25: - went to college and got a degree

age 25-30:- played in bars, clubs and got burned out

age 31: - got marrried

age 48: - wised up and divorced "Sybil"

age 49: - got re-married

age 50: - bought my 2nd kit

age 53: - got bad G.A.S., bought the "dream kit"

[kay-gee]

Caught the music bug at 4

The drum bug after watching Ed Sullivan show. Made drums from KFC buckets. Age 7

Toy drum set for Christmas. Age 9

Pretend band with neibourhood buddies (The Hippo's)

Real drum set (Japanese no-namers) and music lessons. Age 11

School band 8th thru 12th grade, Lot's of jams and make-belief bands

Began to play bars Age 19 (upgraded to Ludwig)

Some really good bands. Discovered country rock. (Up graded to Gretsch)

Played all across Canada in a country rock band. Age 22-25

Married...played off and on for next 20 or so years.

Remarried

Now living in The Bahamas, playing a whole lot but mostly just for fun. Singing too.

Still play the Gretsch mostly, but some fun homemade sets as well.

all the best...