For a while I'd been thinking that I should take up another musical instrument. I played trumpet in elementary school and never touched it again. I'd been playing guitar since I was 9 and, while I did enjoy playing once in a while, I wasn't all that good at it, and I wasn't really into it enough to get any better. But I had this desire to try and learn to play the drums. It seemed like my kind of instrument. From doing martial arts and dance I had a pretty good sense of rhythm and full body coordination. Plus I could pick out beats in music and figure them out a heck of a lot better than I could figure out guitar riffs. When I got a few chances to sit down at a drum set I totally loved it. In September of 2003 I finally took the plunge and bought myself a Yamaha DTXPRESS II electronic drum kit. Since I live in a studio apartment surrounded by neighbors I had to go with the electronic kit just out of practical necessity. And even though it cost a bundle and doesn't quite feel like an acoustic drum set I really love my baby. Electronic was the way to go. I can plug in the headphones and play at any time of day, or run it through my sound system if I want to play out loud. If I need inspiration I can pipe my CD player through the drum controller and play along with any song I like. I've been having a blast. As I write this its been almost a year and a half and I still just love sitting down and playing. When I'm not totally swamped with work or other things I play almost every day for at least a half an hour. I've had a few chances to play on an acoustic kit with a band and its been fun. Its something that I'd totally like to do more of. But even when I don't have a crew to jam with I love coming home after work, popping in a CD, and playing along with U2, or Bob Marley, or Massive Attack, or Dr. Dre. I love it!
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I've been playing on and off for well over
ten years. I can't say that I'm all that good at it. But, its something relaxing
to do at home when I don't feel like staring at the television.
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