Born in ‘66, I appreciate good, melodic music…. well-produced and appreciate great musicianship. I began playing drums when I was 13 or 14. My uncle, a self-taught drummer himself, showed me ‘the basics’ and I ended up learning to play without ever taking any formal lessons. I’d listen to music I liked, and while taking in the details, I’d envision how the drum parts might have been played to achieve what I was hearing. At first, I used to “memorize” favorite songs and then work on playing them on my uncle’s drum set each time we’d visit. After I’d demonstrated improvement playing along with an obvious interest to continue playing and learning, my parents allowed me to purchase and set up my own drum set in my room at home a few years later. At that time I was a junior in high school. It was great to have my own set; but, because they’re so LOUD, my playing time had to occur between the time I got home from school and when my father would return home from work.

Of course, this “era” was long before personal computers, internet access, quality electronic drums, digital music, music streaming, etc. were available. These days, people interested in learning to play musical instruments are fortunate to have SO many more advantages!  #1, music streaming provides instant access to over 100 million different songs for the same cost I paid back then just to purchase one album, cassette or (later) CD! And modern technology enables replaying, pausing or playing any section of a song on demand! Back then, I learned to play mostly while listening to songs playing on favorite local radio stations… I recall “spinning the dial” on my receiver to skip commercials and find songs playing on other stations that I’d enjoy “playing along with”…. Naturally, I was usually jumping into playing along with songs already in progress—with no way to pause, “rewind” or replay them unless I recorded them onto cassettes. And though bouncing around from station to station may seem a little crazy, I do believe I became a more versatile drummer as a result—because I constantly adapted to learn to play many different types and styles of music (being limited to whatever was ‘available’ at the time). Today, on YouTube and other sites, you can find “free lessons” online as well as videos of skilled musicians demonstrating how to play just about any song you like! Sometimes, you can even find videos of the actual drummer (from the band that originally recorded the song) demonstrating exactly how they played the song!

And, as if ALL THAT isn’t great enough, modern advances provide additional helpful features: Quality electronic drum sets now offer some GREAT, conveniences! For instance, you can now dial up an array of hundreds of different (and consistent) sounds that can be modified in many ways; you can “save” them, “assign” them to any trigger (drum pad, rim, cymbal pad or pedal) on the set and then “program” (save) any combination as a saved ‘kit’ that you can then select on demand by simply turning the dial on the drum module to the saved name/number. Multiple module inputs provide the option to route all sound to play through external speakers, a P.A.system, headphones or ear buds—including the ‘input music’ you’re playing along with—which can come from an app on your phone, an iPod, etc. Thus, with full control over volume levels of everything, you can “mix” the perfect blend and hear what you’re playing on the e-drums right along with whatever song you’re listening to. Best of all, routing it all through headphones makes it possible to play at any time of day or night without disturbing anyone! Typical electronic drum sets occupy much less space, can easily collapse to take up even less space and can be moved easily because they’re lightweight enough for one person to pick up the whole frame and move it as (substantially) one unit. Semi-collapsed, it can fit into the back of most SUV’s, so you could easily take it to play a gig or to jam at a friend’s house.

RGladstone2