You live, you learn, you keep drummin'!

Hello Steemit,

I thought I'd introduce myself by telling a little bit about myself and showing how my drum setup has evolved throughout nearly two decades of drumming. I am a drummer for a Grateful Dead cover band, Possum, and a moderator at reddit.com/r/drums.

My first drum set, a Pearl Export from early 2000 in burgundy mist with seven-ply asian mahogany (lauan) with a Zildjian ZBT starter pack. Not pictured is the original bass drum that I lost to a freeway and a poor pack job, but we’ll talk more about that later…I got this kit for Christmas my sophomore year of high-school after I purchased a pair of sticks and a practice pad and practiced nonstop the year prior. I never took any lessons. I learned by listening, watching and doing.

I started with my throne way too low and my cymbals way too high. I was a ska kid in high-school so my first upgrade was to replace the chrome over steel Pearl Sensitone with a Pearl Piccolo in black steel. My second was to upgrade my Pearl kick pedal to DW5000. I dropped a rack tom and moved the ride to a more comfortable position. This lasted me throughout high school and on to university.

Looking for a fuller more robust sound I got a Tama SuperStar birch snare. It was great for cutting through the loud university bars with more body than my beloved piccolo. I also brought back the second rack tom and moved both over to the crash stand.

This is when the drum gods giveth, then taketh.

Walking home from university one day I glance down an alley to see a hihat stand leaned against a dumpster. I go check it out and there is also a pair of 13” B8 hihats. I leave it be, thinking maybe someone would be back for it. The night before garbage day I go back to find them still there. I’ve been using that stand and a 13” hihat ever since. Now the drum gods can’t just giveth, they must also taketh. I was on the way to a gig cruising down the freeway in the hot hot sun, suddenly my bass drum launches into the air and tumbles into pieces onto the shoulder. I broke down and cried, but my amazing band mates pulled together and got me a Pearl Forum replacement in time for the gig. Then the drum gods kept giving because a couple weeks later heading to a gig I see something round sitting in the middle of a busy intersection. As I get closer I recognize the shape as a throne top. I quickly pull over and retrieve the traffic hazard.

Using gig money allowed me to upgrade in much more substantial way. Starting with a DW Collector's maple snare then Zildjian 13” Pocket Hats and K Custom Special Dry 21” ride all second-hand off craigslist. I got the Roc-N-Soc Nitro throne for Christmas then joined a band with a guy who just happened to have a slightly older almost identical matching 16” floor tom.

After fifteen years playing my Pearl Export I got new shells, PDP X7 maple in sparkle red fade lacquer, slightly used off craigslist. With the new shell pack came a 19” Zildjian Z3 crash and a 6” Zildjian splash. The 20” Constantinople Medium Ride was the next add on, around the same time bringing back the piccolo as an alternate snare while adding the accessories table. This was a fun set up, but brutal on the back when it came to any amount of gig’ing.

Now. Simplified, with a converted 16” floor tom bass drum. It’s much easier to haul and set up gig to gig. The next iteration will feature internal mic’ing for even more convenient live setup and sound.

You live, you learn, you keep on drummin’.