New Personal Monitor - Simmons DA200S

I've been wanting to get an amplifier for the drum set so that I don't always have to wear headphones and I can rock out especially when I have the house to myself.

I haven't had much luck hooking up the drums to the stereo. I'm currently getting quite a buzz, and not a good type of buzz when hooking up to the stereo. So I started looking at options for a personal monitor.

Uncle Bob's pushed a keyboard amp. Cascio the Roland PM10 or PM30 and Guitar Center the Simmons. I did a little research and found a lot of options out there from PA to Keyboard to PMs for drums. They all vary in price obviously.

It came to a point where I just wanted to try something and see what I thought. While I would like to have JBL Eon G2, that's not realistic with my budget. Since Guitar Center had a sale going and they told me I could return it within 30 days if I didn't like it, I figured I might as well give it a shot.

The DA200s was a little bigger than I expected. It's heavy, but I carried to the car by myself. I took it home and hooked it up. I would have liked a few more controls and I didn't get a manual. But it did sound pretty good. I thought I might have popped an ear drum at one point with a snare hit.

Overall I like it. It's nice not having headphones and being able to listen a little better. The downside is now I want stereo. Having it come from one side isn't that great. Behind or upfront would be good but that doesn't jive with my current drum location.

I still might give the stereo another try. I have some large tower speakers I might be able to find a spot for and they might actually be okay for bass.

Enter Sandman

I started working on Enter Sandman the other day. The song is a lot of fun and rocks. So it's a lot of fun. I don't think it's as tecnically dificult as the slower song Creep. But it is very busy in parts. I got some parts down pretty good. It's fun to see it come together.

I found the sheet music on the Web awhile ago. But it looks overly complicated. I don't really understand why it seems some sheet music uses one note position for the snare, while others use different positions. I ended up just playing around, using a combination of the sheet music, Rock Band tab and the Rock Band game itself.

The Rock Band practice area is actually really nice in that you can pick various sections of the song and practice them at various speeds. Unfortunately there isn't a one-to-one correlation between what notes they show and the actual drum/cymbal to play--which makes it a little difficult. But it sure helped learning the song.

I need to try recording some of my playing. I know it's still not good, but I need to do it. If nothing else to show my progress over the next months or years. :)

I've had fun going off on a tangent and trying to learn a couple songs. I think I learned a lot of different things, trying to put it all together. But I need to get back to focusing on fundamentals and practice. I might alternate between practicing songs and fundamentals.

Creep Continued

I've been working a little more this weekend, when I wasn't enjoying the beautiful weather. A half hour here and there.

I've been having a lot off difficulty getting the bass pedal quick notes consistent. I looked at the pedal Saturday morning and made some adjustments. I noticed a day or two earlier that the sprint attachment on the beater has slipped a little, and that resulted in my pedal lower and the beater when at rest closer to the head.

I figured if I could adjust the beater back from the head a little, that would benefit a few things. One, the pedal felt too light. It didn't return fast enough. I figured if the beater started farther away from the head that traveling more distance cause the spring to stretch more and provide more resistance and a little more speddy return. Second, when I was making that adjustment I noticed the face of the drum could be adjusted a little to be farther away as well. I reduced the length of the supporting feet and that caused the bass pad to tilt a little more away from the pedal and beater.

Win-win. The changes gave me a lot better feel. I was able to get more resistance and after working on not burrying the beater I got a good feel where I could let the beater return each time and hit the notes a bit more consistently. It still has taken a lot of practice, but it's getting better.

I've found working with drums that it helps me to practice and then step away for awhile and come back. For me it just takes time. When I return, things seemed to have sunk in. The muscle memory is there or something, and what I was trying to learn I can usually do, at least better after a little break.

Of course, the bass pedal for me has always been hard. And this rhythm for this song and the quick notes take a bit of effort and I feel I have to develop my muscles a little more. But it's all getting there.

I've been continuing to play along with the music both with and without drums. I spent a little time recording the drums with the drum module and listening to them back. I need more practice with the rhythm, and the interdependence between the hi-hat hits and the bass pedal quick hits. This is no surprise, just need more practice.

It's been fun, but a little like work. I've been pushing myself to get this song done so that I can post it on a drum forum I visit. I'm afraid I'll get some poor feedback no matter how well I do for my first song. That has taken a little fun out of doing this, but I need to complete the cycle so I can continue to move on and keep learning.

Oh, I found a card for a music teacher here in town. It might be a nice less expensive alternative and maybe someone I could at least visit to make sure I'm not learning and bad habits.

Radiohead: Creep - My first song

I've decided to try and learn Creep as my first song. I plan to try and learn some of my favorite songs from the Rock Band game.
I searched for sheet music for the song but wasn't able to find any. I did find a note chart for the Rock Band game. That note chart shows the pads that are hit and the pedal, to play the song in the game. This is helpful, but needs to be translated to a real drum kit. In Rock Band you have four pads, in my kit I have 5 drums, a bass drum, 3 cymbals and hi hat each of which can be played in a variety of ways.


I printed out the note chart I found and listened to the song several times following along with the chart. I commented on the chart where different pads translated to different pieces on the kit. And I identified the basic rhythm of the song. The song has four beats per measure but those beats are split in half and even quarters in some places. The basic rhythm is 1 and 2 and a 3 and four and.

I've been practicing this song a little each night. Last night I was exhausted and didn't spend too much time on it but I am having a lot of difficulty being consistent with the bass pedal. Consistently getting the quick two beats has been tough. I think it would be easier if the spring was stronger, the beater doesnt' come back fast enough for me. But Steve Smith in his video says he has his set very light. I'm going to try my other pedal and then maybe tighten the spring and see if that helps. I learned a while ago in Rock Band that you had to develop you leg muscles and those quick beats have always been a problem for me.

I've also learned a lot working on this song. It's not an overly difficult song, and I didn't want to pick one that was too tough for my first song. But it does have a lot of different parts that make it a great learning experience for me. I certainly found that playing a long with a song with a drum track is a lot different than playing a long with one without. While I've learned the basic beats of the songs I'm terrible in the transitions. I still need work on the main groove. I need to incorporate the open hi-hat and cymbal crashes yet. There is still much to learn and practice. And while there is no deadline and I've found that some things just come with time, I'm anxious to get my first song under my belt. But there is still a lot of practice ahead of me to be smooth.

Learning Rock Band Songs

The songs in Rock Band are great and since I have access to the music with and without drums, I think that I'll concentrate on some of the songs in the game as the first song I'll try and learn. Rock Band organizes the songs in order of difficulty, and while those difficulties might not match the difficulty playing on a real kit, the song list should still be a good guide of songs to try and learn. I'm sure it will be no easy task.

FreeDrumLessons.com

I can't say enough good things about this Web site. It's awesome a group of people got together and built a Web site loaded with information and videos on everything from music theory to advanced drum techniques. The site has been a huge help in learning how to read drum music and playing the drums.

Without the site I certainly would have needed to take drum lessons. But combined with a couple DVDs I feel that I have a good basis of learning and most of what I need. Sure, there is no substitute for human interaction and direct critiques. I just didn't feel I could afford paying someone around $30 each week for a short lesson where they would give me the same things to work on. I feel a practice enough, and I have goals. But I wasn't sure the once-a-week lesson schedule was for me. Being able to watch videos of the lessons over-and-over again seems better in some aspects that trying to remember what the teacher said.

With that said, I did find a card in a posting for a local person who gives music lessons. I hope to contact him soon and see if he will agree to at least review my playing once a month or on some schedule. I don't want to learn bad habits so hopefully that might be a win-win for us both.

Score!!!!

Playing Rock Band is a lot of fun. I've been into music, playing various instruments, all my life, but with Rock Band it's never been this easy to sound this good. While the game can be challenging, it's not playing a real instrument or learning the actual music. I told myself if I was able to finish the game on hard and continue to have fun, that I would consider getting real drums and learn to play.


As I worked through the game I begin looking for a used set of electronic drums. Since my wife gets migraines, I didn't think a real drum set would be an option. So I checked out a few stores and did some research. Of course my wife saw the signs. Why would I want a real drum set? I'm not sure I have an adequate answer even now for that question. As I worked through the game learning new songs and playing a little each night I found I really enjoyed playing the game.


I found a used set of drums that were local and I went to see them. They were nice but several years old and a little dated when it came to the types of drums, pedals and cymbals used. I realized that I didn't need the best or newest equipment. But I had tried several models at various music stores and even with my very limited knowledge I could tell the difference between the different equipment.


While I was considering whether this older set was the one for me I came across a new ad. It was one of those ads that seemed to good to be true. The ad was for a top-of-the-line Roland kit at a very reasonable price. I e-mailed the seller for more information. I mostly discounted the ad because there have been several scams going around on Roland drums. People trying to sell drums they don't actually have or bait and switch.


I was surprised when I got an e-mail response with a phone number. I called the seller and we talked for some time. I had him verify the equipment models numbers to make sure we were talking about the same equipment, and it seemed legit. It turned out that a new member to their band had a change of heart and wasn't interested in playing and wanted to sell his new drums. The drums were reported to be in excellent shape and used just a few times.


The drums sounded incredible. It was the set I wanted but knew I couldn't afford. I asked him what his bottom line was and he came down a couple hundred dollars. It seemed too good of a deal to pass up. I told him I'd get back to him in an hour and let him know.


"Hey hunny, remember those drums..." My poor wife. We talked a little about it and it was a done deal. I called the seller up and made sure he would be home. My wife and I hit the road and drove two hours to a rural place in Illinois to see the drums.


Unbelievable. They were just as he described--an incredible beautiful like new Roland TD-20 black kit. And not just that, dual DW9000 bass drum pedals and behemoth DW Hi-Hat and snare stands. You have to feel these pedals and the stands to appreciate them. The pedals are smooth as butter and the stands are incredibly strong and massive looing. It was a dream set. One that I certainly wasn't qualified to have or deserved.


I plugged it in, verified the pads and cymbals worked, handed the guy the envelope, and began packing it up. I couldn't believe my luck. I felt genuinely humbled. It sounds funny, but with not even knowing how to play I appreciated the quality and craftsmanship that went into that kit. I hoped that someday I would be able to due it justice, to be able to play it with some authority.


It was a good day and I beamed the whole way home. My poor wife.