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11.18.10
By Nick Nunziata (Author Page, Facebook Page, Twitter Page)
What I’m Thankful For:
Electronic Drums.
am not a drummer for the most part. I’ve owned drums for a decade and a half and I’ll goof around on them from time to time but it’s the not the instrument of choice for me. Until recently, as I’ve gotten a little confidence in sitting back there and trying to be decent enough so as to allow the other two or three guys in the band to do fun stuff on instruments they don’t play as often. It’s freeing. I think all things being equal I’d rather be back there hauling ass.
Mostly in the past I owned them because we needed them to play. I’ve owned a couple of acoustic kits and there’s nothing like “real” drums but since we’re a recording band and there’s always someone sleeping, the real gold has been the electronic kits I’ve owned. V-Drums, DTX Express, and now a midlevel Roland set that’s not as pretty as the V-Drums but sound better.
Electronic drums are amazing. Seriously, they’ve empowered us in a way that far exceeds any other musical invention. Aside from the fact you can use them all hours without fear of noise (and if you’ve ever lived near a drummer you know) with headsets on, there’s the ability to modify them to your heart’s content thanks to the cutting-edge “brains” that make them so versatile. But the real gift is that if you don’t have a recording space set up and some amazing microphones, recording drums is a nightmare. Whether it’s all of the extra shit the mics pick up (in our first band we had the squeaky kick pedal, the buzz of the snare drum beads, and the awful feedback from speakers to contend with) or the fact the drummer has to be segregated from everyone else, it kills the mood and makes the process so much more difficult.
Electronic kits, you plug them in as you would a guitar and you play to your heart’s content. I cannot imagine how much stress and despair has been averted by the presence of stuff like this that allows us to hook up all the time and make music for ourselves. At the worst it’s great therapy. At the best, it’s the best music ever recorded on the face of the world.
A lot of it is thanks to to these little devices that love to be pounded.
If I win the lottery, this is my first purchase after paying off my debt and buying my wife a Suzuki Tribeca.
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