Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

This seems to be pretty common here. There seem to be alot of us who had
lots of fun being involved in music earlier in our lives and are trying
to "get back that lovin' feeling" as it were.. :)

I suggest you do a bit of searching and try to find others of a similar
nature. Drop an ad into a local paper that is looking for other
"semi-retired" musicians who might be willing to get together once a week
or so to just play and have fun making mistakes where no one cares if you
do.

This is exactly what I did when I decided to try and get back into music.
For most of us, music is collaborative... The old "the sum is greater
than the parts" type thing. It's hard to sit in front of a sequencer and
be inspired. Also, so many of the things that used to inspire us were
closely tied to the events of our youth. The thrill of a new love, pain
of a loss, anticipation of something good. Many of those are either gone
or seem to have lost the sharp edges. As we get older and more cynical,
events seem to have a soft-focus feel. You just don't get as excited
about stuff anymore... :)

I've found that meeting with others in similar situations has really been
helpful. A sort of group musical therapy. You talk while you setup, you
reminisce about old gigs or songs you used to play and then you work at
trying to pickup songs the others know, it gives you something to look
forward to during the week. All around it's a good feeling just to be
making music again.

With the group of folks I jam with, the goal is to find enough common
musical interest to create a 15 to 20 song set list and then try and play
some little hole in the wall venue once every other month or so. I feel
like I should be able to handle the heavy schedule of 6 gigs a year! :D

Well, thats my $0.02 worth, hopefully I didn't bore everyone with my stab
at pop-psychology. :)

Vern

--
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE     | "If the network is down, then you're
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dj@... said:
> Hey everyone.  I am in some kind of weird slump this past year.  I am
> recovering from injuries caused by getting hit by a car, but my rut
> predates the injuries.
>
> I started playing drums when I was about 12, but gave it up for some
> silly reasons.  I kept up my guitar playing over the years.  Last year I
> decided to try some recording with my computer.  I have a fairly decent
> home studio based on Cubase SX, an M-Audio Delta 66  sound card, a small
> Behringer mixer, some studio monitors, etc.  I bought a DTXpress II kit
> a few months ago because I got sick of keying drum parts into Cubase
> with my keyboard (midi controller).
>
> For most of the past year I seem to get almost nothing truly musical
> accomplished.  I tinker around with my guitar, fool with my bass and
> keyboard, whack away on the drums a bit, record some little bits and
> pieces, and never really get beyond that. Perhaps I have purchased too
> much gear that is fun to play with, and have lost my focus as a result.
>
> I think one problem may be that I don't play live with other musicians.
>  I have worked myself into a kind of mental block over this, due to lack
> of confidence.  I always end up feeling that my chops are just not good
> enough, so I stay home and practice - sort of - or maybe I just tinker
> some more, and end up back where I started.
>
> So, although I guess nobody will have the magic answer, my question is:
>  Have any of you got into a similar rut, and broken out of it?  Any
> suggestions? Do I need a brain transplant?
>
> - Davey J. -
>
>
>
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