Taking a Musical Break

A majority of my friends know me in the context of music (I play bass guitar and drums), and they know I live and breathe music in all its variety. So it may sound strange that I am taking a break from that. The sad truth is that I am feeling the burnout and lack of skill growth on my instruments, and feel I should step back to rest and catch up.

The break is only about my public musical engagements. For any given week when I play at any church, for instance, I expect to spend about 18 hours in preparation and delivery. That week, I may download the songs and active-listen, practice on instrument against the original recordings, attend practice or rehearsals, practice again with set modifications, do scriptural review (music spiritual basis + sermon/series notes), personal "heart prep" (so I am in the right place spiritually to lead worship), and then play during the actual services. Sometimes there is travel involved. The preparation is a little different when I'm guesting in another band, as I have to learn their set and style. I've been fortunate to participate in everything from bar gigs to charity events and studio appearances. I enjoy the musical opportunities until the burnout arrives (now an annual thing, it seems), when you feel the passion slowly dying. You need rest from it before you lose it.

So until late January or early February 2014, I'll be on a sort of break. What shall I do with the freed up time? Well, my day job has already ramped up so I need the weekends for rest and recreation. During this break, I also want to work on improving my bass guitar and drums technique, so when I emerge I will be a better musician. I am also angling to work on completing my current 3 web development projects (LeafCompass, SKIVI, and Geldzin). Technically, I'll have improved skills in PHP/Symfony2, WordPress Theming, and HTML5/JQuery. True geek.

I'll perhaps cut off my dreadlocks (kidding!) and spend more time with my wife (truth). We are in such a season of our marriage that requires more presence and availability on my part, so I want to at least redesign and rehearse a new personal workflow centered around family life. It should also afford me a path to revitalize my business STRIVE, especially what services I want to offer next year. Lots of exciting things on the horizon!

Becoming a Drummer

Quite simply, the interest in drumming started with the movie "Drumline" back in late 2008, and several visits to "in-the-lot" events like the one in this video. That percussive sound permeates my very being, a surge of happiness.

Although the decision to learn the drum kit is older than 4 years, the last couple of years have been the crucible. I graduated from borrowed practice pads (for rudiments) to my very own electronic drum kit (an Alesis DM-10). I bought a couple of beginner books (with CDs in back, of course) and learned to play some of my favorite reggae tunes first. I'm pretty much self-taught musically, so I have not had lessons to-date. I think natural rhythm, a good ear, and having learned to "feel" songs from playing bass guitar have a lot to do with how quickly I have become proficient. I think I began appreciating music more from a drummer perspective than I had ever attained playing bass for 9 years. I could "hear" the whole song, how drums and bass "contained" everything and laid a foundation for the song. I was captivated by gospel drumming (and bass), how technical it is and how much "freedom" it leaves musicians to be creative. Although my influences are world music (such as calypso, reggae, and Latin or Afro-Cuban rhythms), I'll consider myself well-rounded when I can play gospel and contemporary jazz.

I've practiced drumming seriously for a year now, with an eye towards playing in any band. I've already had a chance to actually play in a contemporary worship church service since last year, in spite of how amateur I still am. On and off, I practice for an hour on days I can, introducing a new song to work on every 3 days. I usually can figure out any regular-signature (3/4, 4/4, 6/8, etc) song in a couple of practices (play the exact beat) before spinning a personal touch on it. And ... I don't lose sticks anymore or lose the click-track. I play conservatively, "measured"; definitely not a "loud" player by any means.

At this point, I consider myself a drummer (and bass player), available to play wherever it is needed. As goals go, the next couple of months will be to polish up my chops and develop consistency, play a wider variety of pieces, and finally foray into gospel drumming. There's still a lot to learn and do, drummer things like the composition of your kit, "luggage" and tools, following some good drummers and their work, reading drum music, and speaking drummer. With time, certainly.