Little Drummer Boy

There's a problem with the band.

Our drummer has decided to leave and go to KL in order to find a new job. That's very brave and we wish him the best of luck.

The bad news is that that leaves us drummerless. It looks like I'll have to take over drumming activities for a while. There's a slight problem with that arrangement. The last time I played drums was 1991. I haven't played drums regular in a band for 13 years... I can barely remember how.

I've decided to buy drumsticks on Thursday and start practising strokes again, a fact made harder when taking into account the fact that I don't own a drum set (note the use of two 'facts' in a single run-on sentence. Grammar aerobatics !!). Looks like I'll have to practise hitting things other than drums to get my coordination back. Hope that will be enough practise for Sunday's jam, if our drummer decides to leave before then.

Decent drummers are hard to find, not surprisingly since, unlike guitar or piano or the recorder, you can't just go out, get a drum kit and stuff it in your bedroom. First we have to consider the size. A drum kit can get very very large. And then we have to consider the noise. Drums don't have volume controls, unless you buy one of those hi-tech and extremely expensive electronic ones.

Me and our bassist (a colleague here at work) talked about the possible permutations for the band. If I could pull of the drumming gig well enough, then I'll stick to it ('stick' geddit, as in drum sticks geddit, geddit). That means we have to find another guitarist to replace me. That's easy. We got tons of friends who play guitar.

Or we could try and find another drummer to replace our outgoing one. That's not so easy. Between the two of us, we could barely come up with half a dozen names.

By the looks of things, looks like I have to go back to the beginning. I joined my first band when I was 16. I played drums. And now it comes back full circle.

I hope I don't suck (too much).

The other alternative (dissolving the band) is totally unthinkable. I mean, how are we going to rock out and indulge in our rock-n-roll fantasies without a band !!