What exact moment made you want to play Drums ?

[Groovissimo]

This could be interesting, finding out that exact moment or event that gave you the go-ahead to play drums !

Here is my story:

At the beginning of the 60s, when I was 16, I was into listening to a lot of instrumental records. The Champs, the Fireballs and a band called Johnny & the Hurricanes !
Well, one day, I found out that Johnny & Hurricanes were in town at the local area.

Shy as I was at the time, I bought one ticket and went down to see the concert on my own. This band, at the time, was the best instrumental group with hits like "Reveille Rock" and "Red River Rock". Well, when I saw the drummer, he was the first I ever saw "live" and he was a showman (stick Twirling, and a real groovemeister for the time).

That evening when I got back home, I built my kit with cardboard boxes and with a pair of sticks someone had given me, I put on the record of the Hurricanes and tried to imitate what I had just saw !!!

Two weeks later, I purchased my first drum kit, an Olympic Drumkit , second hand, with real drum skins !
I paid $80. for the whole kit.

A year later I was playing with a major rock band and toured North America !

What moment made you play drums ?

[harmonized]

I saw a commercial ('81 or so) on TV for Mattel Toys selling what they called "Synsonic drums" which was basically a unit with 4 electronic pads that you could hit with sticks. They had a drummer play a beat and roll on real drums..."and now the Synsonic drums......" where another drummer proceeded playing the same exact thing on the Synsonics. This TOTALLY facinated me.

I asked for the Synsonics for Christmas, but in the meantime, I set up 3 empty margerine bowls (with the tops on) for the two toms and snare, and a huge pile of pennies for the crash cymbal...just like the Synsonics!!! I was gonna be ready!

To make a long story short, I broke the Synsonics in two weeks, and begged with tears in my eyes for a real set from my parents (I know, spoiled brat!) They finally broke down and bought me a "Playa" brand 4pc. drumset with no bass drum heads and a busted hi hat pedal for $100.

After I saw that commercial, I have NEVER looked back....I love the drums more now than I did then and thank my parents everyday!

[benrand]

One of the things that reinforced my belief that I should play drums because up until that point, my parents got me into drums as a way to just keep me busy doing stuff, but I saw the Pitt marching band after one of the big games in the 70's and I got on the field and stood nest to some big burly guy blasting the bass drum and I was TRANSFIXED.

I had to be pulled away from standing next to this guy who was really laying into it. I can see him now, he had a sruffy beard, bascially the 70's look and the drum was so damn loud.

Then seeing rush in 82 was it, that did it.

[XNavyDrummer]

Cool thread!

I just started setting up my mom's pots and pans on the kitchen floor and started playing them with wooden spoons at age two. My folks finally enrolled me in formal lessons at around age 8. The fun and the work have never diminished....

...I'm going to go practice.

[Lee Collins]

I was 11 or 12, and one of my brothers came home with something he'd made at school in his woodwork class. He'd made a pair of drumsticks. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I sort of snatched them off him and immediately started hitting a canvas chair in my bedroom. That was the absolute first moment of anything to do with drums. I didn't even know what a drumkit was or what the hell I was doing, but it seemed natural to hit this chair. From there, I borrowed my mums kitchen stool and covered it in aluminium foil and hung coat hangers over the back of it. This was my snare and cymbals, but again, I didn't really know that that, I just kind of subconsciously knew I was emulating a sound I'd obviously heard on records. I ruined the stool, holes all through the foil and through the plastic covering [img]tongue.gif[/img] . From there, I got bought my first kit, an olympic premier with ride cymbal mounted on the bass drum, hehe.

I always think to myself, if my bro hadn't made those sticks, would I be a drummer today. Almost like it was meant to happen. Funny how just one thing at one moment in time can completely shape your entire life [img]smile.gif[/img]

[The Milkman]

The second I heard the Chick Corea Elektric Band II- Paint the World album, which was in seventh grade (1997ish). Gary Novak changed my life.

[The Milkman]

And also- at precisely the same time as I heard the chick album- I heard the University of North Texas One 'O Clock Lab Band, Lab '88! album, which also solidified my passion for this instrument. Is anyone else on this board obsessed with the UNT program too?? Its just so damn good!!

[Lee Collins]

Originally posted by The Milkman:
And also- at precisely the same time as I heard the chick album- I heard the University of North Texas One 'O Clock Lab Band, Lab '88! album, which also solidified my passion for this instrument. Is anyone else on this board obsessed with the UNT program too?? Its just so damn good!!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Didn't steve houghton play for them?

[GoMan]

I saw this band play at the battle of the bands in my high school when I was junior. He was doing all this mad hi-hat stuff and these fills that went all over the place... Id never seen any one play rock live infront of me before and it jsut looked like so much fun to play drums... so after that i played "drums" on my knees with my hands. The following new years i got to borrow half a drum kit.... so thats how I started... ive been playing two years now and now that bands opening for me.... haha

[matricks]

About 14 years old, or so... I was at a friend's house and they were the 'musical' ones... none of my other friends played anything. One of the brothers had a drumset, the other played guitar. I walked over and sat down behind the set one day, just to check it out. I had never been behind a set of drums before and i didn't even realize that it was left-handed (to this day i play lefty, even though i am a righty... all because of that one set!).
I sat down and picked up the sticks and tapped out a rhythm on the hi hat stand. It was the intro thingy to "Come out and play" by the Offspring. I had never played anything on any instrument in my entire life. Well, the friend of mine who was a couple years older than i, had a friend over. They were both watching a Yngwie Malmsteen instructional video (both were guitarists). As i tapped out the rhythm the friend of my friend turned around and said "huh, huh... offspring...", and then turned around and continued watching the video. That was the only time i had ever done ANYTHING musical that anyone had EVER recognized. When i was a kid, i would sing and NO ONE, for the life of them OR the life of me, could ever understand the tune, not even if i was singing the words... that is how BAD i was!
Well, i couldn't believe that i had done something and someone has been able to tell what it was. I had always loved the drums, i wanted my mom to buy me a set my whole life, even though i had never SEEN one in real life. After that, i had the bug and bugged my mom til she gave in. Well... that one friend of my friend turning around and naming that tune that i played, it changed my life forever. He is now a studio guitarist in Thailand and when he came to visit, me and him got together and played a tad bit. I told him that story and it freaked him out... he never thought one comment could change a person's history... it did!- Mine!