Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Thanks for the feedback.

For what it's worth, this morning I got a pretty convincing answer to my 
question from my brother-in-law.  He is a violinist, classically 
trained, makes his living as a musician, etc.  He told me I must put 
pressure on myself by scheduling a performance for other people. Whether 
I perform for friends, family, do some busking or whatever - he says 
that I must commit myself to "a concert" as he puts it, prepare for it, 
and then do it despite the nauseating stress of it.  Hmmm.  Well, I 
think I get his point. Actually, it's not the first time he has given me 
this advice, but I didn't really believe it before.

The last time I really learned a bunch of tunes well was when I was in 
the "band" at work.  It was just a bunch of people who wanted to do some 
3 chord rock for the office Christmas party.  I did not necessarily love 
the material, nor did the players have great chemistry with each other. 
 But I did learn the tunes, played them start to end, and felt a sense 
of accomplishment.  So I guess I'll bite the bullet and post an add in 
the local entertainment tabloid.

Vernon Graner wrote:

> 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
> Senior Systems Engineer     | obviously incompetent so why are we
> Texas Information Services  | paying you? Of course, if the network
> vern@... www.txis.com  | is up, then we obviously don't need
> Cell 507-7851 Desk 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" VLG
>
>
>
> 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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