In 2 weeks, Sticks will start travelling to university auditions – first, Texas, then Indiana, then back here for the one that’s local. In addition to drums, he has to do a marimba/mallet piece, which is not his strength. So he’s practicing the instrument that frustrates him most, and he keeps this autograph to inspire him. It’s Steve Gadd’s — one of his drummer inspirations. He captured the autograph last weekend at NAMM.
As much as I love music, I’m definitely ready to be done with the mallet practice…it is, in some ways, louder than the drums. The xylophone, though, is a wonderful find that I bought through EBay a couple of years back — a JC Deagan “Drummer’s Special”, made in 1928. Because drummers had to carry their gear themselves and often were expected to fill not just drums but xylophone as a melody line…this special model was made to sit at the same height as a seated drummer. Even when Sticks goes to college, I plan to keep this because it’s a beautiful old instrument. The resonators (tubes under the wooden bars) are nickel silver; the bars are rosewood.
Technorati Tags: steve gadd, inspiration, auditions
