Daily stuff

I haven’t posted in a while, I know… I was looking for some inspiration. Since I can’t find any I’ll just update the loyal readers with the latest events of my life.

I bought a new CD, an impulsive buy but a good CD. It’s my first classical CD, ever. My dad would laugh his butt off hearing about this CD, remembering hopw much I would complain about him playing classical music… the CD I bought is “Tchaikovsky – 1812″, performed by the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. The reason I wanted this specific performance is the cannons. Yes, the cannons. The 1812 ouverture involves several cannon shots, and some orchestra’s are on a low budget and use firecrackers or even sloppily tuned bass drums. Not the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal though, they use actual cannons. Combine this with a good subwoofer and you’ll shake the whole house.

A few posts back I mentioned watching the Fast and the Furious. Well, me and my friend decided to watch the other Fast & Furious movies as well. Why do people watch these movies (Yes, I realize I watched them too)? Especially the last one is insulting to anyone’s intelligence. The movie is called “The Fast and the Furious – Tokyo Drift”, so you would expect drift races. Drift races are held thusly: one car at a time tries to impress the audience and maybe a jury, by sliding through corners in the most extreme angle possible. The point is to give away the best show. Speed isn’t really an issue, though it does help since keeping control of a drift at high speed is even more challenging. Well in Tokyo Drift the races are held by drifting two cars at the same time, and the goal of the race is to finish the track first. Firt of all, you have to be a total moron to drift two cars at the same time on a narrow track with spectators on both sides without any protection. You gotta be a moron to do street races in the first place, but this really takes the cake. Second, if the point is to finish first rather than give a good show, why not lay off the fancy cornering and just going as fast as possible? Going sideways with a car looks really fast, but trust me when I say it really costs tremendous amounts of speed.

The worst part is a dialogue between two characters – character A let character B drive his car in a race and character B wrecked it. Character B is wondering why Character A let him drive his car in the first place since it’s a very expensive car. Character A replies: “I got money. What I need around me is trust and character. And one car in exchange for finding out what a man’s made of is a price I can live with.”
Sure, finding out what a man is made of may have a price. But how does letting a man race your car and wreck it enable you to find out what he is made of? He obviously can’t drift. Wow. That was definitely worth the $150.000 (rough estimate) car. Not.
Or how about this one:

Guy: The day I got my license is the day I got my first speeding ticket. Day after that I won my first race, I beat this rich kid by three lengths. I got to admit it felt good. It felt like
Hot chick: Like everything else just disappears
Guy: No past and no future
Hot chick: No problems, just the moment

Holy sh… I know how winning feels, and I know that if it feels like this, you’ve got issues. Seriously. That’s messed up.

Setting up a drum kit

Drum kits are unique instruments. No other instrument can be customized like a drum kit. Basically a drum kit is a collection of percussive instruments, nothing more and nothing less. The selection of percussion instruments that you want incorporated with your kit is all up to the drummer.

A very basic drum kit will consist of a bass drum, a snare drum, three toms, a hi-hat, a crash cymbal and a ride cymbal. Some people choose to use more, some less. Some want a room full of drums, while others want all the cymbals they can get. Each component has its own unique sound characteristics. Apart from drums and cymbals, one can also add other percussive instruments such as bells, bar chimes, cabasas, mounted tambourines and cowbells.

Very common add-ons to a drum kit are tambourines, cow bells, splash cymbals and Chinese cymbals. The set-up will also vary with musical style: often metal involves a huge drum kit with multiple bass drums, while jazz generally involves small kits with small bass drums, few drums and cymbals.

If I set up my full kit with all that I have, my set-up consists of a bass drum (22×18”), a snare drum (14×5,5”), 4 toms (10×8”, 12×9”, 14×11”, 16×16”), two octobans that I built myself (8×18” and 8×22”), a hi-hat, two crash cymbals, two splash cymbals, a ride cymbal and a Chinese cymbal. So that’s 8 drums and 7 cymbals. However, I have multiple ways of setting it up. I can use it all, but I can also choose to leave some things out. Here are a few pictures of set-up that I have used over the last year:

As you can see, the kit has gone through a few different styles. Sometimes all toms are involved, sometimes just the smaller three, sometimes the 12” and the 16”, and at the moment the 10”, 12” and 16”.

Tuning a drum correctly can also make a world of difference. The octobans can be tuned to a low thud, as well as to a high, resonant tone. The snare drum is also very versatile in its tuning, ranging from a thunderous metal sound to a poppy funk sound. An interesting experiment that I do now is have one of the toms set up and tuned as a “concert tom”, i.e. no resonant head. This puts its sound characteristics in between that of the octobans and the regular toms, giving me an interesting sound palette to choose from.

Rock on!

Birthday – photo’s – losing my home?

Well, time for an update.

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday. I had a good day, taking it easy and having some visitors over. I also got cool gifts, the most noteable being a digital camera. That is something I have wanted for a while, I am very fond of photography somehow but never had a good camera. This one does not fulfill all of my dreams but it’ll get me started. Some results are shown below (click to magnify):

Disclaimer: these photo’s are grainy when zoomed in but they have not been edited at all. These came directly from the camera (the camera has some nice colour filter options).

I also passed an exam. About time, it was my third attempt (I really didn’t like the subject). I’m glad to see my studies are going better. I hope I can keep it up.

There’s also some bad news. One of my ex housemates has died. He apparently got killed in a traffic accident on a freeway involving 5 cars. I only lived with him for a month but he was a very, very nice and sincere guy. To make it worse, the house me and my housemates live in is officially still his (rented under his name). What we’re doing is semi-legal actually, the plan was that I live here for two years with the house still on his name so that my name could be placed on the contract without us having to pay a lot of money. That won’t be possible now and we’re really at the mercy of a corporation. However, I think it should be ok. The worst-case scenario is that we’re getting kicked out, but this is very unlikely. The best case is that the current contract continues under my name.

That’s it for now.

Movie reviews – Rambo 4 and the Fast and the Furious

I watched the movie Rambo 4 yesterday. The plot is that rambo needs to save a group of missionaries in Burma from a sadistic group of Burmese soldiers. The movie pretty much starts out with Rambo and a whole bunch of sadistic Burmese soldiers that go around exterminating villages as they please, and ends with just Rambo.

Then we continued to watchThe Fast and the Furious. Nuff said.

Yesterday evening was pretty much a waste of time. However, we had a good laugh at Rambo 4, and an even better laugh at the rediculous depiction of street racer culture in The Fast and the Furious. Rambo 4 was just awesome, with blood and guts flowing all over the place. I usually don’t advocate these movies but every once in a while a man needs to watch a movie like this in order to feel like a man, apparently. The budget for the film was apparently pretty high and the result is quite realistic. Good shots of people being shot in half (literally) by a .50 caliber machine gun. Rambo doesn’t always get close and personal in this movie, he will also just shoot trucks full of Burmese soldiers like fish in a barrel with afforementioned machine gun.

The Fast and the Furious… well what can I say? The movie starring Paul Walker as Brian o’Connor, a latently homosexual undercover cop with the unprofessional tendency to fall in love with the sister of the one he’s supposed to be following, thus confusing his work and private life. Some of the car scenes in this movie are simply rediculous. The 10 second races seem to last quite a bit longer than that, don’t they? And a famous quote from Jesse (one of the characters): “There’s something about engines that just calms me down”. Sure. Especially tuned-up engines with big, unmuffled exhausts that produce 100+ decibels, revving up to 7000+ rpm are really soothing. And another one from Dominic Toretto (played by the aptly named Vin Diesel), claims that during a 10 second race, he is completely free. Yeah, that must be what freedom is like: going one direction only for a mere 10 seconds, knowing that the slightest error can and will cost you your life if you crash into anything. How often would this guy race? Twice a week, maybe. Let’s be generous and say he races twice a day. That means 20 seconds of freedom per day. Now I might be slightly depressed every now and then, but with 20 seconds of “absolute freedom” per day I’d probably use that time to kill myself.

Other really dumb quotes:
“You owe me a 10-second car”
“He moans like a cop”
“Brian Spilner. Typical white boy name.”
“It’s not how you stand by your car, it’s how you race your car.”
“You can have any brew you want… as long as it’s a Corona.”
“Now, me and the mad scientist got to rip apart the block… and replace the piston rings you fried.” (Later on, you will see the car with burned piston rings outrun a few cops. Fried piston rings means little to no compression in your cylinders –> no power to your wheels. That is, if the engine will even run.)

Don’t bother watching the Fast and the Furious, rather spend (waste?) your time watching Rambo 4.

Pay attention!

Autism unraveled

Most people that know me will know me as a friendly person, yet socially awkward sometimes. I can be very introverted from time to time, and embarassingly wild and extrovert at other times. This is because I have a mild form of autism. Asperger’s syndrome, to be precise.

Lately I haven’t been doing too good. My studies at university refuse to pay off; I often fail my classes and this makes me feel useless, dumb and insecure from time to time. I even tend to doubt the power of prayer and the presence and involvement of God, and feel on my own. During these times, when I am slightly depressed, my social life will also suffer. I will be boxed up in my room, and even when I’m not there I will be very silent and not paying much attention in a conversation. Yes: you read that correctly: I may look you straight in the eye and nod at nearly everything you say, but not truly paying attention. Why? Because I’m too damn busy trying to figure out what I am supposed to say to keep the conversation going. How’s that for a productive way of communicating… The problem is that my view of social interaction is pointed inward. From my point of view, I need to keep the conversation going and interesting. I need to come up with a brilliant subject to debate.Thinking about that, I come to the conclusion that this is a very strange view on human-to-human interaction, since there’s usually at least two people involved, not just one.

The cure, however, is surprisingly simple: pay attention, you dipshit! Pay attention when you’re walking, feel the ground move under you, feel the floor vibrate and the earth moan (I am heavy). Feel the wind in your face. Taste the food you’re chewing. Notice how the water rushes down your back when you take a shower. Notice how your matress wil adapt to your posture when you lie in bed. Feel your fingers touch the keys as you tye a blog message. In other words, be aware of what you are doing. Be aware of your environment. If you can find the concentration and attention to notice these small things (as a person with autism you’ll work on it), you will be able to pay much more attention and be focused for longer on, for example, your studies. This will also have a positive effect on your social life. Last night I found myself at a party, knowing only one person. All the others were complete strangers. Pay attention to their conversations, see if you can hook up with that conversation. Or start your own during a silent moment. And don’t worry about what YOU will say next, worry about what the others will have to say.

I probably sound messed up (you have no idea…), stating things that sound very obvious to you. But for someone with autism, even a mild form, this sometimes takes a little effort to realise. The reason for this is that autistic people tend to be self centered. How does someone with autism change a light bulb? Grab the bulb and wait for the world to revolve around them. Seriously. This, however, is not selfishness. People with bad forms of autism simply don’t realise the existence of other people that have the same needs and feelings they do I suppose, but mildly autistic people just lack the ability to express themselves. They sometimes seem dumb and apathic, but you will often find them excelling at musical instruments, maths, languages and lots of other things; people with autism are usually very intellectually gifted. Unfurtunately for them though, their social solar system lacks a few planets. The ones with mild forms of autism (those capable of having at least some form of a social life) really do care about other people. I know I do. It’s just hard to express that. But something as simple as keeping your focus on the outside world and not on your own little universe can make worlds of difference. This is something that will take some getting used to for someone with autism when they just start, but will come naturally in the end.

So next time you talk to me and you see a glassy look in my eyes, don’t be afraid to remind me:
Pay attention, dipshit!

The Cajon

The cajon is an Afro-Peruvan musical instrument originating from the early 1800’s. They were invented by slaves, who were not allowed to have musical instruments at work. The instrument does not look like a musical instrument at all; the construction is even more straightforward than a regular drum. It is a wooden box, with thick wood on five sides and a thinner sheet of plywood as the striking surface (thinner pieces of wood will resonate more easily). Despite its simplicity, the cajon is very versatile. Most cajons have a snare mechanism inside, some have a nylon string, others a steel bass string and there’s plenty of alternatives. The cajon resembles a djembe when it comes to playing: strike it dead-center and you will hear a bass tone. Strike near the edges and you will hear a higher tone. Of course, the sound is from another world and a cajon feels very different from a djembe.

From a drummer’s perspective, I think the cajon is a wonderful instrument for its portability, simplicity and relatively low volume, making it an ideal instrument for acoustic gigs. The versatility of the cajon enables it to be played as if it were a drum kit, the sound you get depends on where you strike. Strike dead center and you will have a bass drum sound. Strike near the edge and you will have a sharp snare drum sound. Strike anywhere in between… well you do the math. To get started with the cajon, I grabbed an old book I used to learn to play drums; there’s a Latin rhythm section in that book. Using the “bass” and “snare” sounds the cajon has to offer, it’s pretty easy to get a basic rhythm going. I tend to play the bass with my right hand and the snare with my left, but of course this varies as I vary the rhythm. Some will play hand-to-hand, which is good too. Something to keep in mind is to play flams where a bass and a snare note coincide; striking the cajon with both hands simultaneously is likely to kill the sound. If you’re too lazy to bend forward and play it with your hands, you can use mallets. Don’t use hard sticks; you will damage the front plate.

I am in the process of acquiring my own cajon, I intend to use it in a jazzband. Add some other hand percussion, like a shaker and / or a beat ring, and you have all you need. The beat ring can even be placed on the floor and played by tapping it with your foot. And you can use one hand for the shaker and the other for the cajon. This will take some practice but it’s gonna sound awesome and be a real eye-catcher.

About drums

Drums are an often misunderstood musical instrument. Everybody knows the phenomenon, the loud cylinders with plastic sheets on them, and the metal discs. And of course a neanderthal whacking it with sticks. Too bad that’s how many people see a drum kit: nothing more than just a bunch of cylinders with plastic sheets, and metal discs. This view is correct, yet so untrue that it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I confess: a drum is a pretty straightforward instrument, yet the manufacturing of a quality drum kit takes a lot of precision work. For starters, a drum needs to be perfectly cylindrical. Sounds easy, right? Until you try to bend a piece of plywood to a prefectly round shape. This takes craftmanship, and good equipment. And it gets worse: the edges of the cylinder must not be flat, but either cut in a somewhat sharp edge or sanded round. The contact point with the drum head (or drum skin) must also be a perfect circle. Here is a close-up picture of the bearing edge of one of my drums:

As you can see, this requires some precision cutting. And don’t forget that wood has the unfortunate tendency to splinter when it’s being cut…
Some of you will think: “huh, what, wood? Drums are made of wood?” Well yeah. Not all drum kits, but most. Wood species and quality has an influence on the sound characteristics of the drum. A harder wood will usually sound more agressive, and heavier woods will give lower pitches. Some drums are made of poplar (usually the cheap-ish kits), others are made of maple and yet others are made of birch, or bubinga. A hybrid shell is also possible.

Next is the “plastic sheets”, or drum heads. Look at professional drummers whailing at their drums and ask yourself if any random plastic film could withstand this kind of violence. The answer is no. Most drum heads are made of Mylar, a very tough polymer. The main sound characteristics come from the heads the drummer chooses to use; some heads are thicker and produce a heavier sound, while others are thin and bright sounding. Some have multiple layers, or mechanical constructions to isolate certain “modes” of the drum head.

A last part of a drum kit that is often underestimated is the cymbals. These are not made of steel or iron, but bronze (usually), and they are not cast into their definitive form. Depending on the quality of the cymbal, it is a round bronze disc that is pressed under a hydraulic press and then lathed, or a fully hand-hammered and hand lathed piece of art. Look at the cymbal in the picture below, you will see the hammer markings.

Factors that influence the sound of a cymbal are the type of alloy, the size and thickness, and the method and pattern of hammering. The hammering creates a certain amount of physical tension in the material, causing the cymbal to vibrate at a certain pitch. An experienced cymbal maker can control the sound characteristics of a cymbal by his hammering “strategies”.

Well I hope this was informative. Think of this article the next time you sit down behind a friendly drummer’s drum kit, and realize that you are probably dealing with a precision instrument.

First post – introduction

This is my first post on WordPress, so first off let me introduce myself. My name is Philip, I am 21 years old (turning 22 in 3 weeks) and from the Netherlands. My day “job” is studying science and technology at the University of Twente. Other than that I play drums, which is my absolute passion.

I have two drum kits at the moment: a silent, neighbour-friendly Roland TD6 electronic drum kit, and a loud and beautiful Tama Superstar Custom.

I find myself always having lots of things to say about drumming, so I figured a blog would be a healthy outlet rather than talking about drums to people 24/7.

I started drumming at the tender age of 10, the first year just being about learning to play the snare drum and after that moving on to the full kit. It used to be more of a habit than a real hobby so I didn’t progress particularly fast, but fast enough and I always performed well on exams. I have had lessons for about 7 years all in all, and now primarily learn by self-teaching, and teaching others. I have two pupils, both of them very motivated and talented.

That’ll do for now. Oh yeah, here’s a small picture of me performing at an outdoor ministry: