A Drummer's Tale Part 2

 

The drummers of today probably hear this all the time from drummers my age: “YouTube wasn’t around when I was learning how to play drums.” Of course this is true for any instrument. I wasn’t fortunate to have private lessons so I relied on learning from drummers I heard on the radio and my albums. It was a lot of trial and error and a lot of playing along to my favorite songs until it sounded close enough. This method was all I did during my high school years and the years to follow.

There are good and bad things about this method. The bad is that you miss out on learning technique and someone showing you common drum licks.  The good thing, at least for me, is that you learn to listen to the music, play with dynamics and in the struggle to learn certain licks you may stumble onto other licks. I probably could have also benefitted from playing with others in bands. I was 19 years old when I played with the first groups of guys. It didn’t last long but it was fun and an experience.

When I was 20, I joined the army and I didn’t think I would play the drums again so I sold my CB 700 drum set.  Well, being without drums didn’t last long…I met some guys while I was stationed in Egypt and we jammed and played music for our friends. When I came back to the states, I knew I wanted to continue playing drums. I saw a “drums for sale” ad in the paper and that’s when I got my black Tama Imperial Star kit. On a side note, when I was in Egypt, that’s when I learned the basics of playing guitar.

Mark Palomelio trying to play my
Tama Imperial Star, Germany 1996

I was living in Savannah, GA, had a drum set and was practicing again.  I found a place downtown that had open mic nights and I started jamming with the house band and other local musicians.  The music played was primarily blues. I really enjoyed the jam sessions. It was a valuable lesson in learning to play with others, how to play in the pocket, and how to control myself from overplaying.

Singapore 2020

Beautiful view from hotel room balcony

Hello all,
So this month we took our chances among the Covid-19 concerns and followed through with out travel arrangements to Singapore.

We had a great time during our six day stay.

We stayed at the hotel Swissotel in downtown Singapore. It was a really nice hotel with its own market place for food.

      
A main attraction is the Skywalk at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Here you can get a great view of the city.  One good thing about coming at a time when many places were restricting travel is there weren't crowds of people.  We didn't feel rushed and we were able to get some good pictures.

   

The Merlion, a half-fish and half-lion statue, has become an icon of Singapore. There are six Merlion statues throughout Singapore but the one in Marina Bay is the only one that spouts out water. 

The Merlion

The food was also amazing. We tried a couple of the hawker food centers.  They are really convenient and offer something for everyone.  Alex and I only had one bad meal the entire trip and that was because we were super hungry and we just stopped at the first place we found.

   

  

Singapore was a cool place to visit. We visited the botanical gardens, Gardens by the Bay and the Super Tree Grove, The Jewel shopping center, the wave bridge, and some temples.

      I think I really enjoyed Singapore because there were no crowds. It may have been a different experience with many tourists there but I would definitely go back to this destination.