Charon

I might turn both sides down to just leave the middle ring and then see if it is in better round. My wife wants me to finish turn the outside and put a bottom on it and use it as a junk drawer. That's easy enough. In any event I'm happy to quit fighting with it and just get a commercial shell and get my bass drum built.

Charon

Got the commercial shell, drilled it for hardware, rounded the bearing surface, stained it, applied a clearcoat finish, and assembled it. I have it somewhat dialed in. I want to dampen the sustain some and maybe retune a wee bit. It's good to finally have a full, if minimal set. Getting close to having Free Fallin (Tom Petty) down and am working on Midnight Night Train To Georgia (Gladys Knight & the Pips). Also, I'm doing way more practicing on the practice pad than I ever did when I was taking lessons in high school. LOL

Zencat

How is it going Charon?

Any good scooter rides?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Will G

Charon

Tough going lately. Dark days of gloom & depression. Saw my therapist, which is always good. Still hanging on, sometimes by a thread. Deep feelings of wanting to just go to sleep and not wake. It's funny I have more mooring lines to keep me at the sobriety dock than I do to secure me to living.

Made a bad decision about the drums. I got a recorder so I could listen to myself playing along with songs on the computer. Oh dear. Unbelievably bad. And I mean really, really, embarassingly bad. So two things. First, I can "play" for my own enjoyment when there is no one around and don't record it. And second, go back to the very beginning and practice right hand eighth notes, left hand eighth notes, and alternating single strokes, until I can carry them evenly forever. I can record that so I can know for sure when I'm getting it right. Basics. Then very basic rhythms followed by very basic fills. At 77, that should take about the rest of my life. LOL

No scooter rides. Winter here - though a not cold enough, wet, gloomy one. Still some snow on the ground, but mostly bare patches and it's raining again - all last night and all day today. Don't remember the last sunny day - was there one? I should say ef it and go to Bonaire. But that would be a bad environment for me right now unless I had a chaperone.

One nice thing is the bluebirds are still hanging around. I've got 5 nest boxes and 4 mealworm feeders for them and I keep fresh water, sunflower seed and suet out all winter. It's nice to see the birds.

I'll try to post more frequently.

Zencat

Sorry your feeling down in the dumps. I have been there. Ok, I got a chuckle *do not record* sorry but I know the feeling when I hear my voice recorded. Do engage in projects, tasks, and life in general even if you have to drag your depression with you. Very hard to do but necessary.

What do you think about sitting In front of a sun lamp? Said to help with some types of depression.

Glad you posted buddy.

Dee74

I've never tried the drums but it took a *lot* of hours for me to get good at guitar.
I'm not one of those instinctual musicians - it takes me a lot of work.

Playing with metronomes can help too.

As long as you're enjoying it? that to me is still my main focus.

I know its a cold winter there - I'm sorry you're down but I'm glad you have a therapist to touch base with Charon.

Charon

Dee & Zencat, thanks for the empathy. Being raised Catholic included the brainwashing that you can never give up. No matter how hard, you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. In about 5th grade I lost faith and respect for the church followed soon after by disbelief in "god". I firmly believe that I (and everyone) have the absolute right to say "enough!". But the brainwashing was/is pretty deeply embeded. And there is the problem of what if I'm wrong and there is something after? So iI keep plodding on. At least for now.

I was actually grateful that we finally got a day of snow herre. I was able to play with both the snow blower and the garden tractor that has a plow blade. Did my and my neighbors drives & walkways. Gave me something to do and got me outside.

Today my wife will be away a good part of the day, so I will have a chance to play. She is learning mountain dulcimer and has an electronic Snark tuning thingie. So today I want to try it and, if it works, make sure all the drum heads are tuned equally on each head. Don't think I'll try to tune each to a specific note. But the device should let me get the tension pretty equal at each tensioning rod. I have a way to play specific rhythms on the computer to match practicing. But for the right & left single stroke and alternating single stroke practice I'll get my wife to dig out the old mechanical metronome. Thanks for the idea.

I am very lucky to have found the therapist I have. I went through so many really useless ones. I also have a great SMART group that meets on a Monday evening via Zoom. I have also been using a sun lamp for several years. I might need to speak with my primary doctor and get a stronger or different antidepression med.