Random thoughts on writing about drums.
I’ve been asked why I don’t write articles as much anymore in the magazine about what I call pure vintage drum knowledge. Well, for several reasons - I don’t know everything about vintage drums, but I know the people who do and some of them are NSMD writers. I don’t have enough knowledge about early vintage drums. I’m not well versed in drums from the first half of last century. I kind of focused on drums of the sixties through the nineties because that’s what I played, and sold and repaired at my drum shops. I ran out of things to write about those instruments a long time ago. I never had a collection as big as most of the other writers for this rag.
I never collected just one brand or one type of drum like Bun E Carlos. You cannot stump Mr. Carlos about all things Ludwig, AND he seems to have one of everything Ludwig ever made, period. I wonder if he will ever write for NSMD again (hint, hint, Randy). Founder John Aldridge, whose forte is engraved drums, used to tell me that Bun would send two pictures and two sentences about a Ludwig drum in his collection, then John would have to flesh out the rest of the article himself. AND Bun did the same to me several times. LOL! But he is a man of few words and I like that. Maybe I should start a column titled “Ask Bun” (about anything Ludwig). I think I will.
Speaking of writing, there is a short book on how to write non-fiction and journalism by Yale teacher and published author William Zinsser called On Writing Well. I urge every one to read it. It is based on his college course. It is considered one of the best guides to self-editing. He urged writers to “strip every sentence to its cleanest components, eliminate clutter, and avoid redundant phrases, jargon, and overused expressions known as "journalese". This includes cutting adverbs, adjectives, and qualifiers like "a bit," "sort of," or "very," which dilute style and persuasiveness.” I learned how to write shorter sentences, not use commas unless absolutely necessary and how to use dashes to connect sentences and phrases. I’m a sort of guerilla writer – I don’t pay much attention to rules. I tend to shoot from the bushes by writing without correcting then run away to the first and second edits. Works for me.
When I became editor of NSMD sixteen years ago I searched for information on how to edit and this one piqued my interest. I take Zinsser’s advice to heart, doing a first edit by trying to cut half of the words out, then editing once or twice more. When I proof- read I read it out loud to my self to see if anything just sounds off kilter. My wife, Georgetta, proofs some of what I write. She is what I call “edu-macated” – finished college and has a degree in finance. She catches a lot of what I miss. There are a very few of my writers who have not taken my advice about reading this book. That makes my job harder to edit those over written pieces. You know who you are. So read it or I’ll fire you! Well, I can’t fire you because you all write for free. But as long as the facts are correct, I really don’t mind heavy editing or total re-writing.
I write about other things that you don’t see in NSMD. Those are all over the map. I’ve been called an intellectual because I read and write so much. I’m probably more just intellectual-ish because I’m self taught - an autodidact - self educated. I wish they had a degree for skipping and flunking classes in high school and college (except for band and drum courses)! I finished two or so years of college. I changed my major one semester to English and learned a lot from one particular course on journalism. I’ve written unfinished novels and short stories, essays about all kinds of things. I write political essays which I would never publish online, because I don’t like abject knee jerk negativity from arm chair political pundits and their own bully pulpits that they think lots of people read. Nope. The bully pulpit market is over saturated.
I now write mostly about teaching and learning the drums. I just published the first edition/draft of The Missing Rudiments, my book about all the sticking patterns that are not in the PAS list of 40 rudiments. I’m already well into the second revision of it after asking colleagues to proofread and review it. There were lots of mistakes that only another objective drummer would catch. That’s the beauty of publishing on the internet - one does not have to wait until all the print copies of the first edition sell out. I’m advertising that anyone who buys this first edition will get the revised editions for free. AND I’ll send you a free review copy if you will actually review it.
I have several other books in the works. I have stacks of notebooks full of pages I wrote for students, unfinished books I started, exercises and “licks” that I wrote for myself. I’m going through it all and organizing it into topics, most of which will become books or chapters of books. It’s a lot and it’s overwhelming at times. Fortunately I have a lot more time since I cut my gigging back to two to four local gigs a month, and I have a lighter teaching schedule.
Working titles are “On Drumming Well”, inspired by Mr. Zinsser’s book, and “Life’s Little Drumming Lessons” which is the title of one of my columns in NSMD. Most of the things I write are practical workbooks for teachers and students. The first book I ever wrote pre-internet was a beginner rock and jazz book for my private students; Drum Set 101. I was in my 30s in the late eighties. Hand drawn with felt tip pens and a ruler, it was basically a plagiarism of several established beginner drum books plus what I knew they had left out. My publisher was Kinko’s J.
Another reason I write and read books so much is because I have become disenchanted with the political weaponization of social media and other internet venues. I use them mainly to stay in touch with friends and to research my own interests in drum groups. I am more into long form journalism and civil debate. I have become a Luddite in many ways. I watch a lot of movies on tv because I consider them long form storytelling, the modern day version of cave men sitting around the fire telling stories. Plus I majored in broadcast and film arts one semester at SMU. That was the best bunch of blow off courses I ever enjoyed. That’s where I got the movie bug.
When the muse strikes I write. So, this one is a little bit too much about me, myself and I. Thanks for indulging me.