Words from a Drummer

I've been thinking about getting a new car, and the Hyundai Veloster Turbo is one on my list. I rented one for the day and had to see if my drums would fit. Check out my previous post (5 piece drum set in a Toyota Corolla) for a list of all my gear.

Car Interior Dimensions 

2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo 

Passenger Volume 90 cu.ft.

Cargo Volume 34.7 cu.ft.

(With the seats up, there doesn't appear to be too much room)

(All of my drums fit on top of the seats)

(Add pedal case, cymbals, spare snare, and throne)

(Add the hardware bag, rug, and cart)

Here's the beginning of what I hope can be a multi series post. For you drummers out there that are looking to get a new mode of transportation, I'd like to show you how much you can fit in a car.

I used to own a Toyota Tundra. I could fit all my drums plus pretty much an entire band's worth of equipment. Long story short, I had to sell it and ended up with a Toyota Corolla. Surprisingly, it fits my entire drum set with room to spare!

Read on to see the car's interior dimensions.

Here's what I'm packing in the car:

Drums

Tom 1 10x8

Tom 2 12x9

Floor Tom 14x12

Bass Drum 22x18

Snare Drum 14x5.5

(Protection Racket cases for all drums)

Snare drum 12x6 (SKB hard case for this)

Hardware

Tom Stand x2

Hi hat stand

Snare stand

Floor tom legs

Cymbal boom arms x2

Multi Clamp

DW Dog bone with arm

Drum throne

(Gibraltar hardware case)

Double pedal w/ Case

Cymbals

13" hi-hats

17" crash

18" crash

18" china

(All in SKB soft cymbal case)

Other

Drum rug

Rock n Roller multi cart (R2 model)

(My drum set broken down)

    (Packed in cases and ready to be loaded)

  Car Interior Dimensions 

2005 Toyota Corolla 

Passenger Volume 90 cu.ft.

Trunk space 13.6 cu.ft.

(Snare and tom 1 on the ground. The seats are currently pushed forward, but they'll go back to my normal driving position.)

    (All of my drums, minus my backup snare, fit nicely in the back and I can still see out of the back window.)

    (Hardware bag goes in first)

    (Add the cymbals, double pedal, extra snare, rug, cart, and throne.)

I wanted to be a rockstar.

I got interested in playing drums because of Metallica. I saw the video for "Sad but True" and knew that performing was what I wanted to do.

I watched all the live Metallica videos I could. Dreamed of playing arenas in front of tens of thousands of people. I KNEW I was going to "make it". I wouldn't have to go to college because my band would become FAMOUS! 

So what happened?

Reality.

1. The music industry is a horrible horrible industry to be in. Not only are many of the people (business wise) you deal with shady, when you look at the numbers of how much a band makes, it's down right retarded. I won't get into it but if you want to learn more, read Donald S. Passman's "All you need to know about the music business." OR, just do some shows as an original band.

2. The chances of making it BIG like Metallica really are worse than winning the lotto, or being struck by lightning, or getting chased by a bearshark with a chainsaw wearing a santa outfit.

A few months ago I had a nightmare. Not the regular, “Holy crap something’s trying to kill me” nightmare. Nope. This was a drummer nightmare and it went something like this…

I was at the LA Colosseum.

The arena was packed. I was subbing for the drummer from the band Meshuggah.  Here I am about to play in front of tens of thousands of people and I don’t know one song! We didn’t have any rehearsals. I just came to the gig and was expected to play a set.

Now, if this was a rock/pop band it wouldn’t be so bad. Sure, playing in front of a crowd like that with no rehearsal would be nerve-wracking, but it would be doable. But we're talking about Meshuggah. The kings of poly rhythms and odd times. Not something you can pick up real quick and fake.

Luckily I had two really cute roadies who tried to calm me down. One of them said, "Just hit quarter notes on the china, you'll be fine." Oh sure, it's that easy. But a pretty face does have a way of calming me down. 

So anyway, I take the stage. The guitar starts and like my cute roadie said, I start playing quarters on the china and just try to groove. I made it through one song by the seat of my pants but had another 12 to go. I woke up feeling stressed out but relieved that I didn't have to play the rest of the set.

I consider myself to be a drummer, not a percussionist. What's the difference you ask? Let's see what the dictionary says.

Drummer - one that plays a drum.

Percussionist - one skilled in the playing of percussion instruments.

Here's my view. A drummer mainly plays drums (duh). Drum set, taiko, marching... whatever. A percussionist plays a lot of different percussive instruments like marimba, tambourine, timpani, chimes... all things that can be struck by something.  Yes the drum set IS a percussion instrument. So is the piano. Do we call pianists "percussionists"? Nope. 

I've heard people from both sides be insulted with what they feel is an improper label. My instrument falls under the percussion category but it is a specific instrument that stands on its own. I am drummer and I prefer to be called a drummer.