The Gaga Syndrome
by Ed Schaefer
There I was, 12 years old, dreaming about being a pro drummer, looking at a
stack of drum set catalogs from Slingerland, Rodgers and Ludwig, when I
realized that the most important thing was, "Which kit did Buddy play?" At
this ripe old age I had already seen Buddy Rich two or three times, and
owned most of the albums he had ever recorded. So no matter how much "hype"
the drum company put out , I couldn't be swayed. I just knew that for Buddy
to play the way he did, his tools had to be the best!
That's why, amidst the ever expanding techno junk yard, only the pros seem
to have that special vision, (that we all wish we had...) to see through
the toys and garbage and choose the tools that help them be the leaders in
the music field.
A young drummer, totally baffled by the "Gaga" given him at a local music
store, was asking me, "What type of electronic drum pads should I use?". He
continued, saying, "The guy at the store showed me a pad kit that had these
flat platter- like devices with some kind of pseudo rubber stuff on them,
and the dude said "these are really cool and they come in a box...". What
my young drummer friend didn't know was that "this guy" at the music store
would make an extra $10.00, and his name be put into a lottery to win a
$25.00 gift certificate to that same store, should he make this sale. Well,
I looked at my young friend and advised, "Don't ask me, and don't ask the
salesman...Go rent the latest video of the Pink Floyd tour, go see Yes,
Jethro Tull, Madonna, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Kitaro, Bruce
Springsteen, Janet Jackson, or Michael Jackson...(just to name a few), and
see what these artists are using".
So what ever the "hype", or special "sale of the week", the answer for me
now, and when I was 12, is the same -"Look to the best and you'll find the
best! DAUZ!"
Article by Ed Schaefer........ Ed is a performer, composer, teacher of music and
co-designer of The Real Time Engine. You can reach him at edu@dauz.com