I was back at it for another day of drum camp. We started our day with a percussion workshop where we were able to experiment with all manner of percussion instruments. We were a group of fourteen and there were plenty of things for all of us to mess with. We then just made some experimental sounds as a group and it came together pretty well. After we did that for quite some time we were separated into 7 groups and then had to pick a beat inside of a four beat measure of One and Two and Three and Four and. Ours was played on and Two…Three and if that makes sense. We played on just about everything you can imagine, kept our beats going and rotated around the instruments in a big circle. It was pretty cool.
When we were done with that we switched and our group went for lessons. I went upstairs to see what was going on and what rooms were available. Elizabeth was walking by so I asked what room she was in. She showed me and it was a room I hadn’t been in so I went with her. I got so lucky. It ended up being just the two of us for over an hour. She was so wonderful! She helped me really move out of my comfort zone and had me just experiment with fills. I have such a hard time with them because there is no particular plan. They are supposed to be creative but I worry so much about screwing up or sounding awful so I would never try. She very patiently encouraged me to do it and it was great. We also had some meaningful conversations which made it an even better experience.
We broke for lunch and I ate upstairs with Shanna while she put together some worksheets. I then helped her tear down some kits. I skipped our group practice for the performance that night and helped tear down more kits instead. I feel very confident about how to tear down and set up a kit. I learned SO many useful things. All of us then did a long bucket line to load the equipment into a rental truck so it could be taken back to storage. With all of us in line we loaded out nearly 25 kits in about 15 minutes. Sweet!
With the kits all loaded it was time for our long break before the performance. I headed home since we live so close and it was cold in the house! I didn’t need to be back at camp until 5:30 so I got cozy under a blanket and Wayne started a fire. It was time to get going before I knew it but I was so warm and comfortable that I justified not returning. Bad me! I really felt like I had learned all I had hoped to and more though. I knew nobody would really miss me being there either and I wasn’t letting anyone down by not going back. See? Justify, justify, justify.
Alice and Jason came over and we had spaghetti for dinner. Lauren and Sean joined us which is very rare but it was nice to have them with us. We were going to watch a movie but Jason didn’t want to so he headed home to work. Andrew said he had too much work to do as well and didn’t have time for a movie so Alice, Wayne and I ended up sitting and talking for a while. She decided to go home and take a bath so Wayne and I picked a movie on Netflix called Stuck in Love. It was not bad at all.
Today I learned that I can be somewhat creative and make up some fills all by myself. Also that instead of saying “I’m sorry” one should say “Fuck you”. There is definitely context missing I know but trust me on that one.