It was getting crowded in Ali’s old bedroom, with the alien green walls. The vintage Rogers drum kit I had bought from minivan dude’s storage locker was coming together, filling the space. Now I had to squeeze between a tom-tom and Ali’s desk to get to my seat.

After practicing some classic snare drum solos, adding in the hi-hat, bass drum, and ride cymbal, I dusted off the rest of the kit: a crash cymbal and two toms.  I was still short a drummer’s throne, so had to park my rear on the soft single bed.

I had a rock groove going in my mind and my hands and feet were doing their best to follow on the drum kit. The hands felt sharp and coordinated on the snare and hi-hat.  My bass drum foot felt clumsy — it was better on off-beats but lacked full confidence carrying the rhythm. But that evened out when I switched my right hand to ride cymbal.

The rust comes off

I messed around with some rock beats, trying to carry a theme and adding in a fill on the toms.

The rust was coming off. Outside, the drilling and hammering noises from the construction next door competed with the percussion sounds inside.

I was no drumming king, but perhaps I had earned a “throne” for my drum kit — by at least trying to make my comeback.

I made a mental note to swing by Long & McQuade with my mask to pick up a throne (also known as drum seat or stool) and maybe one nice pair of wood sticks without the plastic tips.

Back in Black

Drummers are like back-up goalies — they are sometimes in short supply and needed urgently. For example, a couple of years ago, AC/DC put out the word for a substitute drummer after their go-to guy got implicated in a murder-for-hire plot. And as we saw in the classic movie Spinal Tap, bands need to replace rock drummers after they die suddenly by spontaneous combustion or more gruesome means.

If an AC/DC tribute band desperately needed a drummer for a gig at a seedy Ontario roadhouse, would I have the stamina and timing to get through a thunderous song like Back in Black?

I had got back to sight-reading some snare solos. Cold I hack my way through a Woody Herman big-band chart?

I was still worried about how my cochlear implant and hearing aid would withstand a full band sound. Too many different sounds can be overwhelming. But maybe the right parts of the mix would cut through so that I could play. I recalled the feeling of joy and ease that came with playing music when it was a bigger part of my life.

I would need to be patient and keep practicing.