Music
Current Gear
- Drum Kit
- Alesis Nitro Max
- Alesis Nitro Max Expansion Pack
- Alesis Drum Essentials Bundle
- Audio-Technica ATH-M30x Headphones
- Generic Furniture Risers
- Generic Split Sleeving
- Sticks: 5A Black
- Guitar Gear
- Fender Telecaster
- Orange Crush 35LDX
- Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
- Boss DS-1 Distortion
- Ibanez TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer
- Zoom MS-50G+ Multistomp
- Ghost Fire Pedal Board
- Other Instruments
- Stylophone Original
- Stylophone Beat
- Otamatone
- Accessories
- Software
- Reaper
- VCV Rack 2
- BFD drums
- Midinous
- Clone Hero
- Yarg
My Music History
My childhood was full of music, and I think I always had an interest in it. In ~2001 for 7th grade at Roy Jr High in Utah I enrolled in choir, drama, and percussion. The nearby high school marching band was short students so I was able to audition and participate in the summers between 7th - 8th and 8th - 9th grades. I played 4th (largest) Bass year one and 3rd Snare year two.
In 9th grade I still took band and choir but partway through my family moved to AZ and I only kept the choir classes. I was in the school musical and multiple choirs through High School including co-chairing the choir club my senior year.
Rock Band
I had never really gotten into the Guitar Hero hype, but things changed in the fall of 2007 when my best friend and roommate at the time and I stumbled upon a Rock Band display at the local Walmart. We played that display as long as we could and then he surprised us with the game a few weeks later.
I played the drums exclusively at first but it was exhausting so eventually I tried playing the guitars and enjoyed that just as much as the drums. This sparked an interest in the learning the real guitar, but I was preoccupied with figuring out what to do with my life.
My roommate started a real band and I got to experience hanging out at a band practice and helping set up for a show before I joined the US Army in May 2008.
Guitar
I bought my first guitar in ~2010 in Clarksville, TN right before deploying to Afghanistan. It was a Squire Telecaster and I almost immediately took it back home to AZ and ordered a very nice guitar case. Once in country my family shipped the guitar to me overseas and I spent the next ~8 months or so learning how to play. I also ordered Rock Band 3 and have great memories jamming with my platoon on the piano.
When I got home I picked up a beautiful lake placid blue Fender Telecaster, learned chords and scales and how to improvise a little bit. I didn’t have a guitar with me for 2 years in South Korea and lost the callouses needed for long playing.
I left the US Army in 2016, but didn’t have my own place for a bit. After some time I finally broke out the old gear and brought it back to life. I played occasionally, but most of the time kept my gear in storage to protect it.
Clone Hero
In ~2022 My brother showed me Clone Hero and I was interested but the spark took some time to reignite for me. We took the gear camping and had tons of fun playing songs up on a projector screen and started recollecting gear.
Modular Sequencers
In 2024 I stumbled upon the software VCV Rack after getting lost in some youtube videos on the subject. It turns out that all the electrical knowledge I’ve picked up is directly applicable and these things make sense to me.
This reignited a spark and triggered a bit of a rabbit hole for me on music making, studying VCV Rack, Reaper, and Midinous and how they can interconnect. I wanted more things to play with so I picked up a couple Stylophones and started looking into modern e-kits.
Drums & Gear
I purchased my first electric drum set in November 2024 and it’s been a joy to play. After a couple upgrades it is feeling more and more like playing a real drum set.
Adding in a small mixer and speaker have really improved the sound. I’m able to jam along to music played from my phone, and pick up good quality audio for recording projects in the future.
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