Gaston Me

My first dose of music was the violin around the age of 8. I played only a year or two because my parents saw I was uninterested for the time being. I then began playing the piano, and much enjoyed that for the next 4 years. (I'll tell you getting me to practice was rough, but it payed out well for my future) Around the end of that time I had been playing in the school bands (percussion) and became greatly interested in the drums. To tell you the truth my teacher didnt feel I was motivated enough, but never the less he gane me my 1st few lessons and I was off. I practiced and practiced that basic groove he gave me, bought my 1st kit and the rest is history as they say!!                                                                                      

  In the next few years I preceeded to take some lessons and play with all the bands I could get into. Mostly friend's bands and the lot, but that helped me to learn the cover songs we were to perform. I found out that playing by ear in is not such a bad way to learn this craft. I'll admit my skills weren't all that, but I could play along with most any song I heard. This would only last so long, playing along with tracks can only get you so far. I then found myself playing with my church for youth group. This helped with having set parts, improving my timing, and being a more solid drummer which every group needs. After high school throughout the next 5 years I continued to play with many of the local churches for youth groups and special nights of worship. This gave me the opportunity to perform with different groups of musicians, adjusting for the different skill levels we were at and dealing with having "gigs" as you might call it. Needing to perform at certain times and knowing the materials that were given. Mostly it was a chance to thank God for the abilities he had given me.                                                                    

 In 2006 I attended Musicians Institute enrolled into the drum program. This is where I saw the biggest jump in my skiils, this course gave us opportunity to learn and be taught by professionals in this field. In classes such as Live Playing Workshops, in which we performed a variety of styles and were critiqued by teachers on everything from timing, performance, to leading the other musicians. Other classes included: reading, playing techniques, rock/jazz drums, along with private lessons once a week.                                   

Throughout this year long program I developed an interest in other areas of music such as: Intro to Bass (which presented the basics and theory of the guitar and the needs for performing with others), Intro to Songwriting (which helped us with struturing songs, developing lyrics/melodies and co-writing), also Playing with Loops (which teaches drummers to play with pre-arranged beats, grooves, and samples and add other possibilities for performance with electronic music, i.e. MIDI).                                                                        

 In 2008 I then attended SAE Institute for the Electronic Music Production program. This 6 month course gave us the introductions to many production software programs, specifying in Reason, Logic, Ableton and Pro Tools. Overviewing the structure, tools, and abilities of these programs. This is where the drumming had left off, being able to create drums and other instruments using the computer. Other class topics included: understanding different types of mics and there uses, learning about mixers, hardware componenets and all the neccessary connections, and other production tools such as mixing and mastering your music, proper monitoring/environments, and working in real-world situations.                                                      Currently I continue my endeavors in the Palm Springs area, where I have built a small studio within my house. Drumming and music production are the orders of the day, as I keep persuing my goals of getting into film scoring, soundtracks and creating my own signature style, and as always to save the music!  

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