I am a self-employed musician, a little entrepreneur of sorts, as a matter of fact the smallest kind there is since in my Mum and Pop shop, there is only Pop. In my business I have to deal with equipment. The very computer I am writing you from is part of that list. It has to function and even be in tip top shape. Fortunately, all it needs is a can of Dust-Be-Gone every so often and my digital world is firing on all cylinders. That’s a very small expense. Huzzah!
My drums are also very cheap. Wait, wait! Don’t make me say what I didn’t say: they are very cheap to maintain. A few drum heads now and then, that’s about it. Maybe I would get a pair of sticks, while I’m at it. Nothing nerve wrecking. Like I said: cheap. Small potatoes.
The piano is a bit of a different story. Actually I should say the pianos, with an “S” since I’ve got 3 keyboards I use regularly. They go by floors in my house. One in the attic and on down to the basement. The biggest one is on the main floor and that one requires tuning every 6 months. It’s a bit expensive because it’s a grand piano and I use a very good piano tuner, but I don’t mind it since I am protecting my investment. I don’t want anything to happen to it, you see, not because of the money, but because I love the sound of that beast.
I’ve got another keyboard that badly needs some work with the key-bed. It’s still working, mind you, but some notes are getting really stiff. I am afraid to take it to a repair shop. They might tell me that the parts are not available anymore for that poor old thing. They might tell me that it’s going to cost me an arm to put it back in shape and that I might as well get something newer, better. They might tell me that all the hours of joy I’ve got out of it will count for nothing. Now, I know they won’t say that last part. But it’ll mean the same, won’t it? Anyway, I am delaying the inevitable.
I also need to maintain my car. That’s a big one. When I was gigging regularly, I use to have dingy wheels to get around. I didn’t have any money at the time, so I had to deal with coughing engines and bold tires, that was my lot. Now I got a car to get around, not necessarily to play somewhere. And a car needs maintenance and sometimes repairs. You have to change the oil, get new suspension, change the break pads, get new suspension, change the windshield wipers blades, get new suspension (the Chicago pot holes are epic).
Finally, I’ll talk about the big one: myself! I need some maintenance and repairs sometimes. We all do. The annual check-up, the dentist, that’s where you have to open your wallet (Have you noticed: even if your check-up is free, they find a way to get a little money out of you?). But when I go walking or biking, when I watch what I eat, when I make sure I enjoy a good relationship with my surroundings and my job, when I feel I am in control of my life, all of that is part of maintaining my health. And the more I maintain, the least I repair. I anticipate the problems instead of being overwhelmed by them. I’m realizing that maintaining is an art in itself.
This drummer is cooking.