Explorers Percussion & Drums

I love Explorer’s Percussion. Alot of my income goes to this location, and will continue to. I love them to 5 stars. I play a drum in drum circles, and I also do Shaman drumming, and if I need something, they have it. (tired of borrowing other people’s drums)
Granted, I still have my eye on a drum from Taos Drums, but until they get in their supplies to make the drums, I’ll go with Explorers.
I like the drums that are buffalo drums, made by Remo, that don’t use real hide. (Nothing fur hurt in the process.) This is also the drums that you often see painted. Explorer’s are the only one’s in Kansas City that carries anything like this that you can go into the store and actually buy.
Another music shop suggested I order on online… yeah…not gonna happen. I called Explorers and they had several models. They knew exactly what I needed, and had a drum bag as well.
My son plays drums, much louder than mine, and if he needs a certain drum stick, Explorers has it. Their prices are good too. Thy are very nice people. Just do percussion, that’s what they are about.

As a drummer, I feel very lucky to have Explorers Percussion in Kansas City. They are a five star drum shop and on top of having a great selection of top percussion gear, they also bring in some of the best drummers in the world for clinics and workshops. Explorers is the reason I got to meet my drum hero, Bill Bruford. For that alone they deserve my business for life. Admittedly I buy a lot of my drum gear used through Ebay and Craigslist, but I make it a point to visit Explorers a few times a year for heads, sticks, and whatnot because I would be very sad if they were to ever leave.

My wife used to take drum lessons here in the eighties, I think she met the drummer for Dokken, or Cinderella here. She has a picture of her, a cute little junior high rocker chick with some sleazy hair band drummer who was already feeling his fame slip from between his fingers. Good stuff. They hold drum workshops here all the time hosted by some pretty well known drummers. Which is cool I guess.
I’ve been staying at home, laid off, collecting fun employment for a few months, and as much as I love my little daughter, daddy needs some kind of outlet. I used to work out pretty regularly, but that got in the way of my drinking. Video games seem like a natural choice, but I’ve never been that passionate about them.
A few years ago, living with some high school buds, I had the opportunity to begin playing drums in the basement of the house that we were renting. I’m no Neil Pert, I’m not even Meg White, but I do love me the controlled violence that is playing drums. The physical exertion, the differences in velocity that can be used when beating a drum, the feeling of satisfaction when you are able to figure out a new and different drum beat, priceless. I only wish that I had been turned onto this instrument when I was in grade school, instead of the guitar. Life may have ended up very different…
The need for an outlet, both physical, and emotional had come to a head. I had to find a healthy way to deal with whatever frustrations build up over the course of a day or a week of being a stay at home daddy. My lovely wife agreed that maybe a drum kit would be a good thing for me.
I came in with my daughter, and she helped me pick out a sweet Gretsch kit, with a top of the line throne, and a popcorn snare for, well for when I’m in the mood. Unfortunately, daddy could only afford a used entry level Ludwig kit. I remember growing up with a piano and guitars in my house. My hope is that when she grows up, she’ll have a guitar, a piano, and now some drums. The fad of video games emulating the experience of making music is a scary prospect to me, and I will definitely work with my children to try to help them avoid getting trapped by some mind numbing game like Guitar Hero, or Rockstar. Who needs these games? Just make music, no matter how crappy it is.
The people here were very helpful, and after telling them my situation, they helped steer me towards a drum kit that would suit my basic, very basic needs. Do I plan on going on tour any time soon? No, of course not, but I did want to ensure that my child would have a decent kit to play with in a few years. I don’t want her playing with toy instruments, play the real thing Roxy, you deserve it.
I spoke with two employees here. One was a guy about my age, who was way into my kid, he said he had a kid only slightly older. I liked this, because I assumed that I would be the sore thumb in the store, the guy with a cute little daughter, talking baby talk to her while looking at drums. The other lady I talked to was a little older but just as nice, and even helped me break down the kit that I bought, and helped me load it into the minivan.
I don’t get nearly as many opportunities to play my drums as I would like (wife says they wake up baby, whatever) but when I do get the chance to I feel great, I suck, but I feel great. If you need any percussion instruments, (I know, piano’s are percussion, and they don’t sell pianos here) try this place out. They were cheaper than any place I could find both in town and on line.

If you are a musician and your specialty is in percussion, then this is a great place to shop. I have made several purchases here and buy all of my hardware from this store. What I love about it is they carry the largest variety of salsa instruments here. I play timbales, congas, bongo and anything else I can get my hands on. They also carry Mapex drum sets which is what I have so if I need drum heads I can count on them to get it here. Plus they let you bang around on the drums so go in there and make some noise!