Music!!! Music plays an important part in my life.  This is my favorite pastime and hey, because of music, I met my wife! Due to my professional career in astrophysics, however, I do not have much time to practice, listen to new and old stuff, and just learn more!   My main musical interest has been progressive rock for more than 25 years, a style of music which is still very much alive. I also enjoy other types of music, for instance, jazz fusion and classical music. I started to play drums when I was very young, mainly transforming everything around the house into a resonant "something".  I first played on a real drumkit when I was about 12 years old and never really stopped since!  In 1989, I saved enough money to be able to afford a big Tama drumkit which I used during the weekends in... an astronomy lab! I then played with a band named "Ylem" in Quebec City for almost two years. We were covering songs from some of my favorites bands (Rush, Yes, Marillion, Genesis, Pink Floyd....).  After moving to Tucson, I played originals with two philosophy Ph.D students (have you ever talked about some weird lyrics?).  After moving to Chile and to Hawaii, I was on my own, rehearsing songs in our house.  In Hawaii, I started making those videos for YouTube and to my complete surprise, they became quite popular and I got thousands of requests for more. Go figure. Now, back in Tucson... Maybe I should start a band. There is no Rush tribute band in town so maybe it's time to correct this... ;) As a drummer, I have my heroes from whom my technical and musical style have always been influenced. I have been inspired by many individuals over the years. Of course, my main drumming model is still Neil Peart from Rush, but I also use tips from the works of Mike Portnoy, Mark Zonder, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Terry Bozzio, Alan White, Phil Ehart, Nick D'Virgilio, Simon Phillips, John Bonham, Ian Mosley, Jeff Porcaro, Virgil Donati, Hal Aponte, Gavin Harrison, Scott Rockenfield, Danny Carey, Carter Beauford, etc. Other favorites of mine include Billy Cobham, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Dave Weckl, Tony Williams,... Well, way too many to list here! As of April 2000, I'm the proud owner of a brand new and beautiful Tama Starclassic Performer drumset. In September 2002, I have added a Roland V-session electronic kit to it....In 2006, I added a complete set of Sabian Paragon cymbals, one of the 30 "2112" limited edition sets worldwide.  More on this (including pictures!) can be found here! Below are some videos of me playing the drums. Those are "one take" affairs and I am aware that my interpretations are not perfect... These videos are available on YouTube, under "Astrotama".  Enjoy!