I am Don Chi. I have played drums professionally for fifteen years, I teach from my own studios in Kaohsiung, and every student here works with me — not with whoever is free that afternoon.
我是 Don Chi. 十五年職業鼓手, 在高雄自己的工作室教學. 每個學生都直接跟我學, 不是跟那天有空的人.
Headshot, neutral background, 2400×3000px for the media kit. Natural light. Looking at the camera, not the kit.
I started playing drums when I was nine, in a classroom with a single shared kit. The teacher did not know what a "feel" was — he taught us the notes, the rhythms, the rudiments, and sent us home. I learned to read a chart from a borrowed copy of Ted Reed's Syncopation; that is still the book I teach from.
At eighteen I started gigging. Jazz clubs, wedding bands, restaurant residencies, the occasional studio session for an independent record. Over the next decade I played more than a thousand gigs, broke four snares, replaced two sets of hi-hats, and bought every cymbal I own.
In 2024 I left my last steady gig. The boss refused to invest in the studio's cymbals. We argued about it for six months. He wanted a louder, cheaper sound. I wanted a cymbal that decayed like a real cymbal. In the end, I bought my own. That was the moment I became a brand.
Today I teach. Students whose parents have decided that a real working drummer is a better teacher than a chain school; adults who want to actually get better; overseas students who want a jazz drummer in their own time zone. I keep the numbers small enough that I can still be good at it.
I do not teach the way I was taught. I teach with charts from day one. I hold the standard a working drummer holds: if you cannot hear yourself, fix the gear, not the player.
If your child is starting drums, or you are starting drums yourself, the chart on the free chart library is free. Download it. Print it. Put it on the fridge. That is where this starts.
These dates came from the October copy draft. Check each one against your actual history and tell me what to change. Anything wrong here goes on a live website in your name.
This is the proof, not decoration. A working drummer's kit is the standard. Take a trial lesson and you will hear what good cymbals sound like — and know the difference for the rest of your life.
這不是裝飾, 是證明. 職業鼓手的鼓組就是標準. 試聽一次, 你就永遠分得出好鈸的聲音.
Is the Stage Custom still your main kit? The brand names on this page should be exactly what is in the room on lesson day.
The full kit, shot from the player's seat. Cymbals catching light. This is the photo that carries the "good cymbals" story on its own.