In a parallel lifetime, I would’ve stuck with music. This was my favorite piece in my senior percussion recital, though I didn’t play it nearly as well as this guy. Also, Duke didn’t devote a lot of money toward percussion equipment, preferring instead to stock up on medieval instruments no one actually plays, so I used two pairs of gym socks as my mutes.

I was terrified for months before the recital about the passage that starts around 1:45 in this video. Then I nailed it, playing it as well in performance as I ever did in rehearsal.

Of course, no one knew that — unless someone was intimately familiar with the piece or was following the sheet music, I could’ve just waved my arms and banged things around, and no one would’ve known the difference. And my internal satisfaction at getting this right died quickly when I turned around and flubbed a few notes in a marimba solo.

Maybe I made the right career choice after all. But nothing I do today is quite as cool as what this guy posted to YouTube. Enjoy.