It’s a dream come true for Deden Pramana AKA Deden Noy, an Indonesian YouTuber gaining popularity for his flawless drum covers using a homemade kit, as one of the world’s most famous drummers, Mike Portnoy, has noticed his talent.
Deden, who only started uploading his drumming videos in June of last year, is a beast on his DIY drum kit, which utilizes water jugs, paint buckets, and pot lids. He also cheekily wrote “Pasti Gajian” (definitely getting paid) on two of the cymbals, which mimicked the logos of drum cymbal makers Paiste and Sabian, respectively.
“I attempted to build my own drum kit from used items because of my [financial] situation. I used wager jugs and duct tape. I only needed a budget of around IDR100,000 (US$6.93),” Deden told Suara today.
Despite his limited resources, Deden has managed to rock with his covers of legendary songs such as Metallica’s Master of Puppets, System of a Down’s Chop Suey, and even the theme song of popular anime series Dragon Ball.
Deden’s exploits moved an American man named Renan Sanchez to start an online crowdfunding campaign to buy him a proper drum kit. On the GoFundMe page, Renan said that he was wowed by Deden’s cover of The Dance of Eternity by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Sadly, Renan only managed to raise US$595 out of the campaign’s US$1,500 goal.
But the story did not end on such a flat note. Earlier today, former Dream Theater co-founder, drummer, and backing vocalist Mike Portnoy took to social media to post Deden’s cover of his old band’s Metropolis – Part I: “The Miracle and the Sleeper” and praise him for his immense talent.
I’ve recently gotten HUNDREDS of messages w links to Deden Noy playing my songs on a homemade kit. His talents are indeed incredible & I’m in the process of getting him a new kit & cymbals w the incredible support from @TAMAofficial & @SABIAN_Cymbals 🙏 https://t.co/Ebs2NbeClP
— Mike Portnoy 🤘 (@MikePortnoy) March 16, 2021
Portnoy said that he is in contact with TAMA Drums and Sabian to send Deden a new, legit drum kit to his home in South Bengkulu, as well as jokingly pleading his fans to stop sending him links to the latter’s videos.
While I appreciate all the happy comments, just as much credit needs to go to the great people at @TAMAofficial & @SABIAN_Cymbals for supporting my idea…in fact, it’s them that will have to deal with the “heavy lifting” 😎 And now everybody can stop sending me the links too! 😂
— Mike Portnoy 🤘 (@MikePortnoy) March 16, 2021
Deden also went on Instagram to share a screenshot of Portnoy’s post, expressing disbelief that one of his idols had noticed him.
View this post on Instagram
“A morning surprise, it feels like a dream. Thank you all for your support all this time,” Deden wrote in the caption.
We can’t wait to see what Deden can do with his new drum kit.
