Drum geek sick chops youtube thread

also great posts KM

*begins to feel like someone had the same ideas as him about great posts but executed them much better, wonders if he actually attended Berklee School of Posting and practices posting 7 hours a day*

shoot, forgot to finish the thought, sorry. what happens is that the more grounded, real idea of what a drummer sounds like when they practice, starts to get mixed in with the synthetic/99th percentile-master idea of it. and if you get too connected to that, or if you don't recognize that it's blending in and getting supplanted with something else, then "real life" seems a little shabby when you return to it - the not-sick beats that must be played thousands of times before they can become sick; the living room furniture that has the little fuzzy couch cushion balls all over it, even though the online review said it wouldn't do that.

it's bad! online bad!

― Karl Malone, Thursday, December 10, 2020 1:51 PM (nine seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

And yes, this! Like I will record some grungey, grimey little lick and be like "that sounded really cool." But then after I post it to instagram I inevitably hear some other guitarist do a grungey, grimey lick, but with far more perfect control of the grunginess and grimeyness of it, and also no mistakes whatsoever whereas I have an accidental string mute or hit in there somewhere.

sorry for typos and incoherent thoughts, rambling. i'm typing this while listening to the worst conference call ever of the week and my worldview is getting negative

xp

I approve of this thread direction, good posts KM.

Thinking about it in terms of drumming, it's definitely a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's great that there's so much information that's available, and not gatekept behind lessons or a music education. It's amazing that you can see how people's hands move (instead of just your one friend in the school band who's decent at drums), get the sticking behind the lick, slow it down to .25 speed, etc.

On the other hand, it really does feel like things are getting homogenized. 'Chops' (fka 'gospel chops' aka crazy linear fills & beats meant to sound like a time-altering flurry of notes) have been broken down & assimilated into everyone's playing, same for the post-Dilla thing. It really feels like these things are so popular because they make for impressive short video content. And whereas the video thing maybe used to be an advertisement for someone to get gigs, it increasingly feels like the goal unto itself? I.e. the endpoint is to make videos and collaborate with other musicians who make videos, and it's a whole enterprise detached from the idea of making music that gets released and listened to as audio. And as much as I don't like the idea of it, maybe that's just what it is.

oh man, i accidentally lost a really, really long post. like i just wrote my senior essay there. i hit back and tried to retrieve it, and saw it, but then accidentally refreshed and lost it again. d'oh.

welp, this will be a VERY rare second draft post, which is good for anyone reading because now instead of 8 paragraphs it's 2.

- related to the whole algorithm/polished/GIS/living room thing above, it ends up influencing the "content" that people make. most of the influence goes toward the more pro/polished/edited "content", as humanity and computers collectively try to figure out the template for "successful content", in the same way that they've already figured it out with superhero films. human behavior is part of the equation, with people seeing more polished content being correlated with success/views/likes, so there's naturally a desire to emulate that. but i think the larger part of the equation, and still growing, is the platform itself. think of "instagram creators", which is one of the saddest bios that you will ever see, especially when it's on a platform outside of instagram. they're instagram creators using instagram's platform and tools, playing within their rules, using their templates, resizing to their dimensions, length, and compression requirements, and reliant on the black box algorithm, which resembles a panopticon to the degree that it runs the show and everyone is aware of it, but its inner workings are proprietary and secretive, perceived by all but always changing. if you're on instagram, you adapt to the platform whether you want to or not. there's no choice. it's like being "not political". in doing that, you make a political decision. i only mention instagram because it's most familiar to me, but of course a similar dynamic is in play across twitter and all the rest.

- but on a more hopeful note, i think all of this momentum toward bland, corporate homogeneity creates more space for more punk, diy, raw, non-platform, however you want to think of it, creative people. open source, in a way. there's a big NEED for that right now, for people to just ditch this bullshit proprietary "creator platform" stuff and set up camp way the fuck to the left of that

xposts thank you jordan and man alive and james for your kind words. i am in high/rambling mode so i appreciate your patience

also, as far as platforms/companies go, bandcamp seems to be cooler than the rest.

i mention that because i'm quitting my job this month and i've been thinking about changing things up, "career-wise". i've been dreaming about trying to start a small music label that is also a radical co-op/non-profit/something else model. would be trying to achieve four things:

a) all revenue beyond basic living wage expenses (see c and d) go toward antifa local mutual aid efforts
b) release physical/digital releases of do-gooder bands, with a brilliant (and tbd) structure that guarantees that the band will at least break even, and could potentially even _make a little bit of money_ from their music.
c) pay myself a living wage, and enough to pay my rent, bills, and student loans. and not a cent more.
d) anyone who gets paid as part of the organization/label gets paid the same amount, no matter who they are. that can either be a salary or a per hour basis.

i mention that because i'm obviously going through my second pre-40s mid-life crisis i anticipate that no matter how non-platform/diy i try to be, i'll probably need something like bandcamp too.

That sounds amazing except for the part where you need to get people to pay money for music, in a sufficient amount to even make back the costs of mastering etc :/

(please don't go into music with any hope of making money!)

definitely. the "brilliant (and tbd) structure" mentioned in part b) definitely goes a long way there, lol

i want to see if i can do it, though. like...what if the person who did the mastering was part of the collective/co-op? and what if pressings/releases only happened once a minimum amount of people indicated that they would like to purchase it? that would lessen the risk. my thought is that most people want to make a bunch of money and grow, but i don't. i just want to pay my bills and set up something that is sustainable and helpful to other people. so maybe the profit-taking part of the equation goes away. (and perhaps there's even a way to somehow make it a non-profit, but i know that complicates things even more). and local bands, generally, just want to release their shit on a label and have a physical release to show their loved ones, but also not lose a bunch of money in the process. maybe there are a few do-gooder bands who would be interested in releasing something for a label that is just trying to raise money for mutual aid.

also, i'm not coming up with this out of nowhere, i've seen that there are do-gooder bands and music people who already support this kind of thing. i started thinking about it after a friend of mine helped put this together: https://chicagocommunityjailsupport.bandcamp.com/album/warm-violet-a-compilation-for-chicago-community-jail-support. it raised $9000 on the first day of release, and people are still buying it.

i'm also thinking about how it would be so cool if the "buy" button was actually the "donate" button, and it tells you exactly how much is going to the mutual aid fund vs how much is going to the artist and the label.

that would be something i would like to be involved with if you decide to push it forward. feel free to email me.

another thought: what if there was a way to purchase music (physical releases, even, most likely in small diy quantities) that also qualified as a charitable act of giving? why does all music have to be locked up inside profitable streaming giants (and again...platforms exerting a growing influence on the content itself)?

xp

thanks NA! and depending on how it goes, i will! it could be a big life move, but i definitely want to make sure that it can actually work before proceeding.

it could also take a very different form. like, i was thinking of how cool it would be release music from incarcerated people, and then for all the proceeds to go back to the prisoners + mutual aid/jail support. it sounds a little wild, but another person on the same team that put together the bandcamp comp is ALSO highly connected with the incarceration/activist world. i haven't talked with her yet but multiple people have mentioned that she would be "VERY, VERY" into the idea, so...yeah.

or...it would probably be something very different than that, or nothing at all.

Ok godspeed then. As I'm sure you know, it's all too easy to only look at the successes (on Bandcamp or elsewhere) and think 'oh, I can do that as well' without knowing all of the irl scene/networks/pr/invisible factors that are behind it. I've seen some great charity comps with amazing musicians that tank on Bandcamp too.

These are cool ideas though, don't let me get you down.

this turned into a really interesting discussion fwiw. Jordan I think what you think sometimes too which is that it seems maybe a bit sad if this is all just self-contained 'content creation,' and it's notable that the video you posted at the start of it was a joke about getting fired from gigs for trying all that stuff on stage. And I can't think of any of these people who are also in really great bands that I like, whereas the drummers in really great bands I like tend to keep things a lot simpler (and really how often during the course of a show or album would you want to hear those kinds of insane fractal fills?). Of course maybe that's just a nice story I tell myself to not feel inadequate.

Also KM, I applaud your idea, but I think if you do something like that you should do it more for spiritual, humane and awareness-raising reasons, because music is about the worst possible way to raise money for anything unless you have big names and a marketing budget off the bat.

Yeah, I would of course prefer to be able to play all that stuff and then choose not to. :)

To bring it back around, this is a youtube drum thing that has been sticking in my mind lately, a simple reminder to play like you give a shit and imbue every backbeat with confidence & intention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi-1vs2xbH8

luckily, i have an in on the upcoming sonic youth reunion album

i appreciate the feedback! i'm still working through it - calling it a "music label" is probably a really misleading way to put it. it would be more like a co-op service for creative people, designed to replace the most expensive/privatized parts of the process with diy/co-op/in-house. if there is just one do-gooder with mastering skills and equipment, that could be their contribution to the co-op service. sure, that contribution would be much more important than most other people could provide, but that's part of a normal community. it's normal for people who have lucked out in life to subsidize those who haven't (yet). i think there must be someone out there who, miraculously, is financially secure but also still wants to be in a community with people who are not. or, probably much more likely, there is someone out there with those mastering skills/equipment who is NOT financially secure, but is a do-gooder and therefore is going to sacrifice some of their own personal wellbeing in order to help out a bunch of other people, anyway. in my experience, creative people are a) almost always broke and also b) generous with their time and energy. the trick is to find these people, and i already know some of them so that makes me optimistic

a simple reminder to play like you give a shit and imbue every backbeat with confidence & intention:

Yeah I have very strong feelings about this -- that more broadly you should really enjoy and feel emotion about everything you play, and if what you're playing is very simple and "boring" then you should try to vibe with what you're accompanying and just enjoy the way your simple beat supports it. I think a lot about the way someone like Nick Mason plays - no matter how simple he's playing, it always sounds like he's really listening to and vibing with the rest of the band, and it's hard to say how I know he's doing that, it's just in the feel of the drumming, even in between the fills (which he typically only puts at the end of phrases, keeping the rest of the beat simple). Or even simpler, Ralph Molina. I also think a lot about the drums on Don't Let It Bring You Down, almost minimalist, yet there's a lot of feel and emotion in them.

what the crap is going on in here?

Thinking about it in terms of drumming, it's definitely a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's great that there's so much information that's available, and not gatekept behind lessons or a music education. It's amazing that you can see how people's hands move (instead of just your one friend in the school band who's decent at drums), get the sticking behind the lick, slow it down to .25 speed, etc.

NOT GATEKEPT is a key phrase here
maybe it's because i have had to maintain delusion-levels of belief in myself to progress as a drummer, or some other reason, but comparing yourself to others is a superhighway to feeling like shit. play like you feel it/be a conduit for the spirit and you may not ever be recognized but at least you are playing music in a way that is enjoyable and i think that is the point. ralph molina otm, he was one of my early role models. in case you wondered, i started playing 7 years ago this June. yes that much time has passed.

Had some actual lols at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzLg6aM3c7U

not a drummer: what is that loofa thing on his snare?

probably just for dampening (real pros use a wallet)

this video is cracking me up

just like his funny faces, and stuff, more than anything. i like this guy and his loofa!

xp I don't know what it's called but it's like this little collection of fake shells strung together that you shake for effect (used here to dampen the drum/add effect).

i assumed it was for dampening but it seems so convoluted for that purpose

esp a fan of "diarrhea of the hands," a phrase I think will enter my lexicon, and being highly interactive with the soloist, died at that one

Love Zackgrooves, his channel has been a good replacement for Rational Funk.

He's just ridiculously good but has his head on straight about everything (and is goofy & funny obv).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc6i6liFJ84

Don't know where to put this etc....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItZyaOlrb7E

lol that made the rounds years ago

i never get sick of it though

I feel very strongly that that drummer is at the right gig

Lol, was thinking the same thing.

Increasingly getting my drum jollies on instagram rather than youtube.

Monstrous and insanely creative percussionist I follow
https://www.instagram.com/akhamie.music/

This guy is my favorite rn though
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpZKs6HT5u/

https://www.instagram.com/stevely_man_drums/

Hadn't ever paid much attention to James Gang or their drummer Jimmy Vox, but this is good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo0vBdlWQs0

*Fox

Been getting into this French dude:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QABXwWOVOk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slHhwUY8hmA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty_y_2INYgo

Ok I'm pretty into the 'Everybody Want to Rule the World: Metric Modulation' challenge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F88Z4Tts4gY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-4cErugi8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEBOIuUKO1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RuVGHL-N78

great stuff indeed

Funk/jazz legend Dennis Chambers hearing Tool's 'Schism' sans drums and then taking a pass on drums a few minutes later. Pretty funking cool and kinda wild that what he came up with at points really is not all that far from Daney Carey's take. Dude heard this like once and then played this...yikes what a drummer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwyAsU4dus

ha i loved that video

Yeah, that was fun.

Already posted something by Rafael Barata a while back, but nothing by Edu Ribeiro who is an equally big monster and stage presence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPp6mZht230

That is the first tool song I’ve ever heard, all the way through

I’m with Dennis, “not my cup of tea”!