House of Drumming.com

I've been running into this a lot of the interwebs. I may say some casual criticism/critique of a known drummer/drum god and everyone is beside themselves with indignant rage that I would say such a thing. I really don't understand where these people are coming from. I would even say they are hypersensitive to a critique of someone they hold in high regard. Holding someone in high regard is totally fine and should be encouraged on a local level, but I find it strange when some people have never met these people(or only met them very briefly) and do it anyway. Maybe they are compensating for the failure to handle the criticism in their own lives? I don't know...but I do feel I should have the opinion to voice any observations about what I see on the internet. In fact, that's all I can do...observe.

And furthermore, I feel that by assigning god-like hero status to the people that we admire for what they do, we(I) won't ever really get an accurate concept of our own of what makes what they do so special. What I mean is, the people we admire had to go through a lot of trials(if not critique) to play the way they do today. And furthermore, they perform in such a way that critique would be impervious to them, and in my opinion they would take whatever is given and make it work for them....You don't work at playing drums for decades and let someone come along and piss on your parade, no, you let it roll off...and maybe get some benefit from it.....

So, does this hypersensitivity of our drum heroes signify a deeper problem with our music culture? Or just a problem with society in general? Thoughts? Anti-thoughts?


Then again, none of this applies if you're Mike Portnoy.

It may be the way in which you deliver your criticism that is raising the ire of people.

gretsch-o-rama wrote:
I've been running into this a lot of the interwebs. I may say some casual criticism/critique of a known drummer/drum god and everyone is beside themselves with indignant rage that I would say such a thing.

So, does this hypersensitivity of our drum heroes signify a deeper problem with our music culture? Or just a problem with society in general?

Thoughts? Anti-thoughts?

Sure. The emotional maturity of some people on the net is about half the age of the net itself, and I'd say it's societal. It plays like a sports mentality where music and the idols provided become fodder for one-upmanship. You'd think people would outgrow hero worship by their 30s at the latest.

Paul Marangoni wrote:It may be the way in which you deliver your criticism that is raising the ire of people.

Even when it's certainly not directed with anyone I'm interacting with? I don't think that's it...

I told a guy that his playing was sloppy and inconsistent and he didn't even realize it while he played ... he wrote back agreeing with everything I said and explained he was nervous to play at such a big show.

But yes, the reaction you usually get when you criticize anyone will be "Can you do any better?!" or "Where's your video smart guy?!"

I think you guys are missing the point. I was talking directly about when people are uppity when you criticize say, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jojo Mayer, or Elvin Jones... I don't get that. It's like somehow everyone believes that they "have" and you "haven't", which may be true in a lot of regards. However, It's always been my goal to take the mystery out of the drums gods, at least in a technical sense which is very possible. Otherwise, people claim to have privy to the personal lives of these artists which is 99.9% not the case.... To hold offence for a criticism for someone you may have never even met in person. I don't understand that....hell, I don't hold offence for people I know really well.

If I had to guess, it would be one of two things:

1) Who knows what's going on in people's lives? Maybe that had a really shitty day and then they heard someone insult their hero so they got cross

2) Your idol is a deeply personal thing - we're talking hero here, not just 'someone good who we like'. And ultimately that's based on personality rather than ability - our idols are the people whose personalities speak to us through the drums. That's why the cult of Vinnie is so prevalent, even though there are players out there with faster hands, faster feet, even more stupid ability to sub-divide into 3s and 2s, etc. Because Vinnie is Vinnie. As I've said before on here, it's the same fire that makes him hate and speak out about being taped that makes him play like he does - drumming is an extension of our personality, and technique is simply the vocab we use to express this. Someone like Lang has an even more extensive vocab than Vinnie, but I don't connect with the personality so I'm less interested in what he has to say.

So, when you insult someone's hero, a hero they're emotionally invested in because of a personality-related connection, it feels a bit like you're insulting them or their choices - on a subconscious level, and rightly or wrongly. So they are more sensitive than they probably should be.

On the subject of criticising heros, I enjoyed Stewart Copeland's frank views on Vinnie and Manu in this: http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/brain-meets-stewart-copeland/

gretsch-o-rama wrote:I think you guys are missing the point. I was talking directly about when people are uppity when you criticize say, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jojo Mayer, or Elvin Jones... I don't get that.

I got it, and I still think it's a maturity issue. That's my opinion. Even if you do have heroes or idols (I'm not into that shit), allowing yourself to become upset, or embracing that mindset, is not rational to me. We're talking about someone else's opinion of someone you don't know here. You can disagree, but to get pissed off is silly.

I like how you say it "hypersensitivty" just because people might be passionate about their heros.

My heros were a big deal when I was learning how to play. Music is very personal and deep to me. I hold music and my influences in high regard. Do I worship them? Absolutely not. They are human and have flaws. But their achievements are worth the respect. There is a lot of dedication that is involved.

How about this?....I think a lot of people just want to say something stupid just because they ARE FAMOUS. You know, knock them down a notch. It's not far fetched and it happens all the time. Does it make you feel like you enlightened the masses because you point out their flaws with your "oh so brilliant" critisism?

I think most of us know the internet is ridiculous. Anybody can say anything and pretty much get away with it. It makes the passive person feel strong. So I read a lot of negative stuff about drummers but I don't really care. Barney "Boom Boom" Jebdowski from Kabinkadink, Nebraska thinks Vinnie can't swing. So what, it's Barney "Boom Boom" Jebdowski from Kabinkadink, Nebraska.

It's not hypersensitity, maybe it's just pointing out a ridiculous person.

Cymbalfeltfetishist wrote:I like how you say it "hypersensitivty" just because people might be passionate about their heros.

My heros were a big deal when I was learning how to play. Music is very personal and deep to me. I hold music and my influences in high regard. Do I worship them? Absolutely not. They are human and have flaws. But their achievements are worth the respect. There is a lot of dedication that is involved.

How about this?....I think a lot of people just want to say something stupid just because they ARE FAMOUS. You know, knock them down a notch. It's not far fetched and it happens all the time. Does it make you feel like you enlightened the masses because you point out their flaws with your "oh so brilliant" critisism?

I think most of us know the internet is ridiculous. Anybody can say anything and pretty much get away with it. It makes the passive person feel strong. So I read a lot of negative stuff about drummers but I don't really care. Barney "Boom Boom" Jebdowski from Kabinkadink, Nebraska thinks Vinnie can't swing. So what, it's Barney "Boom Boom" Jebdowski from Kabinkadink, Nebraska.

It's not hypersensitity, maybe it's just pointing out a ridiculous person.

Ah! Now that I can understand. As far as the other stuff, I think truthfully I'm not interested in the personalities of famous people and their ilk. With drummers(even videos on Youtube), I judge only by what I'm hearing, given that it's so hard to interpret what you're hearing when behind the kit sometimes. I may very well be ridiculous sometimes and that is my personal thing but it's really not coming from "knocking them down a notch". I'm wise enough to know full well they'll do that themselves if they're so inclined...