Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
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Jeremy Smirnoff
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:53 pm
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Contact:
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
Welcome to HOD, Dave! Are you still gigging with The Mars Volta? That whole camp has been quiet lately, I don't even know if anything's in the works... But anyhow, enjoy the forum, and again, welcome!
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
Oh, wow, man - I had a feeling I should have recognized Dave's name. You have a TMV fan over here. Nice drum chair to take over, congratulations. Hope you'll join in the discussion!
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
While those are good players Id really love to see them play some music.
Sadly I don't think this would win many OOOs or Ahhs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfVTRL7Ljc
Sadly I don't think this would win many OOOs or Ahhs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfVTRL7Ljc
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rpc
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
I was less impressed by this guy's playing than by the playing of some of the Drum-Off winners from years past; it didn't feel sturdy and I never found myself going, "Wow!"
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
Every GC Drum Off thread requires the GC Drum Off police, I guess, just to insure anyone who might find some kind of value in it is reminded of its lack of value. Not so harsh in this thread, though, so kudos to all of you for restraining yourself from some of the nastier things said about this event around here.
In perspective I get the contest and it inspires thousands of kids to work out their technique while exposing them to their peers who may or may not be listening to other styles than them. That's not an awful thing. I usually find the winner to have an extremely high skill set, and that's not an awful thing, either.
What I find at the finals is the kids with chops will win, but they usually lack the effortlessness of the drum heroes they borrowed from. That effortlessness is part of the sound, and the kids haven't gotten to that point yet. They're playing the notes, but it's not really there yet like it is for the masters. Like a teenager playing Prokofiev ... it's not just in the technical performance -- understanding and executing the nuance is critical.
Like the kid who won. He's doing the ladder fills, which are always impressive to me, but his are really staccato and not quite fluid. I bet if we heard him two or three years down the road those will be killer. But he's a kid playing a lick with no real thought for things like phrasing, so it just is what it is. Who of us haven't been there at that age, with whatever lick playing at whatever level? It's not a crime, not for that age group. It's part of the process, IMO.
(I also find it frustrating that gospel chops drummers have so co-opted licks like that that it's now become some kind of put down around here ... "it's just gospel chops." I think you'll find most of those cool licks were gracefully or not so gracefully lifted out of the scores of jazz and fusion drummers we herald. And it's impressive to me all on its own that a lot of these unschooled drummers had the tenacity to sit down and work that stuff out on their own and make it something else. Wish we could get past the disdain we have for "gospel chops" and the drummers who define that genre).
I think of GCDO like I think of WFD (though I find WFD even less appealing): It's horrifying if taken too seriously or considered a thing by itself, but if in the grand scheme it gets kids interested in the nuanced, technical, artisan aspect of drumming, it has some great value in the big picture and we shouldn't shun that. In an age of music when it would be very easy for the drum set to get wiped out of history as quickly as it appeared, at least there's something out there that continues to graft young drummers to the vine of our beloved history, giving it a chance to continue and grow. If you think drum set playing will never die, consider the lost artisan skills of the past because technology made it easier; we aren't a better civilization for having lost that skill and knowledge. I believe a lot of us spend so much time here discussing technique and the drummers who excel at it for that very reason -- we fear losing it. So we advance it by keeping it a constant fresh subject. I think if you embrace GCDO from that point of view, it has some value and shouldn't be automatically written off just because it doesn't come with the highest principles of our musical standards.
In perspective I get the contest and it inspires thousands of kids to work out their technique while exposing them to their peers who may or may not be listening to other styles than them. That's not an awful thing. I usually find the winner to have an extremely high skill set, and that's not an awful thing, either.
What I find at the finals is the kids with chops will win, but they usually lack the effortlessness of the drum heroes they borrowed from. That effortlessness is part of the sound, and the kids haven't gotten to that point yet. They're playing the notes, but it's not really there yet like it is for the masters. Like a teenager playing Prokofiev ... it's not just in the technical performance -- understanding and executing the nuance is critical.
Like the kid who won. He's doing the ladder fills, which are always impressive to me, but his are really staccato and not quite fluid. I bet if we heard him two or three years down the road those will be killer. But he's a kid playing a lick with no real thought for things like phrasing, so it just is what it is. Who of us haven't been there at that age, with whatever lick playing at whatever level? It's not a crime, not for that age group. It's part of the process, IMO.
(I also find it frustrating that gospel chops drummers have so co-opted licks like that that it's now become some kind of put down around here ... "it's just gospel chops." I think you'll find most of those cool licks were gracefully or not so gracefully lifted out of the scores of jazz and fusion drummers we herald. And it's impressive to me all on its own that a lot of these unschooled drummers had the tenacity to sit down and work that stuff out on their own and make it something else. Wish we could get past the disdain we have for "gospel chops" and the drummers who define that genre).
I think of GCDO like I think of WFD (though I find WFD even less appealing): It's horrifying if taken too seriously or considered a thing by itself, but if in the grand scheme it gets kids interested in the nuanced, technical, artisan aspect of drumming, it has some great value in the big picture and we shouldn't shun that. In an age of music when it would be very easy for the drum set to get wiped out of history as quickly as it appeared, at least there's something out there that continues to graft young drummers to the vine of our beloved history, giving it a chance to continue and grow. If you think drum set playing will never die, consider the lost artisan skills of the past because technology made it easier; we aren't a better civilization for having lost that skill and knowledge. I believe a lot of us spend so much time here discussing technique and the drummers who excel at it for that very reason -- we fear losing it. So we advance it by keeping it a constant fresh subject. I think if you embrace GCDO from that point of view, it has some value and shouldn't be automatically written off just because it doesn't come with the highest principles of our musical standards.
“Let's try some of my songs.” Dave Grohl, top sign drummer will be fired.
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Juan Expósito
- Posts: 1011
- Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:20 am
- Location: Cartagena - SPAIN
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
I am waiting for SIMON and GAVIN duet.
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
1:28, hell yes !!!
I come from Tain, Vinnie, Omar, Jeff, Fish, Stewart, and many more...
Re: Guitar Center Drum Off 2010
That put a smile on my face Juan. I am also waiting for some footage of Gavin and Simon-
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