People just dont get it

[FloEy]

today i performed a lil talent show at my skool and it was only a snare solo. I had no bass drum no nothing. so i did a couple of double stroke rolls, a one handed roll, singles, and a few paradiddles. I lost to some kid who was trying to be a comedian. key word is trying!! everyone said it was a no brainer who should of won but whatever. I was just suprised how people dont get the practice it takes to even do what i did. o well.. an no im not a 7 yr old even though i am sounding like one but its jus crazy how people just dont get it. hope you guys understand what im saying.

[Wegadrummer]

Snare is fun! What about some shownamship? I bet it you threw and twirl some you would have won.. I totally understand what you are saying, but you got to think that most of the people there dont know what a double stroke is.. hope you see my point..

[Flamacue]

Snare is fun! What about some shownamship? I bet it you threw and twirl some you would have won.. I totally understand what you are saying, but you got to think that most of the people there dont know what a double stroke is.. hope you see my point..

Yeah, it really depends on who's judging you. If it were all drummers that were voting, you probably would have won hands down on technical difficulty. My guess is it wasn't drummers judging...so in that instance you have to think about the performance. I quoted Wega because he said it first, and said it best. Play to your audience. It's not always who's got the most difficult chops, but who entertains the audience that wins the appeal... A one handed roll is cool, but what was your facial expression, and how did you lead into it? Where you very serious and intent, somewhat robotic? Because you won’t warm up a crowd if you don’t at least try to put a smile on their face…

[hawk9290]

This problem is all over- my advice, just get used to it, very few people aside from drummers appreciate real musicianship. Always use some showmanship skills, but not more than will detract from your playing.

[d.c.drummer]

if you go to NAMM and play a double bassing, cymbal smashing, stick tirling solo, you wil get some stares and a few sympathetic claps.

if you do that at school, you'll be treated like you were the best thing to come along since sliced bread... its all about playing to the audience...

[PHIL2007]

Go to the same spot, play a smoking,burning pocket groove so deep that steve gadd would blush,then see what you get,i gurantee it will be different!
Sure you have to play to your audience, but you have to genuinely make an impact on that same audience,it is not about monster chops,insane technical acrobats, it is about playing from way down deep inside you,your feelings, your emotions! Sure you have to have them to be able to translate what you feel,so, go ahead, practice those rudiments,get your feet as fast as you want em,but in the end, nobody cares,what is going to set you apart from the next guy is going to be how you play from your heart.

[hawk9290]

i saw someone mention "play to your audience." I have to disagree. I used to think this way, but I since changed my frame of mind, and realized how wrong I was. Playing to the audience limited my skills and progression, and garnered me no significantly larger amount of attention. Play your best and play what is really drumming- don't dumb it down just to win something. If you really put full effort in to what you played and still lost, thats fine, you at least tried hard and worked at it.

[maddrummr]

You could bust out the marching snare, pull off some SWEET chops, work on showmanship. Then just play a triple stroked roll and there you go!

I do it on a drum pad and people are amazed. So i guess audience influences what you should play to win.

Same w/ drumset as mentioned earlier. Pull off that double bass and a bunch of fast tom licks and yea its sweet.

But use a nice bonham shuffle and some latin groove and man were workin now. Most people would look at that like its nothing compared to double bass.

[brittc89]

This problem is all over- my advice, just get used to it, very few people aside from drummers appreciate real musicianship. Always use some showmanship skills, but not more than will detract from your playing.

Well, I dont think a display of rudiments such as the double stroke roll and paradiddle is musicianship. Dont get me wrong, practice should be appreciated, but we can equate this situation to a trumpet player getting on stage and saying everyone, listen to this high e, now the g, how bout a high a now? No musical structure to it, just mere notes. Dont take it personally though that you lost. People are just fickle by mind numbing entertainment.

[bromasi]

today i performed a lil talent show at my skool and it was only a snare solo. I had no bass drum no nothing. so i did a couple of double stroke rolls, a one handed roll, singles, and a few paradiddles. I lost to some kid who was trying to be a comedian. key word is trying!! everyone said it was a no brainer who should of won but whatever. I was just suprised how people dont get the practice it takes to even do what i did. o well.. an no im not a 7 yr old even though i am sounding like one but its jus crazy how people just dont get it. hope you guys understand what im saying.

I heard this story once, Max Roach,Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa were playing with Jazz At the Philomonic(spl ?)Max did his thing, very muscial, great response, then Buddy did his thing ,big chops once again great response, Max and Buddy standing in the wings, Max turned to Buddy and said "well we are going to get our butts kicked" not because of great chops, are being muscial, just pure showmenship plus a great solo, Gene brought the house down, the people went crazy.

[Skitch]

This problem is all over- my advice, just get used to it, very few people aside from drummers appreciate real musicianship. Always use some showmanship skills, but not more than will detract from your playing.

I have to agree with you on this! Drumming is one of the oldest forms of communication and that is what musicians are doing when they get together and make music; they have a musical conversation!

This is lost on the American Idol fan because their communication skill set is the primitive voice and that is about it!

Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

[Drummist222]

I heard this story once, Max Roach,Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa were playing with Jazz At the Philomonic(spl ?)Max did his thing, very muscial, great response, then Buddy did his thing ,big chops once again great response, Max and Buddy standing in the wings, Max turned to Buddy and said "well we are going to get our butts kicked" not because of great chops, are being muscial, just pure showmenship plus a great solo, Gene brought the house down, the people went crazy.

I'm not familiar with this story, but I would guess that Krupa's huge popularity had as much to do with his response as his showmanship or anything else. Conversely, when Benny Goodman's band went up against Chick Webb's, Krupa acknowledged that he was outdrummed, and Webb's band emerged victorious. To the original poster, I remember seeing an episode of House where one of the doctors mentioned that his uncle could spit a watermelon seed like 30 yards, but worked at a Jiffy Lube. The point is, just because something is hard doesn't make it entertaining or useful. Yes, it's called a talent show, but the winner is really the one that entertains the audience the best. Neat tricks like a one-handed roll may or may not do that, but an exciting, musical solo probably will. Of course, comedians are just generally more entertaining as a solo act than snare drummers. When was the last time you saw an HBO special with just a solo snare drummer?

[baz]

...Regardless of which of you was more profficient at your particular choice of expression,

it can be a lot more difficult to interact with a crowd and bare yourself to ridicule and heckling than to lose yourself on a drum.

Barry

[balboa]

today i performed a lil talent show at my skool and it was only a snare solo. I had no bass drum no nothing. so i did a couple of double stroke rolls, a one handed roll, singles, and a few paradiddles. I lost to some kid who was trying to be a comedian. key word is trying!! everyone said it was a no brainer who should of won but whatever. I was just suprised how people dont get the practice it takes to even do what i did. o well.. an no im not a 7 yr old even though i am sounding like one but its jus crazy how people just dont get it. hope you guys understand what im saying.

the key is people who dont play dont get it. dont worry about them, they know nothing about what it takes. "as a musician you have two choices. you can please 10,000 people superficially, or 1,000 deeply" -bill bruford. aim at pleasing the 1,000 people deeply, because they are the musicians, and they get it!

[nhzoso]

"today i performed a lil talent show at my skool and it was only a snare solo. I had no bass drum no nothing. so i did a couple of double stroke rolls, a one handed roll, singles, and a few paradiddles. I lost to some kid who was trying to be a comedian. key word is trying!! everyone said it was a no brainer who should of won but whatever. I was just suprised how people dont get the practice it takes to even do what i did. o well.. an no im not a 7 yr old even though i am sounding like one but its jus crazy how people just dont get it. hope you guys understand what im saying."



Sounds like a good story to tell the writer from Modern drummer that is interviewing you in 10 years...don't ya think?

[Casper "DrPowerStroke" Paludan]

Of course, bad luck can play in, but really, it is about you expressing what is in your heart. Your mention of what techniques you used, which to me as a listener is unimportant, makes me think you have a breakthrough in self-expression on the drum waiting for you. Did you really tell a story about yourself, life, love with your drumming? No matter how slow you play, how few notes, or how technically unimpressive it might be, that should be your mission! Casper

[Michael G]

Well, I dont think a display of rudiments such as the double stroke roll and paradiddle is musicianship. Dont get me wrong, practice should be appreciated, but we can equate this situation to a trumpet player getting on stage and saying everyone, listen to this high e, now the g, how bout a high a now? No musical structure to it, just mere notes. Dont take it personally though that you lost. People are just fickle by mind numbing entertainment.

Best answer in this thread.

[fourstringdrums]

Sorry to be blunt, but I don't blame whoever was judging it for not picking you. I agree with what brittc89 said, it basically sounded like you just got up there and played rudiments. People aren't going to be impressed by a practice session on a snare drum. They want to see a full set, they want to see showmanship or a groove and/or chops that can get them excited and moving in their seats. Even if you played what you did at a pretty high tempo that was impressive, it's still not enough to connect with the audience. Unless you were doing stick tricks and what not, a kid banging away on a snare drum isn't impressive enough.

[burnthehero]

Playing something technically challenging doesn't necessarily make it entertaining for other people.

[fourstringdrums]

Playing something technically challenging doesn't necessarily make it entertaining for other people.

Yes but you have to make it entertaining even if it's the most basic thing. Sitting there playing rudiments is most likely going to be pretty boring even if technically it's not challenging.

[burnthehero]

Yes but you have to make it entertaining even if it's the most basic thing. Sitting there playing rudiments is most likely going to be pretty boring even if technically it's not challenging.

That's what I'm saying. Simply playing rudiments in front of an audience of people who don't appreciate rudiments like some of us do simply won't be entertained. So there needs to be another element somewhere in there to capture the listener.

[harryconway]

You cannot expect a school audience/talent show crowd to be wow'd by a snare solo. Only drummers are gonna "get it". The other 99% of the crowd is gonna dig the comedian or the juggler or the poodle dog riding a tricycle. If you played well and had fun, that's all that should matter.

[brittc89]

That's what I'm saying. Simply playing rudiments in front of an audience of people who don't appreciate rudiments like some of us do simply won't be entertained. So there needs to be another element somewhere in there to capture the listener.

Ill be honest. I woulnt be cheering for someone simply doing three basic rudiments in front of me. You have to be a show-man and know how to entertain the audience youre playing for.

[Batera945]

these are some good advices for my guitar center drum off in two weeks! =)

but dude dont be bummed about it. Its great that you can do all of those things but someone whos watching can probably not even tell the difference between wat your doing. For them your just moving faster or slower. You gotta be able to appeal to them and be humble about it too.

You win some and you loose some. But you learn from both.

[Legacyrik]

Ill be honest. I woulnt be cheering for someone simply doing three basic rudiments in front of me. You have to be a show-man and know how to entertain the audience youre playing for.

Or... just play something they dig.