Casey Cooper (COOP3RDRUMM3R)

All technical drumming points and ability aside, I think what Casey does to inspire people to start drumming is great. However, IMHO, Casey seems interested in creating his brand and an entertainment package, which is fine. That's what a lot of successful entertainers do/have to do to build their careers and get exposure. But, artistically that does nothing for me and worries me that young up and comers are starting for the wrong reasons. I hope they get started and get inspired by others and get pointed in the right direction, not that there's anything wrong with entertaining but there is more to this art. I think there is a difference between a musician and an entertainer and when one appears to spend as much time preparing themselves to entertain they are taking time away from being a musician. Im not saying Casey is not a musician either, Im just saying there is a line somewhere.

I am a nobody in the world of music and an average drummer at best. Im just a guy with a love for music and I turned that into a hobby of writing and recording. I give Casey tons of respect for the amount of work that he has put into his thing and he deserves to be successful. Its just not my cup of tea.
 
Hey man, we're not having a discussion here. You obviously know what you're doing. I was just saying I'm confused by your statement that you want to be performing and entertaining. Because in my world, when people are looking for drummers to work, they're looking for people who are actually good first. The entertaining part is a by-product of being good. I'm not going to send a sub based on his entertainment value - he has to be a player first. Your statement to me was that you're not into being a player, you want to be entertaining. So you get to book the after-party for the musicians playing on the bandstand.

That's all I'm saying. We're not talking about the same things so I couldn't possibly bring you down. Bringing you down is when I say "Two notes is two notes, man", after you say you were fired from a gig for missing two notes. If you want to be a player, I need you to be able to nail all the notes, right?

You seem to be making a little progress on understanding, BUT, the most important part of this is not whether YOU understand, it's about anyone else reading this thread, so this is very important that it is expressed:

The most important point of my mentality/attitude that you keep trying to bury, that I want to be very apparent for anyone else reading this thread, is that contrary to what you're trying to make it seem like, I am working on being a better and better and awesome player and working on being the best drummer I can be. Literally the thing you keep holding against me is your lack of pulling the actual meaning from words that are blatantly obvious. I never said I didn't want to be a great player/drummer. I just said "My goal as a drummer isn't to be the MOST technically talented." (keyword MOST) There is a huge difference between being a killer player and being the "MOST technically talented" in the world.

For anyone reading this, I am not in the least bit suggesting that you shouldn't work to be the best you can be, you should strive for nothing less, BUT the best you can be doesn't necessarily have to be the absolute most technical player on the planet, seeing as how only one person can hold that position at a time, that makes it just about downright impossible for everyone to be that. You need to strive to be as technically talented a player that makes YOU happy and allows you every opportunity that you wish to be awarded. In the end the more chops you have, the better, but don't let it get to you if someone who can't play as well as Virgil or Mangini is getting on your case about you not being able to play as well as Virgil or Mangini. Not everyone is striving for a gig with Dream Theatre or something of the sort.

Hope that helps to clear up the fog that our friend Bo Eder here is trying so hard to cast on my attitude.

And Charlie Juson, I'm glad you're back on the kit, my friend! Make sure you stick around, cause life behind the kit is a lot of fun :)

And thanks a lot for the support, Emmaticus00 (Emma?) Keep having fun and playing and it sounds like you're definitely headed towards being a great drummer :)

Keep jammin!

Cooper
 
wow, sorry grammar nazi

Endorser-endorsee is not a grammar issue, it's a definition issue.

As such, please refer to Porter - and me - as a Definition Nazi.

Danke.
 
Great tidbit for the up-and-coming youtube drummer generation.

http://boostlikes.com/blog/2013/08/buying-likes-followers-ethical-whitehat

:)

Thanks for the share, Brian. While promotion in the form of advertising can be a good thing, I really would stray away from paying for advertisement on Facebook. Almost all paid advertising on Facebook results in "likes" but not valuable likes that actually interact with your posts. In fact the corruption and fraud in Facebook advertising goes so deep that even if you don't pay for fake likes or advertising, your Facebook pages can receive them anyway from people who are paid to like things, but like other pages in order to hide their real task of liking a specific one so they don't get caught.

I've only brushed the surface of a response, but this video covers the subject with some in depth research, very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

Hope this sheds some light on that as well.

Cooper
 
you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has worked harder on his career/exposure/network etc than myself.

That's the problem. You are spending so much time creating videos that you have no time to work on the craft of actually playing the drums. Why does everyone feel the need to deluge the Internet with mediocrity?
 
That's the problem. You are spending so much time creating videos that you have no time to work on the craft of actually playing the drums. Why does everyone feel the need to deluge the Internet with mediocrity?
Xactly. How does being super duper busy constantly creating videos relate to "becoming the best drummer you can be"? (Which, in my book, would rather relate to _physically_ working on becoming a better drummer/musician, not spitting out YouTube videos.) Out of those 16 hours per day, how many hours are actually spent on "becoming the best drummer you can be"? How much is lighting, video shooting, editing, all that periphery stuff? Are you practicing 16 hours or working 16 hours on your brand?

What I forgot to mention in my previous post when I said I don't care for copycats is that the drummers who 'made it' are getting gigs/engagements/recording projects because they have some uniqueness - _if_ people want that. So a Steve Gadd is supposed to bring some element of Gadd into whatever project he's involved. What could you bring into a project? Did you actually have enough time to develop something that could be labeled a style of your own or at least some traces of uniqueness? Serial production vs. individualism.
 
Xactly. How does being super duper busy constantly creating videos relate to "becoming the best drummer you can be"? (Which, in my book, would rather relate to _physically_ working on becoming a better drummer/musician, not spitting out YouTube videos.) Out of those 16 hours per day, how many hours are actually spent on "becoming the best drummer you can be"? How much is lighting, video shooting, editing, all that periphery stuff? Are you practicing 16 hours or working 16 hours on your brand?

What I forgot to mention in my previous post when I said I don't care for copycats is that the drummers who 'made it' are getting gigs/engagements/recording projects because they have some uniqueness - _if_ people want that. So a Steve Gadd is supposed to bring some element of Gadd into whatever project he's involved. What could you bring into a project? Did you actually have enough time to develop something that could be labeled a style of your own or at least some traces of uniqueness? Serial production vs. individualism.

I'm so sick of you guys completely dog piling on him. There is absolutely no reason to completely hate about him not being a true "musician". Everytime he plays something, he puts a little bit of Cooper in it. Maybe he likes playing along to musicians; I do that myself. However, that does not make him any less of a musician. Covers are half of his channel. The other half is him playing in Georgia State University's band. You don't see him staring at sheet music completely copying the original guy. He adds to it and makes it his own. He does gigs and I can pretty much guarantee that he practices rudiments and others, like a true "musician."

This is the definition of a musician:
A musician (or instrumentalist) is a person who is talented in making music or performing music creatively, or one who composes, conducts, or performs music.

Lets see: he's a person who is talented (check). He performs creatively (check). I think he's a musician.

Accept it people, you just might have been proved wrong.

Haters gonna hate.
:)

I just got all argumentative essay on ya' guys. ;)
 
I think some people need to learn to read, or to read more carefully.

If I wanted to say that drummer x is not a musician then guess what, I'd do so. But I didn't. And I don't need quotes from encyclopedias on what a drummer is.

But what if drummer x - while being a 'musician' - is an _uninteresting_ drummer or one lacking _uniqueness_? (Subjective of course.)

You said it yourself - _you_ think he's a musician. Congrats.
 
I'm so sick of you guys completely dog piling on him. There is absolutely no reason to completely hate about him not being a true "musician".

A number of members sharing the same observations and conclusions isn't dog-piling.

And I don't think anyone suggested he's not a true musician. I believe the questions are about the validity and viability of a YouTube Drummer (or any other player) in a world where being a working musician normally requires a studio performance with other musicians.

I raised this question in a thread a while back, and I think the consensus was that YouTube drummers are valid... on YouTube. It's different than real-life, with its own audience, rewards, limitations, and potential for criticism.

As I said in an earlier post, I wouldn't trade YouTube fame for what I've accomplished in the real world with live musicians, playing in front of live audiences.

Bermuda
 
I'm so sick of you guys completely dog piling on him.

Accept it people, you just might have been proved wrong.

Haters gonna hate.
:)

I just got all argumentative essay on ya' guys. ;)

There is no 'wrong' here. A drummer can do whatever s/he pleases, and no drummer needs to defend at all what s/he does. I'm guessing you're younger, but one doesn't need DW praise ( or youtube 'likes') or anything else on the internet to validate yourself. Now...if you want advice or opinions, then you're at the right stop. But what you do with that info is your prerogative.

Haters? I'm not sure what you classify as 'haters'. Are they people with ability to analyze and hold two opposing ideas or views in their brains, and weigh the pros and cons, or speak about them? These are 'debaters' - People arguing the pros/cons of being a youtube drummer...of using youtube...or of Evans vs. Remo heads. Relax.
 
A number of members sharing the same observations and conclusions isn't dog-piling.

And I don't think anyone suggested he's not a true musician. I believe the questions are about the validity and viability of a YouTube Drummer (or any other player) in a world where being a working musician normally requires a studio performance with other musicians.

I raised this question in a thread a while back, and I think the consensus was that YouTube drummers are valid... on YouTube. It's different than real-life, with its own audience, rewards, limitations, and potential for criticism.

As I said in an earlier post, I wouldn't trade YouTube fame for what I've accomplished in the real world with live musicians, playing in front of live audiences.

Bermuda

This is also the reason why I think photos taken on an iPhone only look good on iPhones.
 
Everyone is free to have their own opinions, their own ideas, and their own beliefs. Thankfully we have that freedom of beliefs and freedom of speech, it's great. The problem is that a lot of people don't want to accept anything other than what they believe as a possibility. I guess in the end it's not really a problem, because you're perfectly welcome to be that if that's the kind of person you are, it just limits the opportunities/relationships and definitely doesn't open a lot of doors for you, if you distance yourself from anyone who doesn't believe what you believe.

The reason people think you are "hating" or "dog piling" or whatever it can be called is because you don't accept anything other than what you believe to be right, as a possibility. And hey, like I said, it's perfectly fine, as others have stated you're not gonna make everyone happy and you don't have to have the approval of a DW member to do something in life. It's definitely not something I'm looking for before I make my next move or make a decision, BUT what is sad is when you guys try and find anything I (or anyone else for that matter) say to use against them, and when you find something you leap on it, but when you can't find anything "wrong" or anything to point out that you don't like, you just choose not to respond and ignore it. Once again, completely up to you guys, but if you can't bring yourselves to admit you might be off on something you said or that maybe you misunderstood, or maybe that there is something good out there besides what you have stubbornly decided is the only way, then don't expect for people not to look at you like you're a dog piling person on anything you don't believe in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I've been the only one in this forum thread that has admitted I'm wrong about things, I'm not the best, I have a lot to work on, and that you guys are more knowledgeable and yet STILL it's like I'm talking to a brick wall that only responds when it sees a "weakness" in what I say. Not everyone does it, but there are a certain few who really make it blatantly obvious that they aren't gonna say anything unless they can use it to their advantage.

Anyway, that's just an outsider looking in, I guess.
 
Everyone is free to have their own opinions, their own ideas, and their own beliefs. Thankfully we have that freedom of beliefs and freedom of speech, it's great. The problem is that a lot of people don't want to accept anything other than what they believe as a possibility. I guess in the end it's not really a problem, because you're perfectly welcome to be that if that's the kind of person you are, it just limits the opportunities/relationships and definitely doesn't open a lot of doors for you, if you distance yourself from anyone who doesn't believe what you believe.

The reason people think you are "hating" or "dog piling" or whatever it can be called is because you don't accept anything other than what you believe to be right, as a possibility. And hey, like I said, it's perfectly fine, as others have stated you're not gonna make everyone happy and you don't have to have the approval of a DW member to do something in life. It's definitely not something I'm looking for before I make my next move or make a decision, BUT what is sad is when you guys try and find anything I (or anyone else for that matter) say to use against them, and when you find something you leap on it, but when you can't find anything "wrong" or anything to point out that you don't like, you just choose not to respond and ignore it. Once again, completely up to you guys, but if you can't bring yourselves to admit you might be off on something you said or that maybe you misunderstood, or maybe that there is something good out there besides what you have stubbornly decided is the only way, then don't expect for people not to look at you like you're a dog piling person on anything you don't believe in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I've been the only one in this forum thread that has admitted I'm wrong about things, I'm not the best, I have a lot to work on, and that you guys are more knowledgeable and yet STILL it's like I'm talking to a brick wall that only responds when it sees a "weakness" in what I say. Not everyone does it, but there are a certain few who really make it blatantly obvious that they aren't gonna say anything unless they can use it to their advantage.

Anyway, that's just an outsider looking in, I guess.

The thing is Cooper, whilst you have "Opinion A" others have "Opinion B". If everyone feels strongly about their own opinion then whilst a good debate might end in something of a meeting of minds, it is invariably not going to end in a consensus and the people with "Opinion B", suddenly saying "Oh wait, everything you have said has completely changed my entire thinking on this subject, I admit it I'm wrong!"

Sometimes you just have to agree to disagree, there are many debates that simply cannot be won and that is the beauty of debates. You should come away having learned some things and possibly taught others some things, but not necessarily having "won" or "lost" or changed your belief.
 
Everyone is free to have their own opinions, their own ideas, and their own beliefs. Thankfully we have that freedom of beliefs and freedom of speech, it's great. The problem is that a lot of people don't want to accept anything other than what they believe as a possibility. I guess in the end it's not really a problem, because you're perfectly welcome to be that if that's the kind of person you are, it just limits the opportunities/relationships and definitely doesn't open a lot of doors for you, if you distance yourself from anyone who doesn't believe what you believe.

The reason people think you are "hating" or "dog piling" or whatever it can be called is because you don't accept anything other than what you believe to be right, as a possibility. And hey, like I said, it's perfectly fine, as others have stated you're not gonna make everyone happy and you don't have to have the approval of a DW member to do something in life. It's definitely not something I'm looking for before I make my next move or make a decision, BUT what is sad is when you guys try and find anything I (or anyone else for that matter) say to use against them, and when you find something you leap on it, but when you can't find anything "wrong" or anything to point out that you don't like, you just choose not to respond and ignore it. Once again, completely up to you guys, but if you can't bring yourselves to admit you might be off on something you said or that maybe you misunderstood, or maybe that there is something good out there besides what you have stubbornly decided is the only way, then don't expect for people not to look at you like you're a dog piling person on anything you don't believe in. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I've been the only one in this forum thread that has admitted I'm wrong about things, I'm not the best, I have a lot to work on, and that you guys are more knowledgeable and yet STILL it's like I'm talking to a brick wall that only responds when it sees a "weakness" in what I say. Not everyone does it, but there are a certain few who really make it blatantly obvious that they aren't gonna say anything unless they can use it to their advantage.

Anyway, that's just an outsider looking in, I guess.

Casey,

When you first entered this discussion I felt you did yourself credit, however, the longer it continues the more confused I am about what your objectives are here. It's starting to look like you're really after some sort of retraction, or apology, or convincing someone or other of the error of their ways...which seems to be really more knee-jerk defensiveness than reasoned, informed debate, regardless of how elegantly or eloquently presented it is.

I feel that the longer you push this issue, the further away from what I assume your objective is (the overt respect of the community here) you will find yourself...and that's a shame, because I'm sure all of us here would welcome your contribution to discussion on all matters on this forum on a regular basis. We would value your unique perspective.

People here do respect you and your right to do what you do. However, you must also respect people's right to criticize what you do, and I dare say that whether the opinions are favourable to you or not, you are getting a much higher quality of criticism and discussion here than you would encounter on YouTube most of the time.

EDIT: As an adjunct to this, I'm just checking out some of your more recent videos and I have to say, credit where it's due, this one features some really excellent playing that you should be proud of.
And yet then there's this where I disagree profoundly with your interpretation. Where did the restraint and musicality go that you showed in the live video?
 
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