Girl drummers

Sadly, but the fact there was even the title "girl drummer" shows how backwards we are about the whole thing.

Sort of off topic, but I have wondered why there aren't more women musicians. I would think about half would be a reasonable number.

Is there still too much good 'ol boy and or harassement going on? Maybe you women out there can shed some light on this?

Because most women just aren't as brave, fabulous and tenacious as Anon and myself :)
 
[QUOTE= wearing a mankini whilst impaled on a throne base


Now there's a visual....mankini. I've never heard that term but you better believe I'm going to use it someday when it appropriately fits...LOL
 
Cindy Blackman and Hilary Jones are another two. I was about to mention Meg and Karen Carpenter, but if I'm digging that far back then it just highlights the issue. Let's face it, a lot of women aren't drummers because it's popularly thought to be a masculine role.

I never understood that "feminine" or "masculine" role of drumming. Playing has more to do with coordination than strength. Humans are silly.
 
Gender is irrelevant to art...

...but have you noticed that in the pantheon of mind-bendingly good drummers...they are all male?

Sure..there are some good drummers who happen to be female...but none I would mention in the top 20.

Social acceptability differences?...Muscle Mass/aggression(eg Testosterone) differences?...Pure chance? What combination is determining this(beyond my own definition of mind-bendingly good drummer)
 
I think the bigger issue here are drummers who use things other than their skill. There are plenty of guys on youtube who are glammed out wearing sunglasses indoors, with expensive drums, high quality audio/video production, and are just mediocre at best. Meanwhile they have tons of views. I don't think anyone should get upset about it. I think any working musician wants to put themselves out there and if something works, you can't really fault them.

With that said, Cindy Blackman is one of my all time favorite drummers, and it had nothing to do with her gender.
 
Because most women just aren't as brave, fabulous and tenacious as Anon and myself :)

Exactly :)

The worst thing that can happen is you are the only one available and conscripted to help unload the W bins. That one ended up a whisker away from disaster. Just thinking about it makes me shudder!


I never understood that "feminine" or "masculine" role of drumming. Playing has more to do with coordination than strength. Humans are silly.

Guys tend to be better with gross motor coordination. To be totally un PC, I think blacks are more coordinated than whites in the same way as men are more coordinated than women - tons of overlap, of course, but the trend is clear to me. No biggie IMO - in all these things it's a matter of swings and roundabouts, which is what being different means (as opposed to better or worse).

But in the end it's the look of the thing. Drummers strike blows - guy territory. Ironically, unless you're a basher, drums are gentler on hands and fingers than other instruments. I found that out during my brief keyboard stint. It's a big reason why I returned to nice, gentle, kind drums - the only pain drums give me is emotional :)

Singing is hard on the vocal cords. Wind instruments are exhausting and it's not much fun for them when they catch a cold before a gig. So my message to parents is ... Encourage your your daughter to take up drums! It's gentle and provides good toning, while leaving hands soft and ladylike :)


Gender is irrelevant to art...

...but have you noticed that in the pantheon of mind-bendingly good drummers...they are all male?

Sure..there are some good drummers who happen to be female...but none I would mention in the top 20.

Social acceptability differences?...Muscle Mass/aggression(eg Testosterone) differences?...Pure chance? What combination is determining this(beyond my own definition of mind-bendingly good drummer)

Agree that gender is not an issue in most high art, but it sure matters in popular music - I don't see a lot of guys out there covering Dusty Springfield tunes or women covering NIN's Closer to God.

I suspect women aren't big in drumming in the same way as Luxembourg (pop 500,000) isn't big in the Olympics. In some genres I expect muscle twitch and strength come into play. When I played hard rock all the drummers I knew were guys and they had power that I couldn't match (we were all self taught), but musicians in my bands always liked what I did because I played with them rather than over the top of them.

For whatever reason - probably the genteelness and conservatism of the thing - more women play instruments used in classical music.

While most drumming is gender-neutral, the drums are a brilliant vehicle for alpha male displays of athletic power and/or skill ... much more so than other instruments because of the scale of movements. It excites something in our hind brains. So that gets the most attention. I enjoy the showy stuff for a while, but I need more expressiveness or imagination to stay interested, but I'm a weirdo - and hence a woman drummer :)

// end long winded hypotheses :)
 
Because most women just aren't as brave, fabulous and tenacious as Anon and myself :)

Many a true word said in jest Mary. I think, sadly, it's much more about gender conditioning and gender specific roles than any lack of talent or ability. It is, unfortuately, in this day and age still much more accepted that boys/men play drums than girls/women. It's also much easier to be a Plug ugly guy playing drums- how many women who don't conform to the media stereotype of what a woman should look like are out there playing. I haven't seen many, if I've even seen any. So not only do you have to play well, you probably have to be "hot" too, to get the kind of exposure that Corbus or others of his ilk do.

It's just as well I'm not a girl, or I'd be stuffed!
 
The way I see it is these female youtube drummers are using their gender as novelty and getting hits based on their looks in a way. It may be working for them but also selling themselves short. I wonder why drummers like Meytal for example don't play in a great band or start one, record their own solos and compose their own musical stuff, when they are obviously talented enough. Why does it has to be covers? All they are doing is copying performances. They are showing great skill, yeah, but not using their own creativity. Where's the art and personality? And when they do lessons it seems like such rudimentary stuff you can get elsewhere. Why not show us something new? or unique? I'd be less inclined to say Meytal is playing the gender card if it didn't feel like she was getting away with average stuff, when she could be doing more. I hate seeing a female coast along and not play up their potential.

Look at Orianthi on guitar. She's powerhouse! She never gives 50% when she could probably get away with it theses days. She gives 110% and got the MJ gig to prove it! If gender is not an issue, why do so many female drummers get treated differently for mediocre talent when we as males would be ignored for being average? Good should be good, average should be average, and not have looks or gender be a factor.
 
Yep RocknGrohl, a few utilise visuals to broaden their appeal. That's unheard of in music, eh? ;-) Who was last to completely disregard visuals? The old jazzers in the 50s and 60s? (with some notable exceptions).

Music is mostly an audio-visual experience - from face and body paint to opera masks to the big swing bands to sexy crooners to the hippie colour explosion to major rock productions to punk chic to quiffs with more gel than hair and steampunk outfits to the grunge look to dance and laser extravaganzas ... at home you had album cover art and music videos ... dance has been a common theme throughout ... usually the singers and the dancers are the attraction and the musos provide support.

Talk of music videos brings us back to Meytal. Her videos show her playing her instrument ... you don't see that too much in band video clips. She gets to stay at home and relax rather than touring. Not my thing - I find drum covers as boring as batsheet - but I think her head's screwed on the right way.
 
haha... really? I've put a couple of vids on youtube and they've hardly gone viral. We don't get any special treatment I'm afraid :) most girl drummers are out there just gigging and practicing like everyone else.
Links please caz :)

BTW, are you coming to the London drum show next weekend? Call by if you are.
 
haha... really? I've put a couple of vids on youtube and they've hardly gone viral. We don't get any special treatment I'm afraid :) most girl drummers are out there just gigging and practicing like everyone else.
Just curious but did you actually say anything along the lines of "girl drummer" in the video title?
 
Anyone, regardless of sex, who is encouraged to learn drums (especially from an early age) will end up with good rhythmic skills. In a lot of Islamic countries, many women were amateur drummers. That's not so much the case now, because modernisation has meant a lot of traditions are dying out, but many 'ordinary' women could be quite accomplished frame-drummers, tabla players etc.

My point? When there's a culture that encourages musicianship among women, then you end up with outstanding women musicians. And for that reason I'm in favour of any vids that promote women drummers. They can be role models, getting away from the typical, male drummer stereotype (I'm sure not all young women want to learn from pot-bellied bald guys with a wardrobe that hasn't rung the changes since 1988).
 
Last edited:
They're just drummers. How the rest of the world reacts can't be blamed on them.

Something that''s rarer will always get more attention, just because it's not the norm.

Foreign musicians get a bitmore attention in my country than the average Norwegian musician. When the double bass craze caught on about 10 years ago, the people who jumped on it got more attrention. It's just how things work especially in the entertainment business.

Now if a girl is obviously trying to play that card that's her choice. But, it would be hypocritical to not admit that men do the exact same thing.

When I went to the conservatory there was only two players that had a deep enough groove and song sensibility that I truly enjoyed playing with them. One was male and the other a female. She was the only girl drummer in that school and to my knowledge the only one ever.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's only 1 female drummer pr.1000 male drummers. That in itself makes it unique.

I'm to old to get excited by half naked children, so as with all musicians I have only one concern. Can they play? All that other stuff is for the tabloids to ponder.
 
The way I see it is these female youtube drummers are using their gender as novelty and getting hits based on their looks in a way. It may be working for them but also selling themselves short. I wonder why drummers like Meytal for example don't play in a great band or start one, record their own solos and compose their own musical stuff, when they are obviously talented enough. Why does it has to be covers? All they are doing is copying performances. They are showing great skill, yeah, but not using their own creativity. Where's the art and personality? And when they do lessons it seems like such rudimentary stuff you can get elsewhere. Why not show us something new? or unique? I'd be less inclined to say Meytal is playing the gender card if it didn't feel like she was getting away with average stuff, when she could be doing more. I hate seeing a female coast along and not play up their potential.

This applies to basically everyone doing that kind of thing, male or female. Why are you directing your criticism/concern only at women?

...why do so many female drummers get treated differently for mediocre talent when we as males would be ignored for being average?

Because that's life. Mediocre players get ahead all the time for non-musical reasons. I'm aware of no special rule that says that doesn't apply to women.
 
The way I see it is these female youtube drummers are using their gender as novelty and getting hits based on their looks in a way. It may be working for them but also selling themselves short. I wonder why drummers like Meytal for example don't play in a great band or start one, record their own solos and compose their own musical stuff, when they are obviously talented enough. Why does it has to be covers? All they are doing is copying performances. They are showing great skill, yeah, but not using their own creativity. Where's the art and personality? And when they do lessons it seems like such rudimentary stuff you can get elsewhere. Why not show us something new? or unique? I'd be less inclined to say Meytal is playing the gender card if it didn't feel like she was getting away with average stuff, when she could be doing more. I hate seeing a female coast along and not play up their potential.

Look at Orianthi on guitar. She's powerhouse! She never gives 50% when she could probably get away with it theses days. She gives 110% and got the MJ gig to prove it! If gender is not an issue, why do so many female drummers get treated differently for mediocre talent when we as males would be ignored for being average? Good should be good, average should be average, and not have looks or gender be a factor.

Maybe they just like doing what they are doing.
 
Back
Top