Casey Cooper (COOP3RDRUMM3R)

Yeah Bermuda - what the heck are we doing playing for money in front of people? That's just crazy talk! Actually having to suit up and go be perfect while on stage is just certifiable!

As they say, if there was a way to stay home and make the same money, we'd be doing it!

Has Casey found a way? I forget if there are ads on his videos, but do they add up to anything? My understanding is that an ad must run all the way through before it counts as a "click". I believe every time we hit "skip ad" after 5 seconds, that person gets nothing.

But yeah, how nice it would be to save gas, parking costs, wear & tear on the vehicle and drums, sticks & heads...

Not much future in that though.

Bermuda
 
As they say, if there was a way to stay home and make the same money, we'd be doing it!

Has Casey found a way? I forget if there are ads on his videos, but do they add up to anything? My understanding is that an ad must run all the way through before it counts as a "click". I believe every time we hit "skip ad" after 5 seconds, that person gets nothing.

But yeah, how nice it would be to save gas, parking costs, wear & tear on the vehicle and drums, sticks & heads...

Not much future in that though.

Bermuda

And paying for minions. Don't forget, I have minions ;)
 
YouTube was also responsible for the discovery of Justin Bieber.

'nuff said!
 
Yeah Bermuda - what the heck are we doing playing for money in front of people? That's just crazy talk! Actually having to suit up and go be perfect while on stage is just certifiable!

It's funny that you say that with so much sarcasm and disdain, when the difference between what I do and what you do is that I get paid to play live in front of people AND I get paid to make videos on YouTube, not to mention I am creating an entire brand for myself, and generating a base of people from all around the world that come out to check out different events that I play at. Marketing yourself in as many markets as possible is a key to success and is just good business sense. You may not see yourself as a business or feel you have to do any sort of work outside of just playing (and some people never do have to), but that's the reason many many many bands and people WAY more technically talented than I am, will never make it anywhere in music. It doesn't come to you, you have to go out there and get it and work for it.
This concept also applies to the person who was asking why it makes sense that Virgil Donati has so few subscribers compared to me. Virgil Donati is an absolutely incredible player and I won't be at that level anytime soon, if ever. My goal as a drummer isn't to be the most technically talented, I just want to have the most fun and entertain people. But the difference between me and him and why our social networks are so much different in size is because he only thinks about the drums. No matter how good you are, things like YouTube don't build themselves. If you don't do the work and you don't have an agent or manager or publicist doing the work for you, either, then it's not going to really go anywhere.

Since it seems to be a general dark area for anyone not involved in YouTube and I like to share what I've learned in hopes it helps others, here is a little bit about the ad side of things. There are many, many people making 6 and even 7 figure salaries a year on YouTube. I would be one of the 6 figure earners if not for a slight complication in being a music channel and the copyright issues involved with that. This is explained below:
As I stated before, the overall hours of work I've put into my channel since the beginning results in an average hourly payment of something very small, but now that I'm getting over 4 and a half million hits a month, the pay for my work is much more reasonable. If it wanted to, I could actually be making quite a large amount from YouTube, but I care more about my audience than I do money. I would be making around 12-15,000 a month if I received all of my ad revenue (Each million views is around 3-4000) , but due to the fact that I play to a lot of copyrighted tracks for my viewers entertainment instead of milking them for ad revenue with nonstop video reviews, "lessons," and other videos I own all the rights to, the majority of that goes to the record labels that own the music.
Not to mention I could be like a lot of other YouTubers in the different industries and use and promote products I don't truly believe in for monetary gain, but I don't believe in that. I could also participate in gorilla ad campaigns that pay much, much higher dividends, but I don't believe in that either, even though those aren't that bad since I'm providing people entertainment for completely free, all they have to do is watch an ad or listen to me talk about a product, it still bugs me.
 
Honestly, after I saw him on YouTube, I was inspired to start playing the drums. He is the best YouTube drummer. Also, if he hasn't all ready, he WILL be discovered by someone big because of YouTube.
 
Give the lad a break. He's still studying (it seems).

If he still only makes covers and not make any music of his own after he finishes, then something's wrong with his musical pursuits...Unless he doesn't intend to go into a full-time musical career after his graduation.
 
It's funny that you say that with so much sarcasm and disdain, when the difference between what I do and what you do is that I get paid to play live in front of people AND I get paid to make videos on YouTube, not to mention I am creating an entire brand for myself, and generating a base of people from all around the world that come out to check out different events that I play at. Marketing yourself in as many markets as possible is a key to success and is just good business sense. You may not see yourself as a business or feel you have to do any sort of work outside of just playing (and some people never do have to), but that's the reason many many many bands and people WAY more technically talented than I am, will never make it anywhere in music. It doesn't come to you, you have to go out there and get it and work for it.

Struck a chord there, did I?

Look man, I didn't say "you suck" or even hinted that there's no chance that you'd get anywhere. If you believe in what you're doing, than what do you care what we believe? Build your brand and get on with it. What I'm finding hard to believe is that you're not into it to be the best drummer you can be, but you want to entertain and have a good time. That kinda' insults the people who worked really hard to be really good that ended up entertaining and having a good time. There's a saying after you've been studying for almost all of your life that you learn and learn and learn, and when it comes time to perform, you forget all that and entertain.

There are countless numbers of us who went to college, studied for hours every day, learned how to sight read, and basically prepared ourselves so much that when the phone rang, we can deliver and eventually break in to being a working musician. Those countless people know so much but it's all covered up by the work they do working in a cover band playing weddings or in a club. If you're not striving to be technically saavy enough for a contractor to call on you to do some work, what is it exactly that you're doing?

Do I hire you to play on my next record, or do I hire you to plan the after party? I'm confused.

So I'm sorry, I guess that's what I think of Casey Cooper. Confusion. I'm not seeing good enough playing to say "I could use that guy to sub for me on a gig I can't make" but he's playing drums and building his brand of entertaining and having a good time. Do I hire you for a good time? That's where I'm confused. If you're not interested in being the best drummer you can be (or should be to compete with everyone else), you've kinda' crossed yourself off of people's lists who may need a drummer in the future. No one is going to hire anyone who doesn't care enough to be the best player they can be.

Maybe I'm just a jaded L.A. musician where everyone I meet here is so well-studied and ready to do anything to get their careers started, I'm not prepared to take a young person seriously who is already saying they'll never be close to a Virgil Donati so they're not even going to try. Even Walk Disney himself said his key to success was to surround himself with the best people he could find in all the areas he needed - and look where he ended up ;)

Good luck, buddy.
 
Struck a chord there, did I?

Look man, I didn't say "you suck" or even hinted that there's no chance that you'd get anywhere. If you believe in what you're doing, than what do you care what we believe? Build your brand and get on with it. What I'm finding hard to believe is that you're not into it to be the best drummer you can be, but you want to entertain and have a good time. That kinda' insults the people who worked really hard to be really good that ended up entertaining and having a good time. There's a saying after you've been studying for almost all of your life that you learn and learn and learn, and when it comes time to perform, you forget all that and entertain.

There are countless numbers of us who went to college, studied for hours every day, learned how to sight read, and basically prepared ourselves so much that when the phone rang, we can deliver and eventually break in to being a working musician. Those countless people know so much but it's all covered up by the work they do working in a cover band playing weddings or in a club. If you're not striving to be technically saavy enough for a contractor to call on you to do some work, what is it exactly that you're doing?

Do I hire you to play on my next record, or do I hire you to plan the after party? I'm confused.

So I'm sorry, I guess that's what I think of Casey Cooper. Confusion. I'm not seeing good enough playing to say "I could use that guy to sub for me on a gig I can't make" but he's playing drums and building his brand of entertaining and having a good time. Do I hire you for a good time? That's where I'm confused. If you're not interested in being the best drummer you can be (or should be to compete with everyone else), you've kinda' crossed yourself off of people's lists who may need a drummer in the future. No one is going to hire anyone who doesn't care enough to be the best player they can be.

Maybe I'm just a jaded L.A. musician where everyone I meet here is so well-studied and ready to do anything to get their careers started, I'm not prepared to take a young person seriously who is already saying they'll never be close to a Virgil Donati so they're not even going to try. Even Walk Disney himself said his key to success was to surround himself with the best people he could find in all the areas he needed - and look where he ended up ;)

Good luck, buddy.

Naah, now you've gone and mixed up my words to try and take what I said and make me look bad for it. And I know I should just not respond because you're obviously just looking for something to bring me down with, but maybe I'll try one more time and you'll get it. And I don't really care what you believe and what I say probably isn't going to change your mind because you don't want it changed, but you're obviously looking for a reaction and a discussion, so I'm having one with you.

I in no way said that just because I'm not Virgil that I'm not gonna better myself.
I'd say that 99.9% of all gigging drummers and most of the biggest names in the drum industry aren't Virgil or Mike Mangini level technically gifted. You don't need those kind of chops for most gigs and you know that and yet you're trying to put me down for saying I'm not striving to be Virgil? Sitting down behind a kit and playing the most complex thing I can think of doesn't make me nor 99% of the general public excited. It only makes the 1% of the world who enjoy crazy technical drumming excited. No one hired Dave Grohl for Nirvana because he was could play 32nd notes at 220bpm or some trivial technicality like that. They made great music because they entertained and the way they played spoke to people. It wasn't technically difficult, but it was powerful. And no, I'm not saying I'm Dave Grohl, I'm just saying your Virgil comments are completely missing the point of what music is to people and what you have to be to be successful in the music industry.

But anyway, if you want to come up with some sort of counter to that, that's fine, but there are quite a few names on the list of most well known drummers who Virgil would play circles around and that's exactly what I'm saying.
 
Casey said he didn't want to be "the most technically talented", not that he didn't want to be the "best player he can be". If something under the "best player" level for Casey is enough for him, then it's... well, enough, and that is his decision. :)

Though don't get me started on the 99% extremism in his reply there...
 
Casey said he didn't want to be "the most technically talented", not that he didn't want to be the "best player he can be". If something under the "best player" level for Casey is enough for him, then it's... well, enough, and that is his decision. :)

Though don't get me started on the 99% extremism in his reply there...

haha yeah, I was just having a little fun with the numbers there since I've got no actual data to refer to.
But thanks for actually understanding what I'm saying and not trying to turn my words around just because it isn't my ultimate goal to be the most technically talented drummer in the world.

Every time I get behind a kit, I give it my all and put in 100% in an attempt to be the best I can be, and I think that shows by the way people react after they see me play live. Of course every one who can sit behind a computer and wants to scrutinize will click replay will scrutinize, but after I get done playing live I've never had someone say anything other than how much they loved watching me jam and that I was tearing up the skins. And that's not because I'm more technically talented than the next drummer, in fact the last gig I was at, there was a 40 year percussion veteran band director in the other school's pep band who had chops for days, but I play with an intensity, energy, passion and love for what I do and I give it my all to be my best and that strikes a chord with people and it's hard to match.
 
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Winning attitude.

..
 
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People are different. I guess I'm one of those who doesn't take a lot with me watching your videos. In fact, I've checked just a few and never made it through an entire video - I'd have to stop after, say, 20 seconds or click a few times to see that it doesn't get any different than my first impression was. So my (subjective) reply on the original thread question is: Basically not much. As for the why: Your playing looks so showy to me. Maybe you're having fun indeed and the way you look when playing is perfectly natural but to me, it isn't. So I'm wondering _why_ people might put excessive motion into their playing while _musically_, there's zero need for it. To make it look "cooler"? Then let me prefer the less cool version. The difference in look won't show when listening to an album on CD.
(My dislike for excessive motions might stem from my track & field activity in my youth. You don't waste motions if they have no effect. And now, having started drums, my motional role model is more on the Bill Bachman than on [insert a showy drummer] side. There are correct/effective motions and anything else is what I personally don't care for.)

Why would anybody create some 500 videos? Imagine you created 100 - which is an unbelievably high number already - and spent the time you would have saved on forstering your progress in terms of expression, touch, expanding your knowledge of and skills in various music genres.

As for "intensity, energy, passion and love"...
I guess 100% of the members of this forum have passion and love for drums.
Intensity/energy is a quality that can manifest itself in various ways. It doesn't necessarily show by how hard you can hit a drum head or cymbal. By hitting drums _softly_ one can create an enormous _musical_ intensity/energy - provided the listener is mature/experienced enough to grasp this. While others would say the opposite: He's lacking intensity/energy - his strokes have no power...

Then there's that copycat/cover musician vs. being an original musician thing. I prefer the latter.

I do appreciate you having taken the time to join this thread. And honestly, I was surprised by the maturity of your initial replies. So thanks for that.
Good luck on your way.
 
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Winning attitude.

..

And with this post it seems we have reached an obvious end to maturity. I like the added quote in there though, it's quite comical, but unfortunately it does nothing to add to what was decent discussion. It's just unfortunate that on forums like these with anonymity, people lose sight of the good that these forums could be.

I feel like as usual nothing that is said will be taken seriously by those who have preconceived notions and an agenda to fulfill, so I don't see my continued replies to be worth anything to you guys. Feel free to go back to scrutinizing what I do, and I will go back to doing what I do (with the addition of working on a few constructive concepts provided by actual helpful members of the forum).

Although I'm sure this statement won't go over well with certain members, It's something I tell a lot of my viewers and maybe it will be a positive addition to some of your lives.

The more time you spend worrying and debating other's decisions and success, is less time spent achieving your own. You may not agree with it, and that's ok, but rather than fight it, do what makes YOU happy and go after your own success. That is certainly what I will be doing.

For those of you who are positive members, thanks for taking the time to leave constructive criticism and I appreciate the comments and messages I have received in my short time on this forum.

I wish everyone well and good luck with your drumming!
Practice hard, jam hard and have fun!

COOPER
 
Most of the credibility earned from you-tube internet drummers was gone years ago in my eyes; given that views, associated attention/ hysteria can be so easily exploited by amateurs with lots of time on their hands and a little cash to spend.

I always point to "machine gun smith". 'nuff said. LOL
 
Machine Gun Smith? Who's... oh, heh. :)

Hey Cobus!

Oh.

:)
 
Naah, now you've gone and mixed up my words to try and take what I said and make me look bad for it. And I know I should just not respond because you're obviously just looking for something to bring me down with, but maybe I'll try one more time and you'll get it. And I don't really care what you believe and what I say probably isn't going to change your mind because you don't want it changed, but you're obviously looking for a reaction and a discussion, so I'm having one with you.

I in no way said that just because I'm not Virgil that I'm not gonna better myself.
I'd say that 99.9% of all gigging drummers and most of the biggest names in the drum industry aren't Virgil or Mike Mangini level technically gifted. You don't need those kind of chops for most gigs and you know that and yet you're trying to put me down for saying I'm not striving to be Virgil? Sitting down behind a kit and playing the most complex thing I can think of doesn't make me nor 99% of the general public excited. It only makes the 1% of the world who enjoy crazy technical drumming excited. No one hired Dave Grohl for Nirvana because he was could play 32nd notes at 220bpm or some trivial technicality like that. They made great music because they entertained and the way they played spoke to people. It wasn't technically difficult, but it was powerful. And no, I'm not saying I'm Dave Grohl, I'm just saying your Virgil comments are completely missing the point of what music is to people and what you have to be to be successful in the music industry.

But anyway, if you want to come up with some sort of counter to that, that's fine, but there are quite a few names on the list of most well known drummers who Virgil would play circles around and that's exactly what I'm saying.


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?
 
It was fun seeing you here Casey. I heard this from a teacher before: "Attitude is a small thing that makes a huge difference." He definetely has the right attitude. I walk in to my band class everyday happy to play and learn. You guys may have more "experience" than him, but he also has tons of positive exposure. I think no matter whatever he does, you guys will continue to critique him. I learned how to drum from watching covers and I can also sight read music too. I think you can have fun and play to fun, catchy music; and buckle down and read charts also. There's a happy medium. You guys say that he should try to make original music. Cobus does covers and is in a band. However, it took months to find the right people and make the music. Its very hard. Casey, I hope you continue to contribute on this forum. Keep inspiring.
 
this is so strange! i was just watching a load of your videos then i came on here and i just saw "what do you think of casey…" in the most recent post of general discussion and i thought id tell you that you are my favourite youtube drummer, mainly because you just seem like a normal person making these videos, cobus, luke holland etc seem like they are all professional in their own studios like with cobus and the 30 seconds to mars song on top of a cliff.

what i would give to be an endorsee for pearl and zildjian! you are actually what got me to start drumming again. i stopped for a few years and then came across your videos and inspired me to start again
 
I am not a fan of CC, but there seems to be a lot of unnecessary smugness from the "experienced drummers" in this thread.
 
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