Virgil Donati

Easily one of my favorite drummers, and he's Australian too!

The only way to match Virgil Donati's technique is to wander the desert for 30 years and take up yoga.
 
I've been following Virgil for over a year or so now, I've checked out his solo stuff, purchased his DVD and his play along book, which are all fantastic. Despite is amazing skills, I still cannot stop watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8zbqhIORJE

I can't believe how awesome and simple that is. It's amazing that Virgil can do all this complicated stuff, but when it comes down to pure playing, he's awesome at the simple stuff.

I think some people tend to miss that out and try and progress on to advanced stuff with out mastering the simple concepts.
 
My fav virgil clip is from years ago, I think it was the Australian Aria Awards. Melissa Etheridge performed 'Like the Way I do' with artists Jack Jones (guitar) and Virgil Donati from Aussie band Southern Sons, and Gary Gary Beers from INXS on bass. It was just standout pure rock and I luv luv luv luv luv it! I have it on a video cassette somewhere with no way to play it.

This is where I first learnt of Virgil D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwW3nFmdAs8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtdTTaphpM

I never saw them live in Aus, but they were pretty big in their day. I remember talking to one of the music shop owners in town and he was telling me a heap of drummers went down to a show and came home disappointed because it didn't turn into the 'virgil donati show' and he just played for the music. I thought that was pretty funny :)
 
I've been following Virgil for over a year or so now, I've checked out his solo stuff, purchased his DVD and his play along book, which are all fantastic. Despite is amazing skills, I still cannot stop watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8zbqhIORJE

I can't believe how awesome and simple that is. It's amazing that Virgil can do all this complicated stuff, but when it comes down to pure playing, he's awesome at the simple stuff.

I think some people tend to miss that out and try and progress on to advanced stuff with out mastering the simple concepts.

Although that is some awesome groovery he displays in that vid with Soul Sirkus (I recommend the album with Virgil on it if you wan to hear him play some nice "normal" Rock music), I would not call that simple. He is integrating some complicated rhythmic tricks in that 4/4 groove.
 
Although that is some awesome groovery he displays in that vid with Soul Sirkus (I recommend the album with Virgil on it if you wan to hear him play some nice "normal" Rock music), I would not call that simple. He is integrating some complicated rhythmic tricks in that 4/4 groove.

Maybe I over estimated the 'simple' part of that :) It is however refreshing for someone to think outside of the box when it comes to these things.
 
I can't say I like Virgil donati, I find his drumming very mechanical and boring, and constant doublebass in solo's gets to me after awhile. I tried really hard to get into him, but he just isn't my type of drummer.

I agree with the double bass drum part. Drum solos usually bore me to tears but when they're musical: check out Steve Smith's solo in the Drummer World grooves. Now that's a solo. Virgil's sticking is WAY more interesting than the double bass stuff. I don't know, I kinda dislike most double bass stuff and double pedal stuff because it's usually just RLRLRLRLRLRLR as fast as possible. I don't care for Ray Herrera too much but that guy can play some very even and fast triplet patterns and what not. Anyway, I like Virgil's playing but it does appear to be sort of mechanical and sometimes kind of on the verge of sloppy.
 
I like Virgil's playing but it does appear to be sort of mechanical and sometimes kind of on the verge of sloppy.

Mechanical yet sloppy? Isn't that a bit contradicting? And moreover the words "sloppy" and "Virgil Donati" don't belong in the same phrase. Like him or not that is entirely up to one's personal tastes but if there is one think you can't say about Virgil it's that he's sloppy.
 
Mechanical yet sloppy? Isn't that a bit contradicting? And moreover the words "sloppy" and "Virgil Donati" don't belong in the same phrase. Like him or not that is entirely up to one's personal tastes but if there is one think you can't say about Virgil it's that he's sloppy.

I said SOMETIMES KIND OF ON THE VERGE of being sloppy. that's a far cry from: Virgil Donati's always sloppy. I think a machine can be sloppy. would you trust a robot in a car factory to change a baby's diaper? a mecanical device can sometimes be built NOT to display tender nuances and so forth. I like Virgil's drumming a lot. but nobody's beyond criticism.
 
You know like a machine. Peart gets called a robot or too mechanical all the time because he never plays behind the beat and what not and lacks subtlety (which I disagree with). perhaps saying Virgil is too mechanical isn't quite right. It's not so much about rudiments I guess but more about playing very technical things all the time and very precisely like a machine, not a human? ah, what do i know, I'm at work and trying not to get caught messing around on here.
 
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I said SOMETIMES KIND OF ON THE VERGE of being sloppy. that's a far cry from: Virgil Donati's always sloppy. I think a machine can be sloppy. would you trust a robot in a car factory to change a baby's diaper? a mecanical device can sometimes be built NOT to display tender nuances and so forth. I like Virgil's drumming a lot. but nobody's beyond criticism.

I never said Virgil was beyond criticism. I know that for a lot of people his playing comes off as stale... That is their feeling towards his drumming and that perfectly fine. But aside that subjectivity there is a certain objectivity when talking about the drums and music. My point is simply that Virgil is one of the most solid drummers around. His whole philosophy/approach is based upon the perfection execution of rhythms and he is flawless in that domain. That is what made Virgil's popularity in the first place."Semetimes kind of the verge" is an expression that I do not really understand, and I do not understand the analogy with a robot changing a diaper. Where does that relate with the execution of rhythms?

I hope you're not taking this the wrong way. I'm not yelling or anything. So I hope I'm not coming off as so. It's just that I have been following Virgil for many years and really, he is nowhere near sloppy, not even on the verge of it.
 
I never said Virgil was beyond criticism. I know that for a lot of people his playing comes off as stale... That is their feeling towards his drumming and that perfectly fine. But aside that subjectivity there is a certain objectivity when talking about the drums and music. My point is simply that Virgil is one of the most solid drummers around. His whole philosophy/approach is based upon the perfection execution of rhythms and he is flawless in that domain. That is what made Virgil's popularity in the first place."Semetimes kind of the verge" is an expression that I do not really understand, and I do not understand the analogy with a robot changing a diaper. Where does that relate with the execution of rhythms?

I hope you're not taking this the wrong way. I'm not yelling or anything. So I hope I'm not coming off as so. It's just that I have been following Virgil for many years and really, he is nowhere near sloppy, not even on the verge of it.


No worries mate. The diaper changing robot is in response to the claim that a mechanical system cannot be sloppy. Whereas a car building robot is precise in the welds or whatever is required of it to build a gigantic car or truck it lacks the subtlety required to change a baby's diaper. You said you didn't understand mechanical and sloppy, that that was contradiction. Just a non-drumming related side. Anyway I get what you mean about Virgil. He's good, really good. If I could play half that good I'd be satisfied. As far as his being on the verge of sloppiness claim, I've heard that mentioned a couple times. And I really do sense that in some of the things I've seen him do, not the totality of his playing. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until someone else said he seemed on the verge of sloppiness or being out of control that I noticed this.
 
No worries mate. The diaper changing robot is in response to the claim that a mechanical system cannot be sloppy. Whereas a car building robot is precise in the welds or whatever is required of it to build a gigantic car or truck it lacks the subtlety required to change a baby's diaper. You said you didn't understand mechanical and sloppy, that that was contradiction. Just a non-drumming related side. Anyway I get what you mean about Virgil. He's good, really good. If I could play half that good I'd be satisfied. As far as his being on the verge of sloppiness claim, I've heard that mentioned a couple times. And I really do sense that in some of the things I've seen him do, not the totality of his playing. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until someone else said he seemed on the verge of sloppiness or being out of control that I noticed this.

Well I don't understand your diaper analogy because it relates to a robot built to assemble cars with precision, doing a completely different task that it is not made to do at all. It's as if you're telling me that a very solid, precise drummer was sloppy fighting with a Katana. That's how I understood it. That being said I still have not witnessed Virgil getting - what I would consider as - sloppy... Maybe someday? That would make my day to say he messed something up lol!
 
Virgil is a cutting edge drummer, a visionary, a great writer, and can easily fit in to many musical situations and styles. I think he's one of the most futuristic musicians on the scene today.
 
Hopefully m1ck was kidding.... otherwise that is instantly in the top 10 dumbest statements ever posted on DrummerWorld.
 
He's over-rated.... very over-rated.......

Yeah right, possibly the most advanced player on the planet is over-rated.
 
phantastic statement.

Bernhard

Bernhard at al,

I copied-and-pasted those exact words from someone else in another thread, just to see how he would respond to them here. I'm sorry, it was a trollish thing to do. I shouldn't post when I've been drinking.

I had raised the issue in the Portnoy thread about people who cry "over rated," basically asking where they get off. I saw the same member in this thread gushing over this particular drummer, and I wanted to see how he would react to his own words. I was bad.

For the record, Virgil is obviously a phenomenal drummer - a marvel to watch. I do not think he is "over rated" and frankly I would never say such a thing about any drummer, because I think that attitude reeks of immature arrogance. "My favorite drummer is better than your favorite drummer."

Perhaps it was reckless of me to try to make my point the way I did - maybe even sneaky. I'll behave myself in the future. Sorry, I didn't mean to cause any bad feelings.
 
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