Filming yourself while playing

Auspicious

Silver Member
It's just a type of "what's on your mind" comment.

--> I thought I was better then that.

As I don't have a professor in my quest of learning drum.. and since I have the the obligation of using Teams at the job.. I bought myself a 40$ Chinese webcam. It's pretty bad at recording the drums but somewhat it's not that bad either.

It's good enough to tell me that I don't play in time almost all the time ?

I was never of fan of filming myself but the camera is not lying, only the harsh reality. I think it's going to help me over time.

End of thought.

(Recommended for DIY people)
 
I’ve been recommending to people that they at least audio record themselves since the 90s, because it’s a great tool to at least hear how you play. It’s usually a freak out ( as it was for me) but once you see or hear yourself, you get to decide if you want to quit or stick with it. Hopefully there are more kids who stick with it in the end.
 
It's just a type of "what's on your mind" comment.

--> I thought I was better then that.

As I don't have a professor in my quest of learning drum.. and since I have the the obligation of using Teams at the job.. I bought myself a 40$ Chinese webcam. It's pretty bad at recording the drums but somewhat it's not that bad either.

It's good enough to tell me that I don't play in time almost all the time ?

I was never of fan of filming myself but the camera is not lying, only the harsh reality. I think it's going to help me over time.

End of thought.

(Recommended for DIY people)

Hey, at least you found out at home, and not in a recording studio.

What part of your playing is going out of time?
 
Are you certain that the session you recorded is an accurate representation of your usual drumming? Might you have been tensely self-conscious? Regardless, it's essential for drummers to be able to withstand the pressures of observation. Keep practicing until playing while being recorded is second-nature to you. Tune out the camera and focus on the music. Habituation will lead to composure.
 
Recording myself is one of the most useful but demoralizing things I do to get better. The first time I heard myself in a jam session I wanted to throw in the towel. Best to do it early and often. I haven’t had the guts to video record myself yet. I’m not ready to quit drumming. ?
 
I’ve been recommending to people that they at least audio record themselves since the 90s, because it’s a great tool to at least hear how you play. It’s usually a freak out ( as it was for me) but once you see or hear yourself, you get to decide if you want to quit or stick with it. Hopefully there are more kids who stick with it in the end.

I think so too, I am not going to quit, I am just going to put more energy playing in time lol most likely, the camera will tell me if I succeed or not.

Hey, at least you found out at home, and not in a recording studio.

What part of your playing is going out of time?

For instance, playing the brushes on the snare with a bass recording, I am following a pattern, it takes some time to adjust the coordination of my hands with the music, only on the snare.

After a fill, usually, there is a loss of time again to re coordinate the hands, back on the snare.

After a fill I lose the Hi-hats on 2 and 4 or 2 of 3, I hear a lot of misplaced hi-hats.

Often, I will miss a fill in the tune I am listening to, I will play it in the next bar instead but it's messing up the result. :)

Closing the eyes while playing makes me look like I am falling asleep or I am low energy.

Are you certain that the session you recorded is an accurate representation of your usual drumming? Might you have been tensely self-conscious? Regardless, it's essential for drummers to be able to withstand the pressures of observation. Keep practicing until playing while being recorded is second-nature to you. Tune out the camera and focus on the music. Habituation will lead to composure.

Not certain the session is accurate, I think the camera has a 16FPS recording, it might induce some "lag" in my playing, but I want to try it again with the camera, it's revealing, I think it's going to help me.

Recording myself is one of the most useful but demoralizing things I do to get better. The first time I heard myself in a jam session I wanted to throw in the towel. Best to do it early and often. I haven’t had the guts to video record myself yet. I’m not ready to quit drumming. ?

I wonder how my game with woman would look like on camera, Jesus, ? No I think I need to continue, it will help me solve problems.
 
I'm still firmly in the "ignorance is bliss" camp on this one. I have a nice Nikon DSLR that does 1080p video and grabs nice audio, but I don't want to know how bad I really am just yet. I like my current state of "feckless twit in the land of mediocrity"
 
I find that if I count as I am playing and try to play more on the beat then the lag disappears.
 
Yup. It's a great way to take the wind out of your sails, reset, and practice. If you want to know where you NEED to improve listen to a recording of your self. The timing, touch, feel won't lie like your ears do when you are in the moment.

Video is great too as you can SEE what you are doing wrong. If you want to really make it bad try playing with no click, no backing tracks. JUST you. now listen to a pro play.
 
I go back-and-forth on the benefits of watching myself play. Just listening to the audio enables me to hone in more on my sound. Sometimes watching myself I focus too much on how I look playing i.e. body language, awkward movements, etc. which certainly have their use too but don't directly contribute to my musicianship.
 
I go back-and-forth on the benefits of watching myself play. Just listening to the audio enables me to hone in more on my sound. Sometimes watching myself I focus too much on how I look playing i.e. body language, awkward movements, etc. which certainly have their use too but don't directly contribute to my musicianship.
Same here. My focus becomes skewed because everytime I see myself on film its horrifying. I have to just listen.

Back in the 90s when I was just starting I would record everything. It really does help a ton.
 
I think so too, I am not going to quit, I am just going to put more energy playing in time lol most likely, the camera will tell me if I succeed or not.



For instance, playing the brushes on the snare with a bass recording, I am following a pattern, it takes some time to adjust the coordination of my hands with the music, only on the snare.
Sounds like you just need some more mileage on the odometer. Try to "hear" what you're going to play, before you actually play it.
After a fill, usually, there is a loss of time again to re coordinate the hands, back on the snare.
Practice that groove, plus some specific fills with a metronome. Use a wide variety of tempos.
After a fill I lose the Hi-hats on 2 and 4 or 2 of 3, I hear a lot of misplaced hi-hats.
Well, don't do that! (Joking.) Work out some fills that you can play, while keeping the hi-hat foot going. Once you can do this, it will mostly likely be easier to transition back to the groove.
Often, I will miss a fill in the tune I am listening to, I will play it in the next bar instead but it's messing up the result. :)
It sounds like you're not fully aware of the structure of the music. Count the measures out loud, i.e. "1 (2 3 4) 2 (2 3 4) 3 (2 3 4) 4..." You need to know which measure the fill is supposed to happen, and keep careful track of where you are. Delivering that fill at the proper moment is a top priority.
Closing the eyes while playing makes me look like I am falling asleep or I am low energy.
Yep. This is why lots of pros smile while playing.
 
…at least audio record themselves since the 90s, because it’s a great tool to at least hear how you play.
Amen. Recording myself was the single most effective training tool to stopping bad habits of my drumming.
 
The bad stuff doesn't hide on a recording.
When I record myself playing drums, it's a reassurance that I need to play more. :D
 
After a fill, usually, there is a loss of time again to re coordinate the hands, back on the snare.

After a fill I lose the Hi-hats on 2 and 4 or 2 of 3, I hear a lot of misplaced hi-hats.

Like others have said, it's great that you're taking the time to record yourself and go face to face with possible deficiencies early in your drumming instruction. And you seem to be able to provide good critical feedback about your own playing.

Playing fills is often where drummers will find their time suffers. They sure did for me earlier on. I recommend a complete mental change in your conception of fills.

Fills ARE NOT DEPARTURES FROM THE GROOVE. Fills are embellishment to a groove. Do not think to yourself that you are going to play 3 measures of some beat then on the 4th measure do a fill, and then return to the beat. Groove is continuous and the time is non-negotiable.

It's fine to practice fancy, fun, and complicated fills/tricks on your own, but when your goal becomes to record yourself to assess if you're ready to play with others, then start simply by embellishing on the beat you're playing. Fills are the bells and whistles we can add to the groove when we can hear and feel the pulse without question. Fills are not some kind of different type of drumming that we all of a sudden incorporate into a song as we temporarily put good timing on the back burner. Make sure you can continue to hear the bones of beat you are playing whenever you try to add some extra stuff on top.

And since you talked about closing your eyes, and rushing fills, another piece of advice that I need constant reminding myself is DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE throughout everything you do on drums!
 
Last edited:
I've got an old Zoom Q2HD fine for me-but the first time playing back my shed was just horrific-like Apocalypse now and in my best Marlon Brando voice-the Horror, the Horror. Almost reeled over and had a heart attack like Martin Sheen making the movie. But I survived to play another day. I started using a mirror for instant feedback but I still like the old Zoom (though I thought it had died-you can't kill the thing-I dropped it a few times). Placement of a single mic take some experimenting . I'm trying to learn to hold up my shoulders and smile when I drum (I make some crazy faces while I drum)-I think with my posture slumped and face a grimace people will think I'm taking a crap so that could influence I sound like crap. So I want to change my crappy posture and face-then hopes my crappy drumming improves too. Yeah I'm ambitious LOL. .
 
ALSO, recording yourself may make you realize you play a specific lick way too often, to the point that it becomes cliche.

I've had guitarists who constantly quote the same guitar lick in their solos. I don't think they'd be using it as much if they listened to themselves more, no matter how good the lick is haha.

I am definitely guilty of this though, and recording my playing has made me more aware of it.
 
Back
Top