Hit Like A Girl - Drum Contest

opentune said:
Drum contests mixed with gender biases. Surely a combination to get the DW debaters out.
My simple question is why not a "hit like a boy contest"? There isn't one because we'd all agree its a stupid name.
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Beat me to it. I was going to post:

Hit Like A Boy - Drum Contest

and see if the implications were any different.
 
I like watching the videos. Peace and goodwill.
 
More Contestants:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eARKHQhB6oQ



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwp49uaA-0E

hlag-footer-500.png
 
Some great drumming there... I also find it interesting for the kind of music being played by these kids.

Seems like mainly old farts (myself included) on this forum, we're out of touch! :)
 
Thanks for this thread.

My little girl started playing drums last year. We've been watching these videos together and she loves them, she even has her favorites (Mana Fukuda and Chita Zaima). Seems like seeing younger older-girls (to her) playing at such a high level is inspiring. She thinks she can do it: "When I can play like that..."
 
I am for complete equality you go girls. As a drummer who happens to have a disability I 'm certain I have been the subject of unspoken sentiments like "Isn;t that amazing" or"look how hard he's trying" both of which I find offensive. I like the commercial featuring female athletes and the message of that ad is genders don't play sports, athletes do. Similarly i would like to think that able-bodied people don't play musical instruments well, musicians play musical instruments well male or female, able-bodied or disabled.
 
It was very fun to be a judge for this contest. These girls are so good. Every time I would judge it motivated me to go practice too. I saw some really great stuff. Voting starts this week. I suggest everyone go do it.
 
Im not gender biased either
But those who think girls only contest is pointless I sorta disagree. All these pro lady drummers are a lot better than us regular folks but at the same time just not enough of them out there. Ladies like Anika Niles and meytal cohen arent dime a dozen type drummers out there yet and girls need exclusivity just like how there is the WNBA and LPGA in sports. These girls all make us amateur guys/hobbyists look insignificant to begin with so i call that notion gender equality right there amd its good enough!! Lol

Having their own club/inclusive rights is their own want and needs. Let em be. They dont need to show up in a mens only drum off (nor will it ever exist) to ve recognized or deemed "equal". Plenty of jazz drummers who are girls play with men as well
 
Ah well, the HLAG finalists are out and I'm afraid my video with my band didn't get there. On the plus side, a few weeks ago this all made me wonder what other music related competitions are out there so I had a look online. It turned out there was a jazz competition called the Soho Jazz Sessions which was run at the Yamaha UK headquarters store in London and there was still time to enter. It ran over 6 weeks in a battle of the bands type format with the finals getting judged by representatives from Yamaha, Ronnie Scott's and Jazz FM, and I'm glad to say we got to the finals and then won. It was a bit weird playing jazz in a competition type of format, and especially since London has a close-knit jazz scene so I knew and have a lot of respect for some of the other musicians who were playing. But it has turned out to be a really good thing, and as a prize we get to play at Ronnie Scott's.. and one of the judges was complementary and said he'll try to get us some other gigs there too! Whilst I don't think you can really judge music in a competition type way - it's too subjective, I do think these modern day contests that seem to be springing up have some merit, they can be good for the bands/musicians and for the companies who are running them, and for advertisers.

So, whilst I'm getting into modern day advertising - here's the HLAG video again with my band Cygnus Flare, we're next playing on 30th April at Pizza Express Soho in London, if you're in the neighbourhood please come! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6MNLo0DoZQ

And last but not least, best of luck to all the finalists in HLAG, I really enjoyed watching a lot of the videos this year.
 
Caz said:
Ah well, the HLAG finalists are out and I'm afraid my video with my band didn't get there.
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I just watched your video but I guess it's a little to late to say good luck with HLAG. If It's any consolation, I've seen some great drummer's (like yourself) not make it to the finals. In fact, a couple years ago there was a young girl do one of the best "Monkey Chants" I've ever seen practically go unnoticed. Good luck and keep at it. You all play great and deserve many accolades. Cheers to a great future.
 
Sorry to hear you didn't make it thru Caz - I always enjoy your drumming and your band.

I actually followed HLAG less this year because I found their new website very slow - it would take so long for videos to load, or they would "freeze" a lot, that I would give up watching, which is a shame. For the videos I did see I was really impressed with a lot of the under 18 entries, more so in some cases than with the older competitors in the 18+ bracket - super impressed, there's gonna be a lot more great female drummers out there in the future judging by the level these kids are playing at!
 
Thanks 2underpar and geezer, much appreciated. I'm not too upset about not going through, it's mostly just a nice thing to contribute to. I think I'll aim to put in a video to HLAG each year just to support the idea behind it (or at least, what I interpret that to be). When I think about when I started playing the only women I knew of were Terri Lyne Carrington and Cindy Blackman and that's with access to the internet, then later Sheila E and Caroline Corr.. In retrospect it's strange to have not known of any women players in Scotland or the UK. I imagine it's good for all young drummers to see these videos and that this will help to bridge the gender gap for the next generation. And apparently the first week, where I entered, was judged by Terri Lyne Carrington - and we should get some kind of written feedback - so that'd be really cool if she's checked out the video and the band to see what she thought and hear some comments!

It does feel a bit harsh on the guys though, it's turning into quite a bit thing with lots of prizes and celebrity judges. One thing I did give them as feedback was that I don't see why they need to put ages at the top of each profile - splitting it up by gender is already a pretty bold move, and ageism is also a big problem in the music world so I don't think that age should be brought into it to further complicate things (other than under and over 18 categories).
 
2underpar said:
I just watched your video but I guess it's a little to late to say good luck with HLAG. If It's any consolation, I've seen some great drummer's (like yourself) not make it to the finals. In fact, a couple years ago there was a young girl do one of the best "Monkey Chants" I've ever seen practically go unnoticed. Good luck and keep at it. You all play great and deserve many accolades. Cheers to a great future.
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What's a monkey chant?
 
The contest ended and the three finalists were all on the videos I put here (in this thread) at Drummerworld, of course there were other good ones, but these three definetely belonged to the top category.

All my comments are on the category over 18 years old.



Here the three Finalists:

1) From Italy: Elisa Montin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOOEHYuIsIU

2) From USA: Tangela Facen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN9qcS6TaME

3) From USA: Lucretia TT Bolden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z0Il1qIidc


Best to all!

Alex Sanguinetti (Valencia, Spain)

http://www.alexsanguinetti.com
 
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