INSTAGRAM / YOUTUBE DRUMMING CULTURE: LOVE IT? HATE IT? WHY?

NickSchles

NickSchles

Junior Member
Right, so I'm a bit conflicted on this... On the one hand, it's big platforms like this which can help spread the good word about drumming. These platforms also provide for great educational resources, etc. However, thanks to these platforms, I think playing drums can become a popularity contest, and chops and speed, can become the markers of great drumming.

As a self-employed drummer, I'm a firm believer that education is super important (I teach a lot, and love doing so), so I'm happy about it... Yet, I also record remotely for people all over world, and believe the most important things for drummers are musicality, good time and feel (of course, good sound, etc is implied here).

Where do you stand on this?
 
Neither love social media drumming or hate it.

Not really into YouTube for drums, other than using it to check out gear and occasionally educational videos.

Instagram for me is better as you follow things/people who’s playing that you appreciate so you effectively get what you ask for in your feed first. Most of the things I follow on Instagram are either drumming or travel related.

Both and social media in general are there and I’m indifferent about it all really. Yes drum covers are rife especially on YouTube (which I’m not really a fan of) but it’s there and lots of people like that side of the coin, plus there is just as much educational content on that medium, so it’s all good.

If I see something I don’t appreciate or like I simply keep scrolling, or if there’s a drummer who’s playing no longer speaks to me I unfollow.

Some people / creators can get carried away with it all and building / maintaining a ‘brand’ and keeping their egos in check, but that’s their problem and not mine. I can choose to simply unfollow if I wish.

YouTube/Instagram and social media in general are good and bad in equal measure.

Christ, this fence is uncomfortable!!!
 
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Social media opens up opportunities to connect not previously available. Like it or not, if you're not already an established artist, you have to play that game today.

Youtube algorithms generallly do a piss poor job of analyzing what I like. I find their attempts more annoying than helpful.

With all the great things it offers many young people don't know how to use it responsibly. I see this information overload not having only positive effects on students.

What's good for someone like me who's for the most part lived far away from where most of the industry is that it offers access I otherwise would not have.

Even though meeting in person is best there's also an environmental and economical aspect to not having to travel so much. The downside is that we may not appreciate things as much, take things for granted and part of the ritual of getting certain things done is gone.

We humans are no better with the internet than we are with other things, but the internet is what it is. Some is great and some represents the absolute worst of humanity. It does even the playing field though.
 
It has been an interesting niche to watch grow over the past 10 years and especially the past 3-5 years. I, like the others so far are mixed.

I think it largely feels like a popularity contest (clicks, views, etc.) to monetize their vids (like all YTers) and get sponsorships for gear and income. While I respect the hustle I am greatly conflicted that for years, endorsed drummers backed by major gear companies got to that point by having years of recordings, record sales, touring exposure, clinics etc. Guys I grew up staring at in MD like Dennis Chambers, Dave W., Gadd, etc.

I realize today the music business is vastly different and "sales" are dead and playlist popularity on Spotify etc. is the driver of many things, however I have spoken with several engineers I know that have been around for decades and they complain that while there are many very talented young drummers, many cannot consistently play a 4 min song through with feel and emotion that compliments the music.

Now we have an army of chop dudes, and yes many have great chops and many can play a paradiddle-fladuple-double-deluxe-flam-flam at 230bps better than I can but I worry about creativity, groove and pocket.....you know the things that most popular music is or was based on the past 50 years. A 5 min video of a drummer playing perfect time with groove and style like Jeff Porcaro probably won't get them the "views" they need so instead we get speed chops, pretty people dolled up for the camera. It is what it is.

I fear we are encouraging a generation of "drummers" and not "musicians" whose primary instrument is the drums. But that may just be me.

I'm not old an bitter at 45years old, just making my own observations as someone who watches plenty of YT of all my hobbies.

Edit: I should have made it clear I was referring to drummers like Cooper etc. (nothing against them personally and kudos to them for the successful hustle) I am fully supportive of the educational content out there, it is amazing.
 
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Love it. Wish YouTube existed when I first started playing as a kid, 50 years ago. So much information and great playing out there.
Like anyone else on here, I'm pretty discerning about what I watch. But IMO there is a lot of great stuff out there. And it's free!
 
At first, it’s fun to watch and listen to amazing musicians. After a while, though, this feeling creeps in: Watching is not doing.

I’d rather play my own simple stuff, and work on getting good sounds from my kit rather than watch someone else do it.

For general information (e.g., accessing and releasing the spare tire from a 2002 Dodge Caravan) YouTube really great.
 
It's good for discovering new talent, and for some inspiration, but a lot of it is trash. Youtube drumming really starting taking off when I had been playing drums for 10 years, so I had the experience to know what to look for and sift through the shit. Newer drummers may not have that knowledge.
 
I like social media but the internet is a big mix of useful info and useless info. Discerning the difference is the rub. I’m amazed that with all the useful and reliable info there is so much rubbish
 
Watching a drummer play is a good way to demystify and inform.
Playing along with a song and learning it's parts, is a good learning experience,
What's missing are spontaneity and improvisation as well as interaction in real time.
For drummers that don't choose to play out for people, with people, being able to make righteous covers vids is a laudable goal.
For those that do want to play out there are more things to learn than technique alone.
 
I don't see it as too bad. Hasn't there been a discussion about drummers practicing too many licks for fast and impressive playing while forgetting about what matters in a band since about the 80s?
I guess there are less opportunities for musicians to make a living playing clubs and selling records than some decades ago. For young musicians, it's probably harder to start gigging regularly or even finding band mates which would lead to more drummers that play just by themselves.
Nowadays everybody has the technology to produce perfect video takes (or editing them to look that way) and it's a way to become famous - also a dream of musicians that is nothing new. But today you get to see all those drummers from around the world while earlier you just knew local or international touring and recording drummers.
Of course I think that lots of videos are annoying but I just go somewhere else because there is so much good stuff online, too.
 
good- you can pretty much watch concerts, clinics, personal lessons with famous drummers and learn about every single drum tip you could think of

bad- like in everyday life, stupid people often become famous. sometimes you come across channels that show strange and exaggerated stuff on the drum kit, and since the majority of normal folk learn about small communities from these videos, people get the impression that drumming is something that really isn’t, like setting your drum kit ablaze and dancing around it while singing free bird because they saw some clown doing it on tik tok. also bad is that people who make these clickbaity videos are the ones getting sponsorships nowadays so good drummers live in the shade while generic tik tok drummer n.894 gets the 5 year contract with Yamaha
 
I like it because I can find drummers who can teach/explain something. Emmanuelle Caplette for example, she has tons of lessons on her YouTube page. I see that as worthwhile content.

Just some dude playing along to a song doesnt do it for me. I dont get anything meaningful out of that.

Its fabulous for the manufacturers however. Product placement and showcasing is what it's all about for them. The more likes drummer n.894 (<--good generic name @Fritz Frigursson, I'm keeping it) gets, the happier the manufacturers are.
 
Like most people have said here it's about being selective in what you spend you're time watching. It's like when you first got cable and had 200+ channels. You quickly learned to avoid c-span I and II, the 50 qvc and other shopping channels, and all the different weather maps and focus on the 20 or so good channels. If someone is complaining about youtube and the thousands of hours of drum covers, chops vids, and influencer promos....then they should probably just stop watching the thousands of hours of drum covers, chops vids, and influencer promos and find what matters to them.
 
Juniper said:
Neither love social media drumming or hate it.

Not really into YouTube for drums, other than using it to check out gear and occasionally educational videos.

Instagram for me is better as you follow things/people who’s playing that you appreciate so you effectively get what you ask for in your feed first. Most of the things I follow on Instagram are either drumming or travel related.

Both and social media in general are there and I’m indifferent about it all really. Yes drum covers are rife especially on YouTube (which I’m not really a fan of) but it’s there and lots of people like that side of the coin, plus there is just as much educational content on that medium, so it’s all good.

If I see something I don’t appreciate or like I simply keep scrolling, or if there’s a drummer who’s playing no longer speaks to me I unfollow.

Some people / creators can get carried away with it all and building / maintaining a ‘brand’ and keeping their egos in check, but that’s their problem and not mine. I can choose to simply unfollow if I wish.

YouTube/Instagram and social media in general are good and bad in equal measure.

Christ, this fence is uncomfortable!!!
Click to expand...
The problem I see with YouTube is that when someone has a little bit of success and is asked to "become a partner" then their content creation not only has to be original, it has to be constant. that puts a burden on most people (not backed by a company.. i'm referring to solo acts here). They have to keep producing new videos on a tight regular schedule, eventually their content is inevitably going to decline in quality and they will be just putting stuff out there just to maintain a schedule. They will spend more time checking comments, recording and editing than actually playing... There are some channels that have managed to keep creating good content and have avoided being pressured into constantly producing new things...
 
INSTAGRAM / YOUTUBE DRUMMING CULTURE: LOVE IT? HATE IT? WHY?
I hate it!

A couple of months ago I read a message from an anti-BLM person saying that if everything is racist, it strips the meaning out of racism. It's a similar thing with Youtube and instagram where everything I like, there, 1 million person like it more then me.

It's stripping the essence and the magic away from the things I like where you have a bunch of person exploiting everything trying to gain more influence, to advance their own agenda of popularity and wealth.

I need to dig into a pile of junk and imitators of the good stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s to find the gems. Actually I don't spend time doing that often if ever.. I listen to the original album from the 70s and that will do.

Youtube is nice to learn hacks to repair things.
 
It's part of the way things are now

there are pros and cons like absolutely anything in life

You kind of have to evolve and at least dip your toe into it if you are trying to continue to make a living ... especially now

I've been working steadily recording remotely from home for clients for the past year since everything closed down and my client list is about 50% drawn from social media contact

I for one am thankful for being able to reach the musician community via these vehicles
 
YT is a tool that expands both the positive possibilities and the negative possibilities equally.

IMO we are better off with it than without it.
 
I‘m not on Facebook and only consume on Instagram, no posting. I’m a frustrated fan of YouTube.

The Internet takes anything that it gets a hold of and turns it into a commodity. In general, if your product (that’s you if you’re a teacher) becomes a commodity the price goes down and only the top tier folks make good money. The flip side is that there are potentially more consumers. In my own business, graphic arts, the internet has been a mixed bag but that’s after technology in general pretty much destroyed the business as I once knew it.

As a consumer, it‘s love-hate when it comes to drumming. I run into a lot of great information that I didn’t know to ask and that my drum instructors didn’t realize that I was missing. That said it takes an inordinate amount of time to run into that information and then I leaned that I need to fact check the source to make sure it’s not useless or incorrect. I would say it’s 95% dross and 5% gold. Is that worth my time? I’m not sure, especially when compared to something like John Riley’s books which are 95% gold. Still I consume it.

I just started paying attention to YouTube live feeds. Tim Metz and Steve Holmes, two drummers who I admire, have been doing those recently. The ability to ask those guys a question in real-time is pretty cool.

Drummerworld is gold.
 
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