The best drum solo you've seen today
August 9, 2016 1:09 PM   Subscribe

Just a kid playing makeshift drums in the subway. Oh, and he's bloody amazing.
posted by billiebee (25 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
It bugs me, he makes nice noises, but his meter is off, or not even there. It seems that a lot of these "Hey, check out this amazing drummer" posts are like that.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:58 PM on August 9, 2016 [3 favorites]


I thought he was pretty darn good for a kid. He already knows the first rule of the gigging musician; if you make a mistake do it again louder, several times if you have to.
posted by bongo_x at 2:21 PM on August 9, 2016 [10 favorites]


He barely uses the second bucket, and there was a drumstick lying idle the entire performance. What I'm saying is, he could really use some advice from an efficiency expert,
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:57 PM on August 9, 2016 [13 favorites]


humboldt32: and yet people are massively enjoying his performance anyway!

Music is made for people to enjoy. If people are enjoying it, it's working.
posted by sp160n at 4:55 PM on August 9, 2016 [7 favorites]


And he has a great sense of composition. Great drama control!
posted by ignignokt at 4:57 PM on August 9, 2016


kid drumming on plastic buckets isn't even the best drummer ever. Sad.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:29 PM on August 9, 2016 [19 favorites]


Some time in the late '70s, I was a kid in a relatively rural area, and Black Sabbath played the local speedway (Sunday sunday sunday Lebanon lebanon lebanon) . The neighbors were already barely tolerating the noise of the race track, largely because it gave the teenagers something to do, but when the big concerts came in, with State Route 20 at a standstill for most of the day when the concerts were there, that was the tipping point.

So people within a 3 or so mile radius around the speedway gathered at a nearby house to make a point for the nearby local (Albany, 20+ miles away) TV station, and there was a pot luck and much yelled conversation.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that despite all of the comments up-thread about this kid's meter: this kid is one hell of a lot better than whoever was drumming for Black Sabbath that night.
posted by straw at 6:34 PM on August 9, 2016 [4 favorites]


It bugs me, he makes nice noises, but his meter is off, or not even there.

Whatever, J. K. Simmons.
Look—I don't know from drumming, but I do know from awesome facial expressions, and this kid's facial expressions were the awsomest!
posted by Atom Eyes at 7:30 PM on August 9, 2016 [3 favorites]


What's wrong with his meter? This is the most literal example of four on the floor I've ever seen.
posted by STFUDonnie at 7:54 PM on August 9, 2016 [2 favorites]


I was too transfixed by his performance to think about metronomes, if that was even a problem (and I don't think it was.)
posted by njohnson23 at 8:16 PM on August 9, 2016


It bugs me, he makes nice noises, but his meter is off, or not even there.

He's like, what, 9? 10? And since he's playing drums on a bucket in the subway, I think it's fair to ask as an open-ended question: how much instructive music education do you think he's had access to thus far?
posted by DarlingBri at 8:32 PM on August 9, 2016 [4 favorites]


It bugs me, he makes nice noises, but his meter is off, or not even there.


Not quite my tempo.
posted by Omission at 9:50 PM on August 9, 2016 [2 favorites]


Totally reminded me of Rush. Kid's pretty good to be able to channel Neil Peart using two buckets.
posted by inparticularity at 11:01 PM on August 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


kid drumming on plastic buckets isn't even the best drummer ever. Sad.

True, and funny, but I wish everything wasn't "amazing" or "the worst" these days. Kid's pretty good. Good job kid.
posted by bongo_x at 11:17 PM on August 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


Look, this was truth in advertising. It was the best drum solo I've seen today. Also, for his age, I'd say he was pretty amazing. Thanks fur posting!
posted by greermahoney at 12:15 AM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


Using the main bucket as a substitute for both snare (I guess) and bass is a great innovation by itself. Somebody could probably make money by selling a much more expensive version of this to musicians.
posted by rongorongo at 12:57 AM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


Mom obviously got tired of his act in the kitchen. "Go play in the subway!"
posted by chavenet at 1:38 AM on August 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah, maybe his rhythm was slightly off, but I give him a 10/10 for facial expressions alone. His face seems to be saying "Look at my drum sticks go. This is insane!"
posted by greenhornet at 4:12 AM on August 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


He's great for his age, and I hope he sticks with music. But he's not even in the top 10 of street drummers that I've seen in person.

In related news, Dario Rossi.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:34 AM on August 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


people on the internet disagree about a kid's drumming ability without even real drums. news at 11.
posted by numaner at 8:28 AM on August 10, 2016


Technically, he's arguably good for his age. I think there's definitely a base from which to build considerable skill. But I'm more impressed with his intuitive musicality -- it's not savant level or anything, but it's solid. That's hard to teach but it's essential. Which, d'uh, he's performing as a street musician as a child, so it's no surprise. I'd unshackle him from that relentlessly alternating sticking so that his musical intuition could be more fully expressed.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:04 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


RUSHING OR DRAGGING?
posted by grubi at 12:08 PM on August 10, 2016


Weirdly, he reminded me of this kid that was in a show I loved 26 years ago. He even has the same face.
posted by fungible at 1:42 PM on August 10, 2016


Did you all notice that "Whiplash" is basically a sports movie?
posted by thelonius at 3:15 PM on August 10, 2016


without even real drums

Drumming on buckets like that is long established so I don't think the fact that they aren't "even real drums" is relevant.
posted by kenko at 3:45 PM on August 10, 2016


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