The Score Magazine February 2019 issue | Page 34

SHASHWAT KARKARE INTERESTING DRUMMING CHANNELS ON YOUTUBE: 2) rDavidr: 1) Drumeo: An acronym for Drum Education Online, Drumeo started in 2012 and has slowly become the channel to watch for everything drumming. Not only do they teach drumming, the channel also invited guest artists such as Gavin Harrison, Mark Guiliana, Luke Holland etc to perform clinics and talk about the art- their styles, inspirations, techniques. All available online, for free. But Drumeo’s attention to detail is what has made the channel stand out over the years. Lessons are recorded and uploaded on YouTube. Sheet music for the same lessons are available for download in PDF format in the description of each video. Hence, the students watching are given easy access to the lesson in all formats and can choose as per convenience. Most such educational channels henceforth followed the same model. With time, they also branched out into selling their own products including drum books, DVD’s, practice pads etc. Thus it became a full package where you were learning through teachers of Drumeo, with Drumeo gear. A one-stop solution to learn the drums. Certain drum products are also reviewed here. Is the name of the drumming channel of YouTuber David Raouf. Known on YouTube for his domestic wood workshop, he branched out and made a channel on drumming way back in 2006. The channel outlines drum hacks and tips that are very simple and can be used by anyone. But the reason this channel stands out is the DIY (Do It Yourself) component. In his workshop, David teaches various ways of customizing and making your own accessories and drums using simple, store-bought materials. He creates snares, customizes cymbals and proves or disproves various popular theories on drumming. His videos always use a practical approach, using cheap and easily accessible raw materials. This gives everyone a fair chance to anyone to test and try what he does. Off late, he has also been collaborating with other YouTubers like Stephen Taylor, to make videos together- thus expanding his fan base. He is also popular among fans as most of his videos are usually based on fan suggestions, or a variation thereof. Now the same team also conducts classes on recording in a studio called Recordeo. They also teach guitar and piano. Hence we can see that just online, the YouTube channel can really call themselves a school of music. 3) Vic Firth: The only product based channel on this list, Vic Firth have made a big splash on the online community. The YouTube channel is perhaps the best known among the drumstick companies because of the variety of videos uploaded. The most common one being the ‘Product Spotlight’ series, where different products are talked about and demonstrated. Another interesting type is the ‘Artist Spotlight’ series, which highlights popular endorsees of Vic Firth. The likes of Jojo Mayer, Thomas Lang, Questlove, Mark Guiliana etc have performed solo pieces using Vic Firth drumsticks. But by far, the most interesting concept is the newly introduced VF Jams series. This series is conducted in an intimate studio space with a small audience. It focuses on one drummer at a time, performing with an ensemble of percussionists, guitarists and a brass section. The piece is composed by the legendary Robert “Sput” Searight and has some of the best drummers performing; the likes of Benny Greb, Mark Gratzka, Mark Guiliana, to name a few have appeared on this series. Through these interesting videos and concepts, Vic Firth is leading the way in becoming one of the most popular and well known brand of drumsticks. 32 The Score Magazine highonscore.com