Subrick's Picks: A look At Up & Coming Drummers – Pick 2
Written by: Richard “Subrick” Lowell
Hey all of you out there in internet video world!* Subrick here, back with another one of these Picks of mine. Before I get into that though, I must say that the reception for the first of these articles two weeks ago was overwhelmingly positive. I cannot thank you, the readers of Sick Drummer Magazine enough for actually giving enough of a damn to read my words and watch Braynard’s video. Again, thank you all who liked the first Subrick’s Picks.
For your chance to be featured, all you have to do is post a video of you drumming to YouTube, Vimeo or whatever video site you prefer, and embed the link on this website in the SD Videos section. Nothing more, nothing less, but you do need to be a registered member of our site to post.
There are three categories on which I base my selections: Playing Ability, Production Value, and Kit Sound. All three are pretty straight forward, but here’s what I specifically look for with each category.
Playing Ability: I look to see if a player is technically sound; timing is good, endurance and power are up to par, among other, more miniscule things.
Production Value: I prefer to watch video from a good quality camera, or studio quality. By studio quality, I don’t mean the greatest production sound ever recorded. I classify studio quality as a drumming performance recorded with microphones and/or triggers. Electronic kits are very much encouraged (especially when using less conventional samples). Now, if you have sound quality that isn’t as good, that doesn’t mean you won't be included in my selection process. Everyone is eligible to be featured.
Kit Sound: One of the most important characteristics! We all have read Eyal Levi’s article about why drum performances are always sound replaced these days. For those who haven’t, the basic gist of it is because drummers don’t know how to tune their drums. Considering that many drum videos I see on YouTube involve players that have really bad sounding kits, it seems rarer and rarer that drummers actually tune their drums. Meet all three of these criteria, and you have a shot to be featured. You could be playing the most radio friendly Disney pop imaginable, but if I feel your video meets these criteria, you could make the front page.
Today’s pick is Teemu Lerto with his video “Teemu Lerto – Skullpit – Drum Recording (Song #3)”. Teemu goes by the name “Deinonychius” on Youtube and is a fellow resident of Derek Roddy’s website (of which I happen to help moderate). I first saw Teemu’s videos in 2009 and I was immediately blown away by his skill and ability. At one point he had uploaded three absolutely amazing drum solos that he has sadly taken down. When I saw he had uploaded three recordings to the Sick Drummer website, it was not a question of "Who" will be the next Subrick’s Pick, it was a question of "Which" video of Teemu’s will be the next Subrick’s Pick! I chose the third one, as I feel it has all the best qualities. What’s remarkable about Teemu’s style of playing is that he uses a 4 piece drum set, something virtually unheard of in extreme metal music. The vast majority of heavy metal drummers use kits that are too big and are underutilized (anyone remember the hair bands of the 80s?) Teemu once said on the Derek Roddy forums that he only used a 4 piece kit because he felt he could do all the stuff he wanted to do on only 2 toms. Well, I have to say that Teemu is doing more than all he can do on 2 toms. And he’s kicking ass all the way.
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Teemu’s links:
That’s it for this edition of Subrick’s Picks. As always, subscribe to my Youtube account for my own material and follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates and other random nonsense. Until next time, Subrick out!
*Only Michael (mad mike) Arcane will get this opening line.
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