El Estepario Siberiano - the coming of the drumming messiah

Emp_Fab · October 2023

This guy - and you surely must have heard of him by now, is taking the drumming world by storm. His abilities are like nothing anyone has seen before. YouTube is filling up with videos of drummers and drum teachers reacting to his playing.

I'm not a drummer. I'm in awe of people who can drum well, but I adore the stunned reactions of people who know far more about drumming than I do as they understand properly what he's achieving !

Take this one for example... the joy on the guy's face is palpable - I can't help but revel in his enjoyment, even though I have no real grasp of the difficulty of the bit he's so thrilled with.

(if you can't wait, the bit starts at 2:12).

Dominic · October 2023

He's not the Messiah.........he's a very naughty boy !

PolarityMan · October 2023

he's a total beast

dano · October 2023

He's an awesome drummer, amazingly talented and clearly practices a lot. I've seen quite a few of his YT shorts pop up recently.

There is a video of him doing a track with some bongos mounted on his kit ,playing both drum parts at once, very ostentatious !

The only thing bad I'd say, he's too perfect, he got no soul to his playing.

boogieman · October 2023

I’ve never heard of him, he’s scarily good though. I’m totally in awe of drummers who can do this stuff, I really don’t understand how a great drummer’s brain work, it’s almost like they have four brains, one for each limb. I can watch guys like Billy Cobham, Bill Bruford and Danny Carey for ages. Edit: I once saw Louis Bellson play with Oscar Peterson, he was an old school jazz drummer who must’ve been knocking on 80 at the time. He never missed a beat all evening, it looked totally effortless and he did the whole gig in a tux and bow tie and never broke sweat. Respect.

Sassafras · October 2023

I hadn't heard of him till now.
I'm not part of the drumming world.

Sassafras · October 2023

Is he using really long sticks or is that a camera angle thing?

Sassafras · October 2023

Just watched some of his youtube vids.
Unbelievable!!!

PolarityMan · October 2023

His recent vids he is using a special bass drum pedal that does a bit on the upstroke and downstroke but he's still a freaking monster

theatreanchor · October 2023

He’s great. I love his vids. But I wouldn’t want him in my band!

Sporky · October 2023

He seems jolly handy at it, but the presenter is irksome.

victorludorum · October 2023

It's a bit like watching a Marvel film; there's so much going on your brain can't process it, but it leaves you strangely cold and unaffected.

Kittyfrisk · October 2023

Astoundingly talented, but I wonder why he is named The Siberian Steppes?

Philly_Q · October 2023

I don't know anything about drumming, I'm not so thick I can't tell he's amazing but I think I would quickly get bored watching his own videos. I do enjoy reaction videos though, it's nice, and enlightening, to see people who do understand the subject - although they might not be familiar with the actual music - expressing their thoughts.

octatonic · October 2023

He's incredibly impressive.
Probably one of the all time greats on a technical level.
I don't find it soulless but I don't like stunt drumming as entertainment.
It would be exhausting in a band setting, but youtube videos are not a band setting, I guess.

I'd rather listen to JP Gaster:

Sporky · October 2023

octatonic said:

I'd rather listen to JP Gaster:

Not entirely my sort of chune, but that was some fantastic drumming - really part of the whole thing.

RocknRollDave · October 2023

dano said:

He's an awesome drummer, amazingly talented and clearly practices a lot. I've seen quite a few of his YT shorts pop up recently.

There is a video of him doing a track with some bongos mounted on his kit ,playing both drum parts at once, very ostentatious !

The only thing bad I'd say, he's too perfect, he got no soul to his playing.

True, that. Saw him playing a Bonham thing (Good Times, Bad Times, possibly?) and it very noticeably lacked whatever x factor Bonham brought to the table.

LionAquaLooper · October 2023

You watch people reacting to other people??

octatonic · October 2023

Sporky said:

octatonic said:

I'd rather listen to JP Gaster:

Not entirely my sort of chune, but that was some fantastic drumming - really part of the whole thing.

Yeah JP is great.
There are faster drummers out there but he has such a great groove, doesn't overplay and writes interesting parts that suit the song.

PolarityMan · October 2023

He would have to tone it down a bit in a band for sure but he's actually extraordinarily versatile I've seen him playing all kinds of stuff. The ones when he's playing EDM or latin beats and covering the kit and percussion at once for example. I strongly suspect he can also groove like a motherfucker.

There's a really good vid he made for a milestone number of views where he talks about how he got to where he is that's worth a watch.

Sassafras · October 2023

He does preface his vids with something like "you shouldn't play songs this way, but let's have fun".

dano · October 2023

octatonic said:

He's incredibly impressive.
Probably one of the all time greats on a technical level.
I don't find it soulless but I don't like stunt drumming as entertainment.
It would be exhausting in a band setting, but youtube videos are not a band setting, I guess.

I'd rather listen to JP Gaster:

JP is great, Clutch got to be the best band going, I saw them at Manchester Academy last December and he was awesome, just held the groove all night.

Paul_C · October 2023

Back when I was playing drums a lot, the drummers I liked watching play most were Jojo Mayer and Gavin Harrison (there were others but those are the two I remember most).

Emp_Fab · October 2023

Sporky said:

He seems jolly handy at it, but the presenter is irksome.

Isn't that strange as I find him wonderful! He's enthusiastic, genuinely loving it and is funny with it. It's the sheer joy he's experiencing that makes me love watching. I love seeing people being filled with happiness or laughter.

p90fool · October 2023

He's fantastic, I just hate the way we've come full circle to the point where real drums are processed to sound exactly like a 1998 Alesis SR-16.

theatreanchor · October 2023

LionAquaLooper said:

You watch people reacting to other people??

I find this trend odd too.

Sassafras · October 2023

Emp_Fab said:

Sporky said:

He seems jolly handy at it, but the presenter is irksome.

. I love seeing people being filled with happiness or laughter.

So why do you keep posting on here?

edit: I'm thinking in particular of your recent 'Horrific Farts' thread.
That one's not gonna fill anyone with happiness. Disgust, yes, happiness, no.

Dominic · October 2023

Great drummer no doubt but
Am I alone in finding a drum solo at a gig the most boring and awful experience that has ever been transplanted from the 1970s ?

merlin · October 2023

I also feel that we have to be careful applying the criteria we apply to athletes to musicians and music.

Philly_Q · October 2023

theatreanchor said:

LionAquaLooper said:

You watch people reacting to other people??

I find this trend odd too.

There are many different types of reaction channels. This type, the "pro musician reacts to another pro musician", can often be boring to me because I don't understand what they're on about (e.g. some of Rick Beato's content), but very often the narrator will explain just why what's being played is so impressive, and I find that interesting.

There are a few channels where classically-trained singers watch my kind of music - old rock and metal bands - for the first time and comment on the singers. And others where American twenty-somethings who've grown up on hip-hop will watch Dio or something and go crazy. I enjoy witnessing their enjoyment, their open-mindedness, and I like the fact that somebody very different from me can love what I love.

I'm sure there are also reaction channels which are just comedy cretins going "Huh, what the fuck?". I don't watch them.

Sporky · October 2023

Dominic said:

Great drummer no doubt but
Am I alone in finding a drum solo at a gig the most boring and awful experience that has ever been transplanted from the 1970s ?

I think any true solo of just one band member is pretty dreadful.

There are instruments which work well on their own - piano, cello, classical guitar for example. Sadly there are far more people who think their playing deserves to be in its own spotlight.

Now I'm wondering if there's a reverse relationship between how important an instrument/player is in an ensemble, and how awful it is when they have their own spot. Drums and bass, for example. Very important in a band, excruciating when soloing.

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El Estepario Siberiano - the coming of the drumming messiah

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