Before I just jump in & do this ------

Andy

Honorary Member
I need some advice. It's coming up to Guru snare competition time again, & I've been racking my brain to think of a video entry task that fulfils the following criteria:

It has to be inclusive. In other words, something attainable by all levels of player.

It has to major on creativity, not on outright chops.

It needs to reward use of dynamics & expression within a simple framework.

It has to feature a snare drum.

Last year, we had some amazing (& zany) entries. I'm wanting to do something a little less "oblique" this year, & with a wider "real world" relevance. There will be 4 categories:

Under 16
Beginner (less than 2 years playing)
Experienced hobbyist / semi Professional
Professional (earns substantial / regular income from playing / teaching drums)

My favourite idea to date is this: Entrants are invited to submit a short "money beat" at approximately 120BPM based video, using Bass drum, snare, hats / ride.
8 bars of straight money beat with absolutely no embellishment, followed by 8 bars of money beat based groove in any style / level of embellishment you want. It must all be the same tempo, move from the first 8 bar section to the 2nd 8 bar section seamlessly, & the second section must always include snare on 2 & 4.

Judging criteria will be similar to last year. Judges will be looking for expression, dynamics, & timing in both sections of the entry.

This is my best shot to date, but I'm open to suggestions on all aspects of the competition, & especially interested in hearing alternative ideas for the competition itself.

Above all, this should be fun, & different to other "answer this question" type of competitions. It's a serious prize too :)

Thanks in advance, Andy.
 
Depends what "You" ,as the company, want to gain from the competition. Set the rules to try and achieve the goals you want for Guru.
 
Make a snare drum or other instrument using no regular snare drum parts, except for the snare wires. Then play it in a video.


I'll give you some more ideas late tomorrow. Gotta' run.

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It would be nice if we could displace the snare in the 2nd part.
 
It would be nice if we could displace the snare in the 2nd part.
Hmmm, yes, I'm thinking the same thing, but it ceases to be a money beat, not that that's a big deal. Maybe billing the second 8 bars as an evolution of the money beat in the first 8 bars is a good way to go?

Make a snare drum or other instrument using no regular snare drum parts, except for the snare wires. Then play it in a video.


I'll give you some more ideas late tomorrow. Gotta' run.

.
Now that's a cracking idea, but I'm concerned it might be beyond many, or just too much effort, & therefore of limited appeal.

Depends what "You" ,as the company, want to gain from the competition. Set the rules to try and achieve the goals you want for Guru.
That's part of it for sure, but TBH, the smaller part. If I just wanted maximum participation & social media sharing, I'd make it a simple "design a slogan" kind of deal, but that's boring. I like to do something creative, & also something where a degree of effort is needed to enter. That keeps entrant numbers sensible too, so gives everyone a reasonable chance of winning.
 
OK here are some ideas.

Make a video of the following:

1. Playing a snare drum in as many places (locations) as possible.

2. Playing a snare drum with the word “Guru Drums” behind you. In as many places (locations) as possible.

3. Play the snare drum four different ways:
Going some place (play while moving)
Using anything except regular drum sticks or brushes
Running (Play while you are running)
Under something

4. Play the snare. Take it completely apart, every nut and bolt. Put it back together again. Then play it again.

5. Play the snare. Completely remove both drum heads. Reinstall both heads and tune the drum. Play it again.

6. Play the snare drum with no snare drum stand.

7. Play a set of drums made out of only household items (no real drums allowed)

8. Playing your snare drum with as many people watching as possible.

9. Guru drum company could supply a sound tract and we could create a video of us playing air drums to the track. (Or we could supply our own sound tract.)


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You know what I think is a good idea is to provide a minute or two of drumless song and ask people to make something up that goes with it. Now that would be cool.
 
You know what I think is a good idea is to provide a minute or two of drumless song and ask people to make something up that goes with it. Now that would be cool.

Nail on head If you want creativity. Surely that is what music ia all about.
 
Guys, I knew it would be a good idea to air this here & get your opinions. Sometimes I can't see the wood for the trees. Fantastic suggestions, & you've nudged me in a direction I should have thought of myself. I'm on it, & will be back with an update if I can pull my idea off.

Cheers, Andy.
 
You know what I think is a good idea is to provide a minute or two of drumless song and ask people to make something up that goes with it. Now that would be cool.

Get that Yolanda chick on bass for the backing track. Have her autograph and personalize a photo of her holding the prize drum.

That will get you some attention and participation on here, judging from that one thread.
 
It's a great idea. I think there should be a couple of tracks to choose from, though, in different styles, so that players can pick the one that best suits them.
 
It looks like Yolanda has some work to do (whether "all levels of player" can even try to keep up with Mme Maestro is another matter).

Another option would be "make up a 90 second snare drum song". It can be pre-arranged or improvised. Entrants can use sticks, rods, brushes, plastic brushes and/or mallets. Make it as musical and pleasant to the ear as possible. Please :)
 
It looks like Yolanda has some work to do (whether "all levels of player" can even try to keep up with Mme Maestro is another matter).

Another option would be "make up a 90 second snare drum song". It can be pre-arranged or improvised. Entrants can use sticks, rods, brushes, plastic brushes and/or mallets. Make it as musical and pleasant to the ear as possible. Please :)
You have a point about keeping up with Yolanda Grea, but I'm hoping to have more than one bass line track to choose from. Early stages, & permissions are yet to be finalised.

As for your "snare song" idea, I love it. It's the very kind of creative vibe I like, but I think it might be intimidating to many, & that will severely limit participation. I have to strike a balance between shooting for something that pleases me, & the reality of why I'm doing this in the first place. Last year's competition majored on the creative side of things, & many were put off because of the (incorrect) perception of needing to do a snare solo.
 
As for your "snare song" idea, I love it. It's the very kind of creative vibe I like, but I think it might be intimidating to many, & that will severely limit participation. I have to strike a balance between shooting for something that pleases me, & the reality of why I'm doing this in the first place. Last year's competition majored on the creative side of things, & many were put off because of the (incorrect) perception of needing to do a snare solo.

I see your point. I was thinking that if we were singers you'd ask them to sing a song so I was thinking along those lines.
 
Prepare for the competition announcement over the next few days. I think you're going to really love this, & I hope as many of you enter as possible. Superb main prize, & runner up prizes this year too for final draw entrants in all 5 categories. There's even a public voting element :)

Hint - GET YOUR FUNK ON!

Thanks for all your input guys - really valuable :)
 
Looking forward to this. Was hoping it could be a challenge set around the Odds in Evens backing track but I guess there's too many videos for that anyway. :)
 
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