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.
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.