A little offbeat here but has anyone seen this movie on Netflix? I saw it last night, mainly because it was a freshman drummer enrolled at a top music college and I happen to be a drummer. I wasn't too sure about the movie when I first started watching but as it went along, it dawned on my that this wasn't only about music, it was all about coaching. The drummer was the player and the Music Director was the coach. Turned into an excellent movie. If anyone has seen it or does so, I am very interested as to how you see the coach/player dynamics as portrayed by the actors and script and how it relates to what we coaches do and see. I also am interested if any one line stuck out to you.
Whiplash
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- May 21, 2018
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Curious what you thought about the drumming. I wasn't particularly impressed, especially with the big 'finale' solo. I know this is irrelevant to the softball community, just curious. It kinda took me out of the moment. I was thinking, "you've been screaming at this kid all semester and this is what you got out of it?"
Just watched the trailer. I will guess the line you are referring to, "the two most harmful words in the English language.....good job."
Not my style of coaching. Screaming and berating. Just think there is a better approach. Tony Dungi coached in the NFL, won two Super Bowls and never raised his voice. I like him.
Not my style of coaching. Screaming and berating. Just think there is a better approach. Tony Dungi coached in the NFL, won two Super Bowls and never raised his voice. I like him.
I don't know what you were watching, but that solo is really impressive. I am a metal and hard rock guy, so big band and jazz aren't my thing, but that ripped it up.
What I will say relates to softball is what was wrong with the drummer's depiction in his playing. He looks like he's gripping the sticks as if his life depended on it. If you hold that hard and try to play faster, you wind up tightening and being much slower. The same can be said for a swing or a throw. The harder you try to throw, the less effective the motion.
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Good flick. Slightly disturbing. I have a layman's appreciation for drumming so it's not hard to impress me. Profanely and graphically berating students to the possible point of suicide, setting them up to fail in public...not exactly instructor of the year. Abusing his power because he creates the best bands, ends don't justify the means.
Looking at J.K. Simmons the whole time, I couldn't help but expecting someone to break out with "We are Farmers, bum-ba-dum dum, bum-bum-bum."
Looking at J.K. Simmons the whole time, I couldn't help but expecting someone to break out with "We are Farmers, bum-ba-dum dum, bum-bum-bum."
The drumming was all mechanical, like a pitcher with nothing but a fastball. Drumming should sing a song through rhythm and sound just as a pitcher makes short films through speed and spot. I agree on the madness of the teaching methods but I have seen coaches chasing perfection. Or realizing the potential of their players and doing what it takes to help or make their players realize it. The line(s) that caught my interest were these - " I never really had a Charlie Parker. But I tried." I and my AC were tough coaches and our girls and our teams won. Of course, this was many years ago and in a parental galaxy far, far away. I don't instruct now like I coached then. It no longer works and it's not in my students best interests, eh.
Softball-obsessed drummer chiming in...
I took it as a movie about two people who were willing to do anything to succeed, and the dysfunctional symbotic relationship that occurs when they cross paths and realize they cant get there without each other.
I'm a rock and metal guy, so as a drummer I'm not huge on big band type stuff where everything anchors off the snare. That kind of playing can really lack groove at times. But Miles Teller went from not playing drums at all, to achieving that level of play in 3-4 months. Even with 16 hours a day of the best instruction and only working on those exact parts, that's absurd. And, playing that style (or any style, really) in a band is a whole other skill.
At that period in the hobby I could barely keep up with ZZ Top or ACDC.
I took it as a movie about two people who were willing to do anything to succeed, and the dysfunctional symbotic relationship that occurs when they cross paths and realize they cant get there without each other.
I'm a rock and metal guy, so as a drummer I'm not huge on big band type stuff where everything anchors off the snare. That kind of playing can really lack groove at times. But Miles Teller went from not playing drums at all, to achieving that level of play in 3-4 months. Even with 16 hours a day of the best instruction and only working on those exact parts, that's absurd. And, playing that style (or any style, really) in a band is a whole other skill.
At that period in the hobby I could barely keep up with ZZ Top or ACDC.
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That accurately describes how ludicrous it is to expect that playing level in that time. I played for years to stink at the drums. The top guys practice for 7-8 hours a day for years to achieve that level of playing. I never had that level of dedication despite having a lot of talent. I always tell my girls that I really like the drums, but I don't love them enough to practice that much. I get bored after an hour unless I am playing with a band.
It sounds like girls who don't want to put in the work in practice.
- May 21, 2018
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I thought the solo got off to a strong start, but then turned into a bash fest. Normally a schooled jazz drummer wouldn't end his solo with single stroke rolls and cymbal smashing. Now granted Buddy Rich would feature his single stroke speed in his solos, but that's a completely different level.
Miles Teller has been drumming since he was 15 (according to him) so he had a good decade of drumming under his belt going into filming. Still a fairly impressive performance if he had never ventured into jazz and big band drumming.
I'm guessing they decided to go with single stroke cymbal deal since it's straight forward and a crowd pleaser to the non drumming community. Kinda like quads on toms and double bass for you metal guys.....not hard, but sounds really cool & impressive.
Here's a guy named Greyson Nekrutman playing the solo from Caravan. He grew up near me and has burst on the scene with his Instagram drumming videos. Here's the crazy thing. He's playing with Suicidal Tendencies now. The guy can play anything, and he's only 20-21.
