Lad is 19 years old, world champion snare drummer. Youngest in competitions history (been going over 80ish years). He truly is special, both playing and score composition wise. The rate he is improving and progressions is astounding. I believe we have not seen the anywhere near the best of what he can do !
im a piper and watched all of the top 5 this dude deserved to win! the transitions and excitement was phenomenal all the way through! and the scores matched the piping so well
It's stylistic to be on the 'back half' of the beat - but sometimes recordings of pipes and drums don't mesh well. The two instruments are both so loud that it overloads cameras' microphones on certain notes and accent patterns combined, or a microphone calibrated to accommodate loud accents will pick up drumming phrases at lower dynamics in a way that feels slightly delayed.
@@blackaliss9488 the competition is in the performance, not in achieving a challenge. At the top level, solo drummers will work extensively with their accompanying pipers to be locked in and express phrases cleanly together.
@@danevans5075 oh. Ok. Sorry. Don't know much about these competitions - living in the deepest darkest corners of Africa🙈 I'm here for the beautyful music
I personally believe he shouldn't have won. As a drummer with over a decade of experience who plays at high level, I'm quite surprised he won due to two factors: barely any dynamics, and he was playing so fast that I can't comprehend what he's playing. I'm not saying he's not a good drummer. I just think he should have gotten 3rd instead of 1st. I personally believe Gareth McLees played better than him, and something I wish wasn't the case is that pipe band competitions and solo competitions are all opinion based. It doesn't matter how you played; it only matters where you get placed. I wish there was a way to find out without any bias or opinions as to who objectively played the best, because the winner should be the person who objectively played the best every time. This comes from experience by the way. I competed against the lead drummer of the only regional grade 1 pipe band. Both of us played the same in terms of how clean we played and in terms of how reasonable the tempos were that we chose. If I try my hardest to not use any bias, I destroyed him in terms of dynamic implementation, and you could hear and see when I was playing a phase with dynamics, while my opposition was playing pretty average volume for 90 percent of both his M/S/R and HP/J sets. How did I place? Second for both sets, and the judge destroyed me in the comments of the judging sheets; saying some things that looking back at the recording, I didn't even hear or see. First, the lead drummer of a grade one band shouldn't even be competing in grade 1 solos, they should be competing in professional/open, which around where I compete is considered a level above grade 1. Secondly, the only possible reason he beat me is because he's the lead drummer of a grade 1 band, which is the last reason why anyone should lose any solo competition. This is my story and why I hate that solo competitions are completely opinion based.
Perhaps you can tell us more about your expertise. Who do you play for or play with, have you competed in the World Solo Drumming Adult snare final before, were you at the event?
@@up2theline I started drumming at the age of 9 with killoch colliery pipe band, Grade 3. And played with Cumnock British Legion, Ayr Pipe Band and Kilmarnock. I was lead drummer with my school pipe band for 4 years. Returned to Killoch pipe band as drum Sargent until I was 18. I stopped playing due to work. My brother was the Bass drummer at Killoch and was a police officer. He became the Bass Drummer for Strathclyde Police pipe Band for 10 years under Drum Sargent Alex Connell and Pipe Major Ian MacLellan. I was back playing again with Kilmarnock Pipe band and Ayr Pipe band in my 40s. I have attended numerous championships played at the Cowal. Attended numerous world solo championships, first at Bellahouston Academy and the current venue. My influences when growing up was the famous Alex Duthart, who I watched many times. I have been a great supporter of pipe bands and I know a bit about drumming. I traveled with the police Pipe band when my brother played with them, this was when they won 6 in a Row. I was a great fan of Alex Connell and his drum corps. My brother later on in his career played in Gary Corkin’s drum corp when he played with the City of Glasgow Pipes and Drums, so I became a big fan of Gary’s style of playing as well. I wasn’t at the solo competition this year but watched it all online.
@@colinharvey638 Paul Harvey I know both Ian and Alex very well, unfortunately, Alex is no longer with us. However, you may be aware that the young Drummer in the video was also known to Alex and played a score he had written in memory of Drum Major, George Seymour at a special dinner. I’m also pleased to share that having been with Ian last weekend, where the Drummer in the video was also present, the most enjoyable conversation was had by all. Thank you for replying, best wishes to you. I was hoping we all might hear from the person who wrote the post with his opinion on the performance