Exclusive performance from Vic Firth Signature Artist Tony Royster Jr. You can check out more performances like this one on our Factory Tour Feature Page! vicfirth.com/tour/
To all you people saying this solo has no feel or musicality you should know that that is literally IMPOSSIBLE, this man is a master in jazz, rock, latin, gospel, hip-hop and i'm sure a few more. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it has no musicality. Even though this is improvised you can tell there is a solid foundation with a few grooves and then he just improvises with chops and different musical and rhythmic applications around the kit. I don't understand problems with showmanship either, that's just there to help you enjoy the solo more. Get over your jealousy haters
I have followed this Young Man from the very Beginning of his Drumming Career and he has always impressed the hell out of Me. A True Musical Prodigy of Our Instrument. Keep Inspiring Us Drummers Mr. Royster.
Some of you are just hating on this guy. You may not like his hiphop style of drumming but he is easily one of the best drummers of our generation . Pure talent!!!!
my man, he's just playing around having fun. Everything is not all about being serious all the damn time, if anything this should show how humble he his, by not not making every one else feel like shyt with his skills because i believe that we all know that he could do much more than this if he wanted to.
What a fine musical statement is this. Pleasing sonically as well as rhythmically. This guy truly creates time and is in a league of his own. The hip stuff he plays is staggering. What he leaves out and chooses not to play- makes it art. In former times he would be playing with the finest creative musicians on the planet.
Well I just love this guy. So many great ideas. I love it how he does super fast "check my chops" stuff, and then smoothly going into a steady groove. He is not a crazy show off, you can see that he has all the skills to do any gig. And he plays very soulful - something many of the other hot shot "machine gun" drummers are missing.
if you ask me; this is the pinnacle of drumming, and I dig it because this is almost the exact way I improv: introduce a rhythm structure, mess around with it by adding syncopation, break downs, dropped beats, rudiments, and the occasional harmonics/look at how fast I move around the kit. When you are done, move on, or incorporate earlier rhythm structures to mess with the overall "flow".
Let me start of by saying how much I respect and have always admired Tony. truly an inspiration to me since the first time i saw his incredible 12 year old solo. See what alot of people fail to recognize is that, speaking from a personal drumming point of view, you really do evolve as a drummer specially in accordance to what type of work it is that you are doing at the moment. Tony went from this Fusion/jazzy hybrid-type of playing (ala Dennis chambers) to straight up jamming with Jay-z and lets be honest here, hip hop is no where near as tough or demanding as say - playing a gig with chick corea aka fusion/jazz! If any of you have had any drumming experience then you would know that according to the music that you are currently working on- that is precisely what your focus will be and thus the sound you will emmulate. I can see alot of hip-hop influenced beats as well as gospel-chop fills and licks incorporated into this presentation here and of course, it makes perfect sense! Given that this is the field in which this incredibly gifted young man resides in currently! Thus my young padawans, with all this said - much to learn have you. -HP
Haven't seen this dude since 2003 or 2004. Can't believe that was almost a decade ago. An old friend showed me that video where he was maybe 11 or 12 banging the drums but i failed to get his name. He looks way bigger now haha and has his own wikipedia page. Should've followed him more. He's still amazing! Glad to read from you guys what he's been up to and that he's still active as a drummer. Jay Z eh, is that for sessions or as a regular?
I agree with you man, It's just that these days we are having a lot of mediocre people who just dislike the video cuz they have envy of the great drummers. I have to say, I don't like tony at all but I can recognize that this guy is a beast on drums, you know what I mean? I'm just saying!
I love how there is not a wasted stroke in his playing...everything is perfectly in it's place and neat! Gotta love Royster...Hip Hop is influencing his chops a taste...at least at the moment of this recording if I may say so!
What's that side stick thing he does towards the beginning of the video?!?!? I've been trying to do it but I can't get it down anyone know how to do it or how to practice it? Any help would be appreciated
Anyone know what pedals he might be using. I know he usually uses DW9000 Series, but these look slightly different. I don't know if a new model recently came out, but it would be nice to know. Thanks!
