You are not only a very good and educated bass player but also a very knowledgeable and intelligent person.
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YouTube Virtuosos (Old Man Rant)
- Thread starter socialleper
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You are not only a very good and educated bass player but also a very knowledgeable and intelligent person.
In the vast majority of cases this is quite true.
You've got guys like CoverSolutions who IMO is one of the hardest working YouTuber's in the music space. He's putting out multiple videos a week that include good quality recordings along with really well done video editing to show tabs while he plays the song. He does incredible work, but is still a relativity mid-sized channel. He ought to gain loads of popularity sometime soon...he's earned it.
I don't see why people make a big deal about YouTube shredders. If anything those who don't like playing with those musicians should encourage it that's one last guy you have to worry about showing up to an audition just soloing over your songs.
YouTube and the Internet is another platform. I don't know about you guys but when it comes to the old flyers and CL you're completely at the mercy of your local scene. Even if it's active you are at the mercy of the trend of it. There's nothing wrong with covers but for me I am sick of playing mustang sally, don't feel like playing pride and joy. I also am not even into seeing cover bands for that reason I heard all those songs 1,000,000 times no thanks. I also am just not into playing live anymore, juggling work, family, practice, traveling, spending gas for a little money. I know some guys make good money or enjoy the heck out of it.
Musicians can lean two ways, some prefer performing and others prefer writing and recording. Personally I lean all the way to writing and recording I am new to DAWs it's a new challenge and I love it. I played in bands for years and my favorite part was always writing. So the fact I am not into the band path makes the Internet my best platform for exposure. I do like playing with people but as a musician if you haven't tried it writing music solo is really rewarding. It's nice to just write music with complete creative freedom.
Some people aim to be virtuosos which makes YouTube their platform. If yngwie Jr. shows up to the weekend warriors blues band I doubt either him or them will enjoy them selves. So why doesn't he just post his stuff on YouTube and those who want to watch can. Those who don't just don't click. I say it's all a win/win.
YouTube and the Internet is another platform. I don't know about you guys but when it comes to the old flyers and CL you're completely at the mercy of your local scene. Even if it's active you are at the mercy of the trend of it. There's nothing wrong with covers but for me I am sick of playing mustang sally, don't feel like playing pride and joy. I also am not even into seeing cover bands for that reason I heard all those songs 1,000,000 times no thanks. I also am just not into playing live anymore, juggling work, family, practice, traveling, spending gas for a little money. I know some guys make good money or enjoy the heck out of it.
Musicians can lean two ways, some prefer performing and others prefer writing and recording. Personally I lean all the way to writing and recording I am new to DAWs it's a new challenge and I love it. I played in bands for years and my favorite part was always writing. So the fact I am not into the band path makes the Internet my best platform for exposure. I do like playing with people but as a musician if you haven't tried it writing music solo is really rewarding. It's nice to just write music with complete creative freedom.
Some people aim to be virtuosos which makes YouTube their platform. If yngwie Jr. shows up to the weekend warriors blues band I doubt either him or them will enjoy them selves. So why doesn't he just post his stuff on YouTube and those who want to watch can. Those who don't just don't click. I say it's all a win/win.
The day of the travelling minstrel and dancehall band that is a needed commodity for being entertained is pretty much done, and you can download just about anything for free, so at least them thar young bucks have figured out a way to make some money off being a musician or performer.
Very true. Rob Chapman did a video a while ago about how he turned his YouTube channel into a "career" he makes a living off of. I think the biggest take away was that you need to have multiple revenue sources, because it's very hard (and honestly somewhat risky) to make a complete living off of just YouTube.
We've known that sex sells for centuries, independent of medium.
I think my "not getting it" may have something to do with my use of YouTube:
I don't really care about or enjoy solo artists beyond just a general noting of their skill for reasons that dovetail with my listening habits. I'm usually bored by instrumentals, and most "virtuoso" CD bore me. Whether it is guitar, bass, or drums, I find myself thinking "when are you going stop wanking and play a song." I honestly believe that one person's ideas are made better by the energy created when it bounces off other people. One person playing, even if they are doing all the instruments sounds, for lack of a better word, singular. I have never once heard a solo artists work on YT and found it interesting enough to listen to more than one thing, or more than once.
Through this discussion, I've learned that some of these people are recording engineers that already have all the gear to do this stuff handy anyway. They are doing this on the side. Makes sense. Then there are the 9-5 guys that don't want to lose their families/houses/lives to being a touring musician. Understandable. Trying to use YT to get discovered? Seems unlikely as you are now literally one of millions of other people using the same tool. Its all background noise. How do you find a useful needle in a haystack of needles?
Then there are the things I just can't explain. Why on gods green earth would anyone care about your opinion of a football game? Why would you film yourself reacting to a TV show? If you are one of a few thousand people performing some asinine "challenge", what possible difference is there between you doing it, or someone else doing it? You just received a new bass; great. Are you going to play it? No you are just going to unbox it and show it to me. W T F is wrong with you? Your 3 daughters can sort-of play a weak metal standard. Cool; can they write anything of their own? No. You can play this really difficult piece in the comforting seclusion of your house? Awesome. Now try the real hard work of doing it with 5 separate entities, in a crappy club full of people staring at you, with a stage that is too small, and you can't hear yourself or your bandmates.
Like I said. I don't get it.
- Product Demos: This is probably one of the single most useful things I find on YT. With the vast amount of gear now available on the internet that I will never be able to try in person, the ability to hear/see it before ordering it makes all the difference. Smart manufacturers should do full demos of all of their equipment IMO.
- Music Videos: MTV hasn't played actual videos in a decade and they sure as hell don't play metal videos. I also like watching professional quality concert footage since I'm not really in to going to shows.
- Sampling music before I buy: It is really common for smaller bands to post pieces of their CDs on YT. Spotify is iffy and Amazon doesn't always have it, so this way I can check something out before ordering it.
- Reference Videos: How-to videos for the DIY home repair, car repair, bass repair, etc are a life saver.
- Promoting my own band: My small local band doesn't have the money to travel to the places where we have fans. I make sure to post videos of our performances to people on the other side of the country, or in other countries, can see us.
- Checking the competition: I like to know who we are playing with at shows, so I go check them out before the gig. I also check out venues I haven't played before this way.
- Interviews/Forums: I'm a big enough nerd that I like watching convention forums or interviews of shows\actors I like. I generally don't watch videos interviewing musicians. They honestly don't have much to say.
I don't really care about or enjoy solo artists beyond just a general noting of their skill for reasons that dovetail with my listening habits. I'm usually bored by instrumentals, and most "virtuoso" CD bore me. Whether it is guitar, bass, or drums, I find myself thinking "when are you going stop wanking and play a song." I honestly believe that one person's ideas are made better by the energy created when it bounces off other people. One person playing, even if they are doing all the instruments sounds, for lack of a better word, singular. I have never once heard a solo artists work on YT and found it interesting enough to listen to more than one thing, or more than once.
Through this discussion, I've learned that some of these people are recording engineers that already have all the gear to do this stuff handy anyway. They are doing this on the side. Makes sense. Then there are the 9-5 guys that don't want to lose their families/houses/lives to being a touring musician. Understandable. Trying to use YT to get discovered? Seems unlikely as you are now literally one of millions of other people using the same tool. Its all background noise. How do you find a useful needle in a haystack of needles?
Then there are the things I just can't explain. Why on gods green earth would anyone care about your opinion of a football game? Why would you film yourself reacting to a TV show? If you are one of a few thousand people performing some asinine "challenge", what possible difference is there between you doing it, or someone else doing it? You just received a new bass; great. Are you going to play it? No you are just going to unbox it and show it to me. W T F is wrong with you? Your 3 daughters can sort-of play a weak metal standard. Cool; can they write anything of their own? No. You can play this really difficult piece in the comforting seclusion of your house? Awesome. Now try the real hard work of doing it with 5 separate entities, in a crappy club full of people staring at you, with a stage that is too small, and you can't hear yourself or your bandmates.
Like I said. I don't get it.
That's an interesting way to do things. My point was less about the internet as a vehicle. It was more that (to me) the enjoyment of playing music, especially bass, comes from the being part of a group performance (even if done virtually in your case). Some of the people you see on line have serious chops, especially in slap - it almost always seems to be slap. I just prefer to have my bass be part of an overall performance vs. bass alone. FWIW, I am not anti-slap and enjoy getting to do that at times when I play. I'm just less interested in bass as a solo instrument where I can show off my individual skills.
Hey I agree I was just answering the OP in why there might be so many of them on Youtube, and with that one particular possibility (lazy) I meant more with regards to choosing that method of getting your name out there or jamming with others. 99% of what I do musically is solo, so I agree with you 100% it is in NO way effortless or easy (at least if they're a virtuoso and by definition any good lol)... Again I meant lazy as in on youtube instead of on stage someplace, ideally with others and not pre-recorded tracks backing them up. Sorry I should have been more clear - my first post was really just "thinking out loud" but in type instead
Edit: Lazy socially, not lazy musically. How's that? lmao
...or some kind of free-market competition.
...but it always SOMETHING else comes with the Territory/as a side effect. I was so wrong about all those "smart" phones many years ago.
With a few exceptions, I agree 100% with your statement about the "One Man Show."
My example - one of my wife's favorite Lenny Kravitz "proudly" recording all instruments.
(But it's ONLY MY HUMBLE OPINION.)
or NUMEROUS OTHER issues/problems in REAL LIVE that could Substantially affect your performance, but...
How much money does 1 million YouTube views get you?
My friend told me it would make me a chick magnet. Took years for that to work!
By far, my favorite of their videos. Their views are well-earned.
That's fine. We all like different things.
Do you think it's more likely that you're going to get discovered playing a shithole bar for 50 people? Or sending a demo to a record label unsolicited? Not everyone has dreams of "making it big," many people just want to spread what they do to as many people as possible.
Different people like different things and have different motivations for what they do. If you still can't understand after reading dozens of replies with legitimate reasons, you probably never will...
While we're all on the subject of bass YouTube content, Rob Chapman and Dave Hollingworth are starting a series of bass videos today...glad to see it!
People have provided links to sources on every page of this discussion and you keep asking for sources like you didn't see the sources.
Sources.
Can we get the videos with just Dave Hollingworth and not Rob Chapman? I'd watch those.
Not so hard, numbers are public.
Invalid Link Removed will give you the basics. It can be more if they have deals with advertisers, endorse some products etc.
