YouTube Discovery | Ep. 07 | Sarah T Drum Guru - Percussion Covers


We are back after a long hiatus. Discovering new and unique music on YouTube has become a tough task off late. This episode of YouTube Discovery is special. In this episode we are going to talk about the Beats in the "Beats and Beyond". The reason why music without beats is just 'musical notes'.
Beat








How are beats created? Beats can be naturally created by clapping, snapping your fingers, tapping your feet, so on and so forth. Hands and feet are used to create beats whereas mouth is used to create musical notes. Use of hands and feet to create beats has it's limitations. To overcome these limitations, we have percussion instruments. A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater; struck, scraped or rubbed by hand; or struck against another similar instrument. The percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and tambourine.
One of the primary reasons for having beats in music is maintaining tempo. Pick a Bollywood song. Listen to it and then listen to its remixed version. What is the difference? The remixed version is fast paced with more *drumroll* beats.  Tempo of the song can change a laid back mellow song to a foot-tapping party number.

Similarly, artists create their own version of beats using percussion instruments to change the mood and feel of an existing song. We have seen singers creating song covers for a variety of Bollywood songs. Instrumentalists do not have a that kind of liberty in terms of choice of songs. Choices for percussionists are not many. Percussion covers use multiple percussion instruments to create an overlay on the original song (seems like an imaginary explanation but trust me things will be clear soon)

I remember when I was a kid, drum set was the iPhone of musical instruments at that time. Very few of them owned it and learnt it. For two reasons - it was expensive and it occupied a lot of space. One of my friends, at that time, bought a pair of bongo drums. Apparently, it was a trend among boys of our high school to play bongo drums. He invited me over to his place once to showcase his talent. As cringeworthy as it sounds even today, the songs he played his beats were this (save yourself, don't click it) and this (you have been warned). I laughed so hard at his choice of songs but at the same time, I will not lie, it sounded beautiful - how the beats made even the most boring song, enjoyable. Then I tried my hands on playing those two songs *guilty as charged*

I have not played any percussion instruments after that. Playing it just once for few minutes, more than 15 years ago, I still remember the thrill and enjoyment I had. Now imagine someone who lives and breathes on percussion instruments. The energy in them is always pumping along with the drum beats. I came across one such talented individual on YouTube few months back. "SUCH A BADASS" were my first words after watching her energy and enjoyment in the videos. Immediately subscribed to her. However, I realized I was five years late to discover this talented artist. Her name is Sarah Thawer and goes by the stage name of Sarah T Drum Guru. She is a professional drummer now and not so much active as a YouTube artist. But that did not stop me from reaching out to her. Read on below, my conversation with her to know more about her and her work. Here are some of my favourite Percussion Covers by her:

1. Chikni Chameli - Agneepath (Drum Set, Cajon, Indian Congas, Kanjira Cover)

2. Ainvayi Ainvayi-Band Baaja Baaraat (Drum Set, Dholak, Bhangra Dhol, Indian Congas Cover)

3. Senorita- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara- Drum Set, Congas and Bongos Cover

4. The Lazy Song- Bruno Mars (Drum Set, Indian Congas, Tabla, Dholak and Ghatam Cover)


ME: Tell us a bit about yourself. When did you start playing, what kind of work you have done in past and what are you currently working on?
SARAH: My name is Sarah Thawer, and I am a drummer based in Toronto, Canada. The first time I placed my hands on a drum was at age 2. I was very fortunate because I grew up in a house full of instruments, and since my father is a musician he would guide me to learn certain patterns and fills. When I was a child, my mom would be cooking in the kitchen and my dad would babysit my twin sister and me on drums, percussion, piano and he would give us a mic to sing. He would turn on indian classical, folk, fusion, semi-classical and Bollywood music and my sister and I would jam for hours. That was when my love for music and drums began. Between the ages of 5-6 was when I performed on stage for the first time. Because my father had a band and would be performing weekly, him and my mom would always encourage me to perform, whether it was to sing a song or two, play tambourine, play indian folk drums, percussion and drum set. Thus, I was fortunate to have a lot of experience performing at a very young age. When I was 13-14, I was travelling to Edmonton, Calgary and other cities in Canada to play drum set, and I also continued to play regularly around town. I currently am a freelance drummer, performing, doing session work and collaborating with international artists playing various genres, such as jazz, latin, gospel, hip hop, fusion, funk, R&B, world music: Indian, Bollywood and others! Also, I have some original music that I am working on and a couple of fun stuff on the way! I post majority of what I am up to on Instagram (@SarahTDrumGuru), as well as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter! Feel free to follow me on the social media sites for news and updates! (Shameless plug, haha!)

ME: You started on YouTube when it was still a medium to put up personal videos and not a platform to showcase talent. Was it difficult to get your work noticed as much as it is easy for artists today? Which video of yours got you the most attention in terms of getting opportunities offline?
SARAH: I started my YouTube channel in April 2009, and began putting covers and videos of myself drumming. It was my sister and my mom who encouraged me to start my channel, and I believe it was my mom who found the nickname “Sarah T Drum Guru”, and I was sold - it was super fun and catchy. From the beginning I had my mind set on putting up videos to showcase my talent and to start branding myself and get opportunity, but luckily I always found it fun to make videos so I was very consistent and always excited to upload them. I began by taking mainstream/Top 40 Pop songs and adding my own spin to it and trying to be unique and creative. For some videos, I used a billion drums and percussion and even household items such as straighteners, a basketball, the locks on the door… you name it! To answer your question, it was definitely difficult to get my work noticed, because I didn’t have access to drum mics, expensive recording equipment and I did not know how to promote myself and get my voice heard, so I used the popularity of pop songs to get views on my videos. I LOVED playing to the pop songs, I was having the time of my life, but I was also using it as a tool to get views on my channel. I would say my YouTube channel has helped me get a ton of opportunities. For instance in 2015, I was contacted by Soundstreams to perform at Koerner Hall in Toronto for a show called “Encuentros”, and they mentioned that they found me through YouTube. It featured musicians from around the world such as, Héctor Del Curto (bandoneon), María Mulata, Serouj Kradjian (pianist), Grisha Goryachev (guitarist), Fabio Zanon (guitarist) and Jeffrey Beecher (double bassist). That incredible opportunity led me to having an interview with Matt Galloway from CBC for the Metro Morning show, along with having a segment on CBC news with Debbie Lightle-Quan. In 2011, I was recognized by Ehsaan Noorani and Salim Merchant because of my drum cover on my YouTube channel to Salim’s song “Ainvayi Ainvayi”. A few years later was recognized by A.R. Rahman and also had the opportunity to perform with him in 2015 at Sony Centre in Toronto. YouTube and all social media sites have helped me tremendously to get my voice heard and open doors in my career.

ME: Has it been a conscious effort to refrain from doing more covers on YouTube or is it just that you have been wanting to do and are currently caught up with live shows and performances?
SARAH: In my high school years was when I was consciously and consistently putting up covers to popular songs on YouTube, and was performing on the side on drum set. At that time in my life, I feel I was trying to discover my sound, having fun and trying to unleash my creative side and seeing where it would go. Then, when university began and I started studying jazz, world music, gospel music and other genres very deeply, then my desire to play different genres of music and even to write my own music started increasing. Making drum and percussion covers was something I did for fun and I enjoyed it so much, but being a freelance drummer and playing original music, and freelancing playing jazz and other genres was who I was and moulding more and more into. I started posting more drum solos on my channel, and clips from performances and artists that I play with. I still will put some drum covers to mainstream music because I do love it, but I also want to put a focus on original music, music education, and dig much deeper into the drum set.

ME: How many percussion instruments do you play? How different is it to play instruments with hand compared to the ones played with sticks? I think percussion instruments played with sticks are easier as they require just wrist movements as compared to the ones played with hand that require all the fingers as well as wrists to work in unison. Is it so? Has it ever happened in your early days when you accidentally played stick instrument with hand or vice versa?
SARAH: Drum set is my main instrument that I play, but growing up I studied and learned to play every percussion instrument that I could lay my hands on! I studied formally on tabla from the age of 7, but passionately played congas, bongos, timbale, dholak, dhol, kanjira, ghatam, udu pot, darbuka, cajon, and others from the age of 2. I had a passion for rhythm, for beats - when I was around age 9 and 10, I used to carry a drum machine/sampler and bring it to my parents’ friends parties and sit in the corner with my headphones and make beats. I would say each drum and percussion is an art form. Whether it is playing with sticks or hands, they are both equally difficult. When using sticks or hands, there is equally so much technique involved and so many subtleties and a multitude ways of playing and creating different sounds. When playing drum set, there is so much coordination involved with all four limbs, and then there is marching band percussion that has it’s own style and authenticity. Additionally in more broader terms, there are different grips we can use, such as traditional grip, German, French and others. Now moving to the foot pedal: heel toe, slide, heel up, heel down, double pedal, swivel. Then there is the hi hat pedal…it is never ending! Moving to hand percussion, the term “percussion” can be thrown so loosely. Just because one can play a conga, doesn’t mean they can play djembe. Well, perhaps on the technique side of things they can, but the vocabulary and language is completely different. For instance, tabla technique is different than playing dholak, or in comparison to mridangam. Darbuka is different than the tumbek, Brazilian and Cuban percussion is completely different. To me, each world percussion/drum has a whole history and background, and if one is playing that specific drum, it is important to study it to its fullest to pay respect to its history, culture and lineage of musicians that it comes from. All my life I have considered myself as a drummer, who loves to incorporate percussion influences. I love playing drum kit in a very percussive manner, and I grew up practising percussion to really grasp the rhythms from different cultures and incorporate them on the kit. In my mind, I love to consider drums and percussion as rhythm. One entity.

ME: What is your dream setup? (which artist do you want to work with, what do you want to instrument play, where do you want to perform and what song/style do you want to perform?)
SARAH: Hmmm, that’s a tough question for me. For my kit, my setup really varies depending on the genre. If I am playing a jazz gig I love using two ride cymbals, or when I am playing a gospel gig I love my crashes and splashes around me. It really depends on the day and the style of music I am playing. I really try to stay as authentic as I can to the genre that I am playing when picking my setup. But I still love changing it up, and being creative and trying new things. To answer your next question, as crazy as this may sound, I want to play every genre, at every venue possible with every artist possible! I just want to keep learning, playing and trying new things and keep growing! One thing about music is that you can never learn it all, there is always something to practice and to learn. One of my favourite quotes: “The more I learn, the less I realize I know.”


In the end I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to write about her work and giving her valuable time to answer my curiosity. If you enjoyed this post and the work Sarah has been doing, then feel free to share it. Let me know your favourite video by Sarah in the comments below. I will see you next time with a new guest. Until then, *badum tss*...!

Make sure to 👍 her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sarahtdrumguru1/
We have a Facebook page too. Make sure to like it for updates: Beats and Beyond

Also, do subscribe to her YouTube channel:



To follow more of her work, visit https://www.instagram.com/sarahtdrumguru/
Follow her on Twitter: @SarahTDrumGuru
Follow us on Twitter: @beatsnbeyond

If you liked this episode do check out my previous episodes on Indian Classical Versions and Mashup Covers:

Comments

Popular Posts

Music Review | Housefull 3 | Mika Singh, Sharib-Toshi, Sohail Sen, Tanishk Bagchi

Music Review | A Flying Jatt | Sachin-Jigar

Music Mention | Wrong Side Raju (Gujarati) | Sachin-Jigar

Music Review | Mohenjo Daro | A. R. Rahman

Music Review | Wajah Tum Ho | Mithoon, Abhijit Vaghani, Meet Bros, Gourov-Roshin