Rick Beato... yeah or nay?

[Skullhead]

Seen he's been reviewing some prog here and there. Anyone have an opinion about his level of expertise on such matters?

[Scott Bails]

I've only seen a few of his videos, but I think they're fantastic.

[Sputnik]

In terms of expertise, I think he's excellent. He has both knowledge of production and song-craft/composition and gives a lot of great insights. That said, I find his videos a bit boring. I've watched a few of them, and I find I lose interest after a while, maybe a bit too much detail. So for me, he totally knows what he's talking about, but he just talks too long.

Bill

[chalkpie]

Guy is great.

[StarThrower]

Yay!

[Sean]

Big Yay! He is VERY informed. Taught his kid to have perfect pitch too. He can play the most dense jazz chord on the piano and the kid can name every note in it. There's a vid or two of that too.... Rick's recent vid about Dance on a Volcano from Genesis was his best (and most difficult) yet.

[Buddhabreath]

Agreed. He's an accomplished professional and immensely knowledgeable. I don't know if he's an expert on prog, but he's clearly an expert on many aspects of music, production, theory etc.

[fictionmusic]

Big yay from me. I even bought his book.

[fiberman]

I like to watch him, enthusiasm counts, he's not just acting.

[Captain Geech]

A big yeah from me. The guy clearly knows his business.

[Top Cat]

Big Rick Beato fan here!

[Splicer]

What I've seen I've liked. Very enjoyable.

[proggy_jazzer]

Enthusiasm + Knowledge of Subject Matter + Chops + Desire to Pass it On = Great Teaching

I'm a fan.

[Steve983]

I'm not subscribed but I have enjoyed a lot of his videos.

[starless and bible black]

I say YAY! to Rick Beato. And I would love to see him do more "what makes this song great" videos (and I truly hope he does more '70s prog features like the ones he's done for Rush, Yes & Genesis). Also, his videos are well worth watching when he gives his views on the top instrumentalists in rock & the state of the music industry.

[The Czar]

He whines too much about getting his videos blocked.
Sorry Rick, but you don't own the copyright, so quit complaining when you get blocked.

[Skullhead]

Oh No He DIDN'T!

[The Czar]

He's obviously listening to the wrong music then, because bands like Rival Sons are not soulless.

Also, if he heard my no click no quantized original music, he'd complain about the production quality.

He kinda annoys me.

[davis]

I've only seen one of his videos, but I'm impressed. Yay.

[DoubleDrummer]

Enthusiasm + Knowledge of Subject Matter + Chops + Desire to Pass it On = Great Teaching
I'm a fan.

Agreed.............he has the music education, ability to dissect and play, and the love of the art.............what's not to like ?

[Vic333]

I've only watched one video (The Genesis, Dance on a Volcano one).
Enjoyable enough. He definitely knows what he's talking about.
If he does more prog, I might check them out. I might not. I guess I'd rather just listen to the song.

[noisynoise]

Oh No He DIDN'T!

I love Rick and I can't argue with his analysis here. It kind of represents an industry that got out of control. I don't fault the existence of the tools but they way they are used. I imagine that they were used sparingly at first (there are likely examples of this even back from the 70s with splicing), but it became addictive and overused. The real question is "why"? Does anyone think a quantized rock band recording sounds better? It's probably down to cost to produce. Instead of spending the time to get a great band performance it's cheaper to do a couple of takes from individuals then assemble and tweak it later. The "feel" that is produced by a band playing together in the same room is nearly impossible to create with individual takes cobbled together, so the grid is the great equalizer. It doesn't sound as good, but it's another example of convenience over quality.

Rick, however, is not against the use of electronic drums, he has several 80s songs in his "What Makes this Song Great" series that use them. I think when they are used honestly (i.e. not trying to replicate a live acoustic drummer) they can be effective and even soulful at times. But give me Bernard Purdie any day over an 808

[aith01]

Oh No He DIDN'T!

I knew there had to be an ulterior motive for starting this thread.

[Yodelgoat]

I have Seen a few of his videos here and there. I do really like his "what makes this song great" videos. This video was spot on in terms of describing what happened to Rock Music. They took the musician out of the equation. I actually was guilty of this myself with the drums on my 2005 release. I played the drums live, then quantized them (including the hihats and ride) and it killed the whole album. I got butchered for doing it by people who thought a real drummer was actually a drum machine. It might as well have been one. The good news is, I didn't do it for all the instruments, but... I lived and learned. Now I use zero beat mapping, although I do use a click in most cases, but just because I am a bit of a slob player in most instances, playing all the instruments, I wander off. No one notices cause no one listens. Kind of cuts down on the negativity as well.

[nosebone]

He has a lot of great info.