Am I getting my boards crossed, or haven't we seen the video before here ? Meh whatever, he's still amazingly cool...
They are containers for plaster or something similar. And sorry for being jaded, but he just seems like a typical New York City subway or street musician (or underground/street musician from another large city).
I guess it depends on how you define a drum? They're usually just a hollow tube that's closed off at one end and, though it's usually the case, it's not always with a skin - or just on one side. Anyway, he's drumming on those plastic containers so I think they are his drums at least. P.S. I saw some amazing drums on TV in France once, they were about 30 feet/10 metres high and these islanders had to be on top of a little cliff or hill to play them.
Apparently, he is Tony Royster Jr., an otherwise pretty famous drummer who does this for fun. He's still an amazing musician, but that does take away from the mystique a bit. I liked the thought that you could randomly come across someone as talented as that.
the problem with that level of frenzied drum soloing (5 gallon buckets are no less a 'drum' than one's parents pots and pans when you're five years old...) is that losing the beat is simultaneously evidence of a fuck-up and the chance to do something different other than just keep a frenzied beat. i dunno. i mean, i'd rather see micky hart or ginger baker doing their stuff, or hell, keith moon, but that guy definately seems to match those legends for sheer energy output.
Were those the drums that you can go see being played to placate the volcano gods in Japan. There is a team of players (I think it's a dozen or more) with various size drums.
I couldn't really think where to put this, so I figured this thread was as good as any... it's not spectacular beatboxing, but I think it's pretty neat and funny : MySpaceTV: Beardyman - Kitchen Diaries by Rich
When I tried the first link now I get a video for 'the Manny" there is a beat but it isn't about a drummer,
