Hello Rob - If anyone questions you or your purpose for making the videos, or sharing your experiences with the world, they can contact me and I will assure them that you are genuine and sincere in your purpose. I am fortunate to have you known you since you were a MS and HS band member, and the impact you had on me (to be a better teacher every day) and your classmates (to be better students and musicians) was tremendous. I never wanted to disappoint you, or your parents (your mom forever impacted me, my teaching, and continues to be with me every day), and you inspired me to do more and be better every day. Continue to embrace positivity, a trait that I believe your mom left with you - she would be so proud of you and everything you've accomplished! I am proud of you, and feel fortunate that I was able to share time with you - keep up the good work, you continue to inspire!
thank you for your kind words mr. catherman! i wouldn't be here without your support. (for anyone reading this, mr. catherman is my high school band director and one of the great music teachers i have had the chance to work with.)
I'm an old guy (64 yrs) and from "rural Michigan (Onsted)." I will never be as accomplished as you. However, I fully appreciate hearing what you have learned --you are a help to me. My advice; Just keep doing what you know is the right thing. Don't let that one negative person ruin the good work. You are doing what history has shown for years; passing on your knowledge and skill to the next generation. WE NEED MORE OF THAT!!!! You bring out things that I don't think about. THANK YOU!!!
I love your videos, even though I'm no longer auditioning for orchestras. The deep thinking you convey can be used for many things, both musical and non-musical. Please keep up the excellent work!
Wow. Thanks for this open and heartfelt discussion. I think your ideas for future content are great. I’ve had wishes for similar material myself (and considered creating some of it myself!) Your description of having to work for the things that didn’t come naturally is also an explanation of what makes you a good teacher; you can explain because you have had to go through the problem solving experience, and you have empathy for students who are also very interested but may have problems to solve. Please don’t let naysayers ruin your attitude. Your presence on the scene does much to correct the things that may be wrong with the industry, and that cause people to be jaded in the first place. We all need examples of compassionate but realistic optimism - in Music and everywhere else in the world - and you are great at providing that. That said, nobody’s fountain is endlessly self-replenishing. It’s OK to need a break. I’m a percussionist and percussion teacher, too. My students are mainly beginners. When they reach a certain level, those who are interested in going further will move on to their next teacher; some have gone pretty far, and I’m proud of and impressed by them. My goal is to establish an accurate, versatile and reliable foundation in technique and musicianship so students have the option to advance further in whatever directions they want to, without having to fill in large gaps in understanding or correct errors later on. So, I tend to be careful about what influences I want my students exposed to, since there is so much misinformation out there and some of it is flashy and attractive. I want them to be exposed to lots of things, but also to be able to discern what is of value from each thing, or each teacher, they see. Your videos have been on my recommended list for several kids a number of times, as an example on the positive side of things. Your videos have taught me new things, and reminded me of things I hadn’t thought about since my own collegiate education says, which have been useful in my own practice, and in lessons and rehearsals with students. When musicians who play and teach at the highest levels make their wisdom available to the rest of us, it helps us avoid the stagnation that can come from spending all our time repeating the beginner level over and over. I’m no expert, but this idea comes to mind: next time someone’s negative review gets you down, remember that the fact that you are capable of being affected by their comment is itself evidence of your genuine nature; the very thing that makes you both a good musician and a good teacher. While a constructive criticism may be useful, a purely negative complaint says more about the complainer than anything. Congratulations on the new baby! No doubt she will change you in many ways. And thanks for all you’ve done. If you never do another instruction video, you’ll still have already done the world a great service. But I look forward to seeing much more!
Glad to have you back on YT, Rob. Btw, I love the baking analogy for excerpts!! Very creative. Looking forward to coming to a MET performance soon! All the best to you + fam!
Don’t let the haters/trolls slow you down. Your mission is genuine and your content IS truly valuable to that “17-year old from rural Michigan.” Just delete/block the negativity and keep on keepin’ on. We need more content like yours out there for that next generation.
Thank you so much- I still look forward to your openness, generosity, honesty, and great content. Although my connection to classical percussion is in the past (I transitioned to jazz and improvisational drumming) I love your approach to musical concepts, practicing, musicality, technique, etc. And, I still listen to classical music (including opera) attend concerts, and watch RUclips performances almost daily.
Thanks so much for this video Rob. With the 'musicality' videos, it might be interesting to touch on the need for flexibility throughout the audition process, ie if someone asks me to play something "more sparkly" or "with more malice" or "more blue" or whatever during an audition. Having more than one interpretation ready to go, in other words. Or even the controversial (at least in my head) "how to make practice fun"/"should practice be fun"?
Hi Rob, It's so great to have you back again, just watched all of this video and I'd really like to thank you for your honesty. Its so lovely to hear what you've been up to in more detail than what I've caught with your instagram and messages etc. I have always found your videos not only most entertaining but also incredibly insightful. You come across to me as someone who genuinely cares about helping us all out even though you are an incredibly successful musician with an impressive career, you still want to dedicate so much of your precious time to helping others. That is highly commendable and you must never take any notice of the nay sayers, the negativity bunch. They are not worth any of our time! Please keep up the great work. Whilst I have missed your cheery face and incredible depth of percussion knowledge, I respect that you are giving all you can and I'm grateful for any thing you have to offer regardless of how long I have to wait. Very best wishes and I'm looking forward to making time to watch your next videos .
I really appreciate your goal of sharing all your information to help people who don’t have access to it. There is so much guarding and competition it’s nice to see a genuine effort to just help everyone be their best and make good music. Im looking forward to your future projects!
Rob - I love everything you do. Fuck these haters and trolls that hate. They’re bitter people who are completely jealous of everything you built for yourself. I know these people well and there are a ton of these people where I live. As a violinist, I’m always intrigued with everything you do and how you approach everything. It really opens the box on an audition circuit for me because I’ve become close to winning jobs, and big time jobs at that. You’re doing great things for everyone who’s watching. Prove the naysayers wrong, a close colleague who stands by this. -J
Hey Rob! Congrats on the family news! Been watching you for quite a while. Everything you do is fantastic and always has quantity as the main priority, so any further videos will be appreciated!
Hello Rob- I am so glad to have found your channel and subscribed your weekly audition hack. Please continue making videos, they are informative, high quality and super duper useful. The knowledge and experiences you have shared are priceless, my gratefulness is beyond words. These audition experiences and tips are so important yet could rarely learnt from school. Thanks for your selflessness sharing all these precious information to everyone especially during this difficult time for musicians. What I found frustrated is that when we get eliminated from audition round, unlike usual job interview, musicians wont have chance to know what we are lacking of or what why we get eliminated from judges's perspective. Do you have any suggestion regarding to this? It will be great to have topics like how to deal with stage fright, dealing with failure in audition to be covered! Thanks!
Thank you so much for a video like this! So incredibly heartfelt. And the personal touch of letting us into your life truly means the world for those of us going through the same balancing lifestyle of family and work. (BTW, all your videos have always had this genuine feeling for me so that's not new!) But to take away from this video, I got to ask since you mentioned about a new camera. What camera if you don't mind me asking did you film this with? Would love to hear the set up, lighting, etc. That really did bring the full scope of depth to this video and I loved the way it was presented in it's raw / professional clarity. Thanks!
thanks for the kind words! i appreciate it. i hope to do some more of these life updates sometime soon as it seemed to resonate with people. in terms of gear, i switched to sony mirrorless cameras. i have the fx3 which lets me do slow motion really well, and then i have the a7c which is smaller and i can bring it on vacation and stuff. for this video, i’m using a 14mm lens and the ml-60bi godox light.
Hi Rob - all of your video have helped me a lot. One video or series that would be helpful is what equipment do professional orchestras use (snare, bass drum, timp, sticks/mallets, etc...). For example, what snare drums does the NY Met and NY Philharmonic use? I know it depends on the piece, but having an idea of the equipment will be helpful. This will help me be a better percussionist for the orchestra I play with. Its not a professional one, but l have high expectations for myself and always strive to be better at my craft.
good question! i would say that stick choice is a very personal thing that will be very different among members of the orchestra. instruments are usually things owned by the orchestra, with the exception of small things like triangles and tambourines, etc. you can check out some equipment i use here: robknopper.com/stickbag. for snare drums at the met, we have a combination of pearl and black swamp drums. for cymbals we have a combination of zildjian, matt nolan, and spizzichino.
Great to see a new video! Hope you are well! Thanks for the honest and down to earth video. I’m sorry to hear that you have received comments that bring you down. I hope you manage to keep your focus on all of the people that benefit from your amazing efforts! Audition hacker is brilliant and when anyone asks me about audition advice I always tell them about you!
Hi Rob you contribute a lot to the classical community. Please ignore the trolls. If you were fake you wouldn't have so many followers. Looking forward to the excerpts videos. Stay safe and well.
hi rob, i have been watching your videos for over two years now and i‘m happy that your back on youtube. two years ago i got rejected from the precollage programme at the conservatory and as a result of feeling bad i got motivated and started searching for lessons online. so i found your channel and it helped me develop technic, which helped me play more musically. Eventually, i auditioned again in june and i got in. At the moment i already had three lessons there and i‘m super happy i kept going. (probably because even though you experienced in some way getting rejected you won a great job at the met. you showed me that with hard work you can reach your goals.) Thanks for what you‘re doing and kind regards from austria. :D
Hello Rob - If anyone questions you or your purpose for making the videos, or sharing your experiences with the world, they can contact me and I will assure them that you are genuine and sincere in your purpose. I am fortunate to have you known you since you were a MS and HS band member, and the impact you had on me (to be a better teacher every day) and your classmates (to be better students and musicians) was tremendous. I never wanted to disappoint you, or your parents (your mom forever impacted me, my teaching, and continues to be with me every day), and you inspired me to do more and be better every day. Continue to embrace positivity, a trait that I believe your mom left with you - she would be so proud of you and everything you've accomplished! I am proud of you, and feel fortunate that I was able to share time with you - keep up the good work, you continue to inspire!
thank you for your kind words mr. catherman! i wouldn't be here without your support. (for anyone reading this, mr. catherman is my high school band director and one of the great music teachers i have had the chance to work with.)
thanks so much for watching all these years. 🙏 what topics do you want me to cover next?
It would be cool if you invite percussionists like you’ve done before:) Thanks for this video
How to pick pieces for grad auditions would be really helpful!!!
How to overcome butterflies in a stomach when you get back not only on stage, but on rehearsal scenes after all these years of pandemic
I'm an old guy (64 yrs) and from "rural Michigan (Onsted)." I will never be as accomplished as you. However, I fully appreciate hearing what you have learned --you are a help to me. My advice; Just keep doing what you know is the right thing. Don't let that one negative person ruin the good work. You are doing what history has shown for years; passing on your knowledge and skill to the next generation. WE NEED MORE OF THAT!!!! You bring out things that I don't think about. THANK YOU!!!
thanks for your supportive words and greetings all the way to michigan!
I love your videos, even though I'm no longer auditioning for orchestras. The deep thinking you convey can be used for many things, both musical and non-musical. Please keep up the excellent work!
Wow. Thanks for this open and heartfelt discussion.
I think your ideas for future content are great. I’ve had wishes for similar material myself (and considered creating some of it myself!)
Your description of having to work for the things that didn’t come naturally is also an explanation of what makes you a good teacher; you can explain because you have had to go through the problem solving experience, and you have empathy for students who are also very interested but may have problems to solve.
Please don’t let naysayers ruin your attitude. Your presence on the scene does much to correct the things that may be wrong with the industry, and that cause people to be jaded in the first place. We all need examples of compassionate but realistic optimism - in Music and everywhere else in the world - and you are great at providing that. That said, nobody’s fountain is endlessly self-replenishing. It’s OK to need a break.
I’m a percussionist and percussion teacher, too. My students are mainly beginners. When they reach a certain level, those who are interested in going further will move on to their next teacher; some have gone pretty far, and I’m proud of and impressed by them. My goal is to establish an accurate, versatile and reliable foundation in technique and musicianship so students have the option to advance further in whatever directions they want to, without having to fill in large gaps in understanding or correct errors later on. So, I tend to be careful about what influences I want my students exposed to, since there is so much misinformation out there and some of it is flashy and attractive. I want them to be exposed to lots of things, but also to be able to discern what is of value from each thing, or each teacher, they see. Your videos have been on my recommended list for several kids a number of times, as an example on the positive side of things.
Your videos have taught me new things, and reminded me of things I hadn’t thought about since my own collegiate education says, which have been useful in my own practice, and in lessons and rehearsals with students. When musicians who play and teach at the highest levels make their wisdom available to the rest of us, it helps us avoid the stagnation that can come from spending all our time repeating the beginner level over and over.
I’m no expert, but this idea comes to mind: next time someone’s negative review gets you down, remember that the fact that you are capable of being affected by their comment is itself evidence of your genuine nature; the very thing that makes you both a good musician and a good teacher. While a constructive criticism may be useful, a purely negative complaint says more about the complainer than anything.
Congratulations on the new baby! No doubt she will change you in many ways.
And thanks for all you’ve done. If you never do another instruction video, you’ll still have already done the world a great service. But I look forward to seeing much more!
Glad to have you back on YT, Rob. Btw, I love the baking analogy for excerpts!! Very creative. Looking forward to coming to a MET performance soon!
All the best to you + fam!
I appreciate everything you do for the community!
Don’t let the haters/trolls slow you down. Your mission is genuine and your content IS truly valuable to that “17-year old from rural Michigan.” Just delete/block the negativity and keep on keepin’ on. We need more content like yours out there for that next generation.
thanks for your very kind words and i appreciate you!
ignore the haters mate, the internet is full of trolls. you're doing amazing work and have helped so many people worldwide. keep up the good work! 👍
thanks brandon, i appreciate it!
Yes, you're an inspiration for me. I'm going to begin to apply your How To Get Motivated and set practice goals for my practice for this week.
Glad you're on the mend, Rob! Thanks for sharing your insights.
Thank you so much- I still look forward to your openness, generosity, honesty, and great content. Although my connection to classical percussion is in the past (I transitioned to jazz and improvisational drumming) I love your approach to musical concepts, practicing, musicality, technique, etc. And, I still listen to classical music (including opera) attend concerts, and watch RUclips performances almost daily.
Thanks so much for this video Rob.
With the 'musicality' videos, it might be interesting to touch on the need for flexibility throughout the audition process, ie if someone asks me to play something "more sparkly" or "with more malice" or "more blue" or whatever during an audition. Having more than one interpretation ready to go, in other words.
Or even the controversial (at least in my head) "how to make practice fun"/"should practice be fun"?
thanks for these ideas aidan! yes great idea to practice adjusting and to make practicing fun.
Hi Rob, It's so great to have you back again, just watched all of this video and I'd really like to thank you for your honesty. Its so lovely to hear what you've been up to in more detail than what I've caught with your instagram and messages etc. I have always found your videos not only most entertaining but also incredibly insightful. You come across to me as someone who genuinely cares about helping us all out even though you are an incredibly successful musician with an impressive career, you still want to dedicate so much of your precious time to helping others. That is highly commendable and you must never take any notice of the nay sayers, the negativity bunch. They are not worth any of our time! Please keep up the great work. Whilst I have missed your cheery face and incredible depth of percussion knowledge, I respect that you are giving all you can and I'm grateful for any thing you have to offer regardless of how long I have to wait. Very best wishes and I'm looking forward to making time to watch your next videos .
I really appreciate your goal of sharing all your information to help people who don’t have access to it. There is so much guarding and competition it’s nice to see a genuine effort to just help everyone be their best and make good music. Im looking forward to your future projects!
Rob - I love everything you do. Fuck these haters and trolls that hate. They’re bitter people who are completely jealous of everything you built for yourself. I know these people well and there are a ton of these people where I live. As a violinist, I’m always intrigued with everything you do and how you approach everything. It really opens the box on an audition circuit for me because I’ve become close to winning jobs, and big time jobs at that. You’re doing great things for everyone who’s watching. Prove the naysayers wrong, a close colleague who stands by this. -J
thanks so much for your kind words, i'm glad the material has been helpful and i will definitely keep on truckin'.
Rob, you are awesome!
Looking forward to whatever you come out with for the future of this channel, thank you for everything 🤗
As a singer, I am looking forward to more videos.
Hey Rob! Congrats on the family news! Been watching you for quite a while. Everything you do is fantastic and always has quantity as the main priority, so any further videos will be appreciated!
thank you yaroslav for your kind words!!
Hello Rob- I am so glad to have found your channel and subscribed your weekly audition hack. Please continue making videos, they are informative, high quality and super duper useful.
The knowledge and experiences you have shared are priceless, my gratefulness is beyond words. These audition experiences and tips are so important yet could rarely learnt from school. Thanks for your selflessness sharing all these precious information to everyone especially during this difficult time for musicians.
What I found frustrated is that when we get eliminated from audition round, unlike usual job interview, musicians wont have chance to know what we are lacking of or what why we get eliminated from judges's perspective. Do you have any suggestion regarding to this? It will be great to have topics like how to deal with stage fright, dealing with failure in audition to be covered!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for a video like this! So incredibly heartfelt. And the personal touch of letting us into your life truly means the world for those of us going through the same balancing lifestyle of family and work. (BTW, all your videos have always had this genuine feeling for me so that's not new!) But to take away from this video, I got to ask since you mentioned about a new camera.
What camera if you don't mind me asking did you film this with? Would love to hear the set up, lighting, etc.
That really did bring the full scope of depth to this video and I loved the way it was presented in it's raw / professional clarity. Thanks!
thanks for the kind words! i appreciate it. i hope to do some more of these life updates sometime soon as it seemed to resonate with people. in terms of gear, i switched to sony mirrorless cameras. i have the fx3 which lets me do slow motion really well, and then i have the a7c which is smaller and i can bring it on vacation and stuff. for this video, i’m using a 14mm lens and the ml-60bi godox light.
Hi Rob - all of your video have helped me a lot. One video or series that would be helpful is what equipment do professional orchestras use (snare, bass drum, timp, sticks/mallets, etc...). For example, what snare drums does the NY Met and NY Philharmonic use? I know it depends on the piece, but having an idea of the equipment will be helpful. This will help me be a better percussionist for the orchestra I play with. Its not a professional one, but l have high expectations for myself and always strive to be better at my craft.
good question! i would say that stick choice is a very personal thing that will be very different among members of the orchestra. instruments are usually things owned by the orchestra, with the exception of small things like triangles and tambourines, etc. you can check out some equipment i use here: robknopper.com/stickbag. for snare drums at the met, we have a combination of pearl and black swamp drums. for cymbals we have a combination of zildjian, matt nolan, and spizzichino.
Great to see a new video! Hope you are well! Thanks for the honest and down to earth video. I’m sorry to hear that you have received comments that bring you down. I hope you manage to keep your focus on all of the people that benefit from your amazing efforts! Audition hacker is brilliant and when anyone asks me about audition advice I always tell them about you!
thank you for your kind words ernst!
camera frankenstein rig lives!
your video's are great! im glad you're back!!!
thank you!!!
Excellent, heartfelt video, Rob
Hi Rob you contribute a lot to the classical community. Please ignore the trolls. If you were fake you wouldn't have so many followers. Looking forward to the excerpts videos. Stay safe and well.
thank you martin, i appreciate your kind words!
hi rob,
i have been watching your videos for over two years now and i‘m happy that your back on youtube.
two years ago i got rejected from the precollage programme at the conservatory and as a result of feeling bad i got motivated and started searching for lessons online. so i found your channel and it helped me develop technic, which helped me play more musically. Eventually, i auditioned again in june and i got in. At the moment i already had three lessons there and i‘m super happy i kept going. (probably because even though you experienced in some way getting rejected you won a great job at the met. you showed me that with hard work you can reach your goals.)
Thanks for what you‘re doing and kind regards from austria. :D
awesome, i'm so glad you kept going and got in!! congrats and thanks for your support.
because you have no content?