We are all born to do something great. She found what she was born for. Most of us never do. I’m 61 and still don’t have a clue. Watching Yoyoka play the drums just makes me happy.
I think that's a big reason why we all love Yoyoka so much. As middle aged (or more) adults we realize how rare and special it is that she's found her calling SO young in life, and she's SO GOOD at it. That's why I sometimes get emotional watching her. Yoyoka has been blessed, and it seems we're all happy FOR her.
Your comment is depressing. Does anyone find you useful? Helpful? Handy? Better than completely horrible? Not a sadist, nor psychopath? Your purpose may be doing "trivial" things that make a difference. Somebody's got to do them, why not you? Ever cheated death? I could say I'm in the same boat as you, but I have literally cheated death half a dozen times. Legitimate, no joke, supposed to die, by some odd miracle didn't. Again, and again, and again. I don't know what it is I'm being kept around for, but I suspect as soon as I complete whatever task I'll get hit by a bus. I suspect I won't even know I'm completing whatever I'm supposed to when I'm doing it. It'll be some offhand, trivial, inconsequential, and easy thing. Easy for ME. This is all just a theory, although the cheating death thing is definitely not. 6 times. I just can't figure it out. It's weird. At this point I'm not even sure if I walked off a cliff on purpose some weird occurrence wouldn't save me at the last minute. It could happen. Pipe that in your hat & smoke it.
@@emanuelmota7217 I've been following Yoyoka for years. I'm a musician, and I marvel at all drummers. The ability to move four quadrants independently is just marvelous. Also, I have a theory that female Asian drummers are like gold. That she packages that with once-in-a-generation natural talent, excellent work ethic, great personality, and devoted parents just adds to the equation. She can't lose. I believe she will in short order be the best drummer in the world. She's already better than many more experienced drummers. I just hope she doesn't get burnt out. Plus manages to avoid boys, at least for a while. Boys are poison. I know, I'm one. Mother Nature will of course bite her some day, I just hope she keeps her wits about her and doesn't go "boy crazy" like some girls do. We'll see, if we live long enough. Now that she's local I'd sure like to see her play in person. Some day soon, I hope.
When a 7 year old is the best musician in a band of professional adult musicians and she 11 now amazing 👏👌🙌 oh and at 7 i was still sticking beans up my nose
As a drummer after seeing this virtuous girl with a talent, an ear and a musical sense of God's mark, for dignity I would play only in children's parties or only at home for my wife and I would answer that the drums were just a hobby, she is extraordinary, her body is just an extension of the drums, Acapulco, Mexico.
The most "frightening" thing with Yoyoka is that she´s just having FUN and not losing a sweat + she´s a hard hitter too ;-) She really has the most supporting family background music wise. They do family sessions on YT too, simply amazing.
This video deserves 100 times the views it has. Watch her body movements, head bobs, so relaxed, chill and feeling the groove while staying perfectly in the pocket, and yet casually looking around like, yeah, just another night in the club. She even appears embarrassed by the praise and laughs of amazement by the audience at her performance. Simply astounding!! Andrew thanks for reacting to what has become my favorite Yoyoka video.
Maaan... this kid. Shes a phenomenon. I hope she keeps at this. She could do anything she wants, start a band, a label, be the best studio drummer on the planet. The world is hers to take.
I knew a bunch of very good musicians able to reproduce some song that exist perfectly but are in fact unable to create something good despite being very good in technics by starting from nothing. I knew a few very good musicians that completely stoped playing music when they turned in their late teen age. And I knew very good musicians that stoped playing music because the person who was with them didn't like their music mate. So let see, we don't know what life she would have in the future because a lot of talented kids completely stop to play music when it doesn't fit their life.
@@gillesgrindel7985 She even plays on live stage with her mother..father..and little brother..they all live with music..and..check her latest videos..you'll be amazed..now..4 years later she is even much better..she drums like a real professional now @age 11.. ;)
I would love to hear your analysis of Yoyoka playing Good Times Bad Times at age 8 compared to playing it at age 11. To a non-drummer like myself they both sound great with the performance at age 11 maybe sounding a bit more polished. I’m sure I’m missing all the subtlety and nuance in her playing and where she has improved.
Really difficult to believe that a seven year old could play this. Most impressive video on the internet that I think I have ever seen. Excellent reaction Mr Rooney-Thank You.
That's just f***ing INSANE! Simply awesome. It took me ages to get to grip with jazz type drumming and off beats though, despite not being a fan of jazz, taught me a lot about timing. But nothing anywhere near as good as this. Simply stunning
Not only is she SO in the pocket here, at age 7, but what gets me most is how relaxed she is, playing out, with a band, in front of an audience. You'd think she was a 25 yr old, seasoned veteren. She is just phenominal.
Came back to your reaction on this video for the umteenth time just because. It's great to see someone who really understands drumming react to the phenomenon of Yoyoka. Cheers from the UK (again)!
She just blows my mind, At age 9 she really catapults her skills. It is insane. I was telling my neighbor about her, she replied there must be a bunch of boys her age that are better.I just said they wish.
340rps - it depends on what you call skills. There is a 5 year old boy, called Caleb, that can play much faster than Yoyoka. He can play frightening fast. So, regarding speed he is better and at a younger age. He plays Slipknot and such stuff. But, as far as I can hear he lacks the musicality of Yoyoka. It is mainly speed. And I still have not seen any video where he looks genuinely happy and comfortable. Which I find a bit disturbing.
I'm not a drummer ( percussionist ) but I remember watching this one of hers about 3 years ago and was amazed but never really knew if it was great because I don't drum but now my amazement has been justified. I stumbled across Yoyoka on TH-cam, she came up on my feed cause I love Led Zeppelin and her entry in Hit Like a Girl Zeppelin track popped up. I'm so glad it did as I've followed her since then, discovered new tracks, new bands and just simply love watching her perform.
got my coffee and some yoyoka to watch, good times. makes me think of grown men having an existential crisis and some coffee watching mozart compose at the same age.
My favourite Andrew reaction session. The teacher in him really came to the fore; appropriate, comprehensive musical adjectives soberly interspersing with sincere awe. Legality, morality and what have you aside, Yoyoka was the coolest 7 year old ever in a nightclub. That it was Senri's Onyx made it all the more so. Wish I could tap 10 likes! 👍👏
Yoyoka is amazing, Wow, I don't know what else to say. First time I've seen this one, I watch everything that pops up on my suggestions, I'm blown away every time.
She really doesn't get nervous. She has only been nervous a couple of times. The first time was when she was getting ready to do a live TV show and didn’t get to rehearse. She didn’t even know that she was nervous until it was over. After it was over, she went to her Mom and said “What’s wrong with me, my hands are sweating?” Mom said, “You were nervous”…lol Another time was when she played with Fall Out Boy in front of 20,000 people. Again, no rehersal. But what actually made her nervous was she was asked to use a click track at the last minute. She didn’t even know what that was, and was afraid that she might start playing at the wrong time. So not much that makes this little wonder nervous! (From “Yoyoka Radio Vol.3”)
@@goldreverre Sure. She does so many things people don't even know about. She also played drums for a Russian Couple who sang the Russian National Anthem In Japanese. Ok, thats odd....lol
Thanks for all the fun & insightful reaction vids, Andrew. That last portion of the song with Yoyoka's brilliant synchronized solo is the drumming equivalent of the grand finale in a fireworks show. Also, note the nervous laughter at the end where said Laughee (?) simply doesn't know how to react to such brilliance from a seven year old.
It really is. And to top it all off, at the end she does her now-standard instant metamorphosis back to kid status, here complete with almost-nose picking as she seemingly amusingly ponders how SHE should react to the off-camera adult laughter. Then the cherry on top is when she gives a silly little mouthed expression/phantom symbol smash (?) to someone off camera that, for me anyways, displays within a five second window a fascinating mix of real age silliness and beyond-her-years maturity.
Although not strictly a drumming video, please check out her latest where she takes you through the process of covering The Beatles' Here, There and Everywhere - playing all of the instruments herself (and all the vocals, too). Very impressive.
Unbelievable. At age 7, I was frequently picking my nose, destroying star wars figures actually playing with them, and running around outside because we weren't allowed in the house during nice weather hahaha. This is... Unreal. Also, your editing skills are top notch Andrew!
Rock, Blues, Jaz? She can play it All!!. I'd hate to think how much better she can even get in years to come. Totally Bloody Jealous in the best possible way. She's An Absolute Star!!!
HA! Age 7 is about the time I started banging around on my desk at school orat homeon the tables with pencils or my fingers, not even realizing I wanted to be a drummer. Took about 4 or 5 years till my mom, who actually was a semi famous country singer and guitarist when she was 12 years old and her drummer was DJ Fontana, she realized that I should be a drummer and my grandmother, who is a pedal steel guitar player and played the Grand ole Opry when she was in a band with Hank William's wife, she bought me my first drum set and lessons. Been playing drums for 26 years now and it's all thanx to my mom and grandma for recognizing that I had a knack for the drums. Been in a band for 12 years now and i love your channel! You should do a reaction to a video of yourself lol
As soon as i find a match my studio is going up I flames. I been playing for 60 years. There is so much wrong and right with this. SEVEN!!!!!!!! She hits harder than me. She is so tight in time..ARRRRGGGGGHHHH
This is one, if not, my favorite (live) cover of her at 7. She’s a solid band member coz she’s Yoyoka ‘Pocket’ Soma. Like you said, her timing is phenomenal and she’s got a great ear. She listens to the band’s timing. And also, people forget to mention, she has a limited kit here compared to Senri’s and to be able to tackle the piece without losing the ‘gist’ of the piece is just so so impressive. And that last segment was my fave and just gold and also looked so effortless. To have the maturity to do that kind of phrasing 🤦🏻♀️. Like the piece is a piece of cake, nothing too special. SMH Thanks Andrew for the reaction. 👍🥁🤘🏼
@@AndrewRooneyDrums Here, she sound like a 2 years experienced drummer, the only difficult part is the double-pedaling. I heard what you said in the video and I don't agree for this particular. I totally agree that she showed very big skills on other songs but I have absolutely not been impressed on this one. I think this song has been given to her to learn the double-pedaling as it is the only difficulty I could notice. BUT the way she hit, her angle of hitting, the sound she made, even if the quality of the cymbal set is for a lot, this particular song of course is far to be the best I heard from a 2 years experienced drummer. Age doesn't matter, the years of practice are, if you don't look at her as a 7yo drummer on this video but as a 2 years experienced drummer, there is nothing extraordinary here.
@@gillesgrindel7985 Seriously!?! It isn’t the difficulty of the piece that is impressive. This is a 7 year old playing live in front of an audience with a band, keeping perfectly in the pocket for nearly 4 minutes including a nearly 1 minute solo with those little noodle arms. If that alone isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is. SMH
@@KansaSCaymanS 1/ YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT DRUMS 2/ You don't know shit about children. Two reasons for you to shut your mouth. Age doesn't matter at all, a drummer tells you that. You know to count until 4, you know all you have to know to play drums. You can start learning right when you're 5 years old and I would say the sooner the lessons begins, the better the child will be IF HE LIKES WHAT IS DOING and she loves playing drums. I know looking at drummer can make you think "how difficult it is" and you can be confused but this is BASICS, this is one of the simpliest song to make and this is why this song has been chosen for the video. Again, you know nothing about drums. You know nothing about children. So shut up. PS My nephew took one lesson. He already know where the 1 (on 4) is, where the 2 is, etc, etc. in one hour lesson, he's able to hit the 1 with his left foot (he's a left hander) on the drum bass, the 2 with his left hand, the 3 with his right hand, the 3 with his right hand the 4 with his left hand. The basic. Then he will learn to keep the 8th notes with his left hand while hitting the 1 with his left foot and the 3 with his right hand. There is nothing complicated at all, it's something that can easily be learned by a 5 yo, especuially if this kid is born in a familly of musicians and he's been looking at her parents right when she's born. It seems to be a female pseudo so I would say if modern spent more time with their own children as they should instead of having a career or sending them away to be free to do whatever they want, they would know what a 5yo is able to do. But as they don't, I have one who answered me a complete non-sense comment full of things she knows nothing about.
A prodigy achived huge things in terms of execution in a young age. She is now about twice that age, and she does more than execute something with perfection. It's like a good storyteller. Hearing the story from him is experiencing a story based on somebody elses idea, but relive that story anew.
Great to see you reacting to this one Andrew. Although it's far from the most difficult piece she's done, I think it's probably the most impressed I've been by Yoyoka. As you say, it answers all sorts of questions and leaves you with the realisation that she really is just that good!
I commented on her video a year ago and I basically said the same. In my comment, I said I have watched many of her videos but that was probably her top performance (up to that point) when you consider the venue, the age and the sheer brilliant execution.
this shit is crazy. See tons of young performers playing really complex stuff in a studio. Doin a live gig is another thing! Hope she had her plugs in. She got many years of live performance and hopefully lots of success ahead of her.
Another fantastic phenomenon is "MIUMIU" the Guitargirl!! For her 8th birthday she played a cover of CANON ROCK!! I know guitar but it's worth a listen!! I believe YOYOKA will soon be the best drummer in the world!!
Her - in the pocket - drumming in this video is phenomenal. I do not think you can do it better - no matter your age or experience. The drum solo is extra icing on the cake, and it is fun. But it is not that one the impresses me the most. What impresses me the most is that she is a part of the band 100% and doing a great job. And as the drummer she is actually the driving motor of the band. She go slower, the band go slower - and she did not fail on that. Good job!
Go back 10yrs from the beginning! Talk about a devoted family! The SOMA FAMILY are remarkable people! Yoyoka is testament to that! Check out SHIDO! Another star in the making!
Glad to see this make the channel. Enjoyed your reaction... ..and I'm certain everyone has a smile right now. She's so good. If one were to be super nitpicky in the end section, the answer seems to be that any imperfection doesn't phase her (musical maturity) and how great the band / bass player is to keep the hits in sync. Everyone working together to highlight her talent. Great job!
Her parents are musicians, so probably she was feeling music while she was still in her mother's womb. She definitely has the born sense of rhythm, perfect pitch and all that.
Thank you for this delightful and illuminating reaction video. Not too many words left to describe how the combination here of her age, the setting, the complexity of the composition and her inate talent create amazement. She did a recent interview with a university president who asked her several questions about her history with the drums. He then asked her if she could remember a time when she didn't play the drums. No. She played the drums before she was able to speak. She went gigging with her parents when she was two. They sat her on a cajon on stage while they played. Not backstage. On stage staring out at the audience. No wonder she is able to play so well in public. Playing in public with other musicians is normal. That's just what her family and friends of the family have always done. Remarkable. Very much like Traps the Drum Wonder aka Buddy Rich. His parents were vaudeville performers. He was fascinated by the drummers in the orchestra and would bang on the stage with spoons. He went on to become one of the finest drummers of all time and a real s.o.b. besides. I hope Yoyoka doesn't lose that charisma she has. I don't think she will.
The gift is to be born in Asia where parents don't spoil their own kids, doesn't throw them away to be free to do whatever they want but mostly they still remember the importance to well-raise their child with the opposite idea of westerners: Asian people are looking for what they can do for their society when westerners are looking for what their society can make for them.
Wow hard to believe Yoyoka plays this song is only 7 years old, every time I hear her play a piece of music it's always a song with a high degree of difficulty. Thank you very much for your excellent comments.
Under 7yo, kids's brain is a dry sponge absorbing all intel, datas and news, it's easier to learn something at 5-6-7yo than it is to learn at 16-18-20. Westerners don't really know that fact as they don't think 5-6-7yo should be bothered by a cultural activity and should just have to play with their toys. But in Asia, a lot of children have a cultural activity next to school and the time to play is not the longer for them. Note bene. I don't think this is bad at all. Westerners way to raise child is bad. She is born in a musician familly, she must have look at them right from her first months of life and started hitting drums as soon as she was tall enough exactly because there is no need of music theory to play drums at the start and here, this song doesn't need good music theory knowledge at all to be played on drums.
@@gillesgrindel7985 You're almost right. In children all neurons are connected to all other neurons. Starting on average at 14 for girls, age 16 for boys, the brain starts to undergo maturation. Unused neurons are trimmed. Used neurons are fortified. This process takes roughly ten years to complete. It starts at the "lizard brain," the base of the brain stem, and works it's way until it completes at the cerebral cortex. So useful training time IS limited as you say, but it is not cut and dry by any means. Also, your characterization of "Asian" culture is both simplistic and incomplete, while also being slightly wrong. There is no "Asia" for there to be a culture, per se. Chinese are not the same as Koreans are not the same as Japanese, or Thai, or Taiwanese, or Indonesian, etc., etc. It is true that Chinese kids spend a lot more time at school than American kids, but a large part of that is because of Chinese writing. 50% of all elementary school time is spent just learning to write and understand those thousands of Chinese characters. This is also true of Taiwanese. Even more so, since they use Traditional Chinese. Other Asians use other alphabets, and some even use the Roman alphabet. Many Asian kids spend an extraordinary amount of time goofing off and not studying. The stereotype of studious Asian kids is not exactly true, or even mostly true. Their culture encourages behavior we would be aghast at, like cheating. There is a saying in China "If you can steal, steal. If you can cheat, cheat." Cheaters are viewed as "clever," so don't trust those test scores. China is successful not because of anything inherent. Tech was and is being stolen constantly from inventive nations. Their business acumen was taught to them almost entirely by foreigners, in particular, Taiwanese. I have done business extensively all throughout Asia in various countries, and have spent quite a bit of time there. I speak a smattering of Chinese. You don't need to trust me, but the things I state I know FOR A FACT. I have spent many an early morning on conference calls with folks around the world. Did you know Shanghai and Taipei are n the same time zone and Tokyo is an hour off? It's morning there now. No matter, Chinese tend to start late and work late. I know stuff like that off the top of my head,. I have done a TON of business overseas, and am one of the few Americans that has worked with Chinese in China on joint projects excluded by Chinese law from participation by others. Don't trust everything the news, or the media, tells you. It's mostly crud. I have so many stories and anecdotes it would fill a medium sized book. "Western way to raise children is bad?" Yeah, that's why Americans have invented more stuff, by far, than people from any other nation. Yeah, we're totally useless, morally bereft, losers. Go sell that to somebody buying that baloney.
@@salvadormonella8953 Tech was and is being stolen constantly from inventive nations. I don't agree on this point: All happened in the 80's: China didn't steal any invention at all, they made deals: They gave access to their market but in exchange, they had to produce in China and by so they had to transfert their technology. They didn't steal, it's a win win deal. Westerners companies BETRAYED their own country for profits, they wanted to make money and they made a lot of money. They haven't been steal at all: if you make billions of billions of profits, you can't say you have been stolen. "Yeah, that's why Americans have invented more stuff," How arrogant of you and how blind you are to think it is still the case.... I stay on my position: westerners way to educate their children IS bad. It WAS good until they decided to destroy the familly. Until they decided that kids have to be only spoiled, until the level of school education start decreasing WILLINGLY. Have you seen the actual level of school education of the last generation of westerners ? They don't even know why there need to be a common language. They think they can build the world better than mother-nature did. They can't even define what a woman is. They don't know why there need to be a hierarchy, laws, social and moral rules. They want to abolish the police they don't respect anything They want freedom and made our society a territory of individuals living side by side. They believe there are diversities when there is only marginality. They live in denial They can't deal with their frustration they take what they have for granted They are not taugh discipline, rigor and determination They think life should be 100% about having fun and 0% about being upset. They think all the people around the world are the same They pretend men and women have interchangeable roles And the list does not end here Sorry but the way westerners are educating their kid IS bad because the parents put forward their own well-being, their own comfort and their own career before the well-being and the comfort of their own kids. 80% of wedding end up by a divorce and in 99% of the time, it's at the depend of their kids. As long as male westerners could NOT shut up feminism non-sense, the western world is doomed to fall.
@@salvadormonella8953 I forgot: They believe the money they didn't made is lost money, they don't even know that in order to loose money or whatever, you have to own it first.
Thanks Andrew for your great analysis. I wish I could go 10 years into the future and know what kinda multi-instrumentalist Yoyoka became. The great thing is we have some references of young female drummers like, Senri, Kanade Sato, Pau Villareal (talking about intellectual maturity at a young age when you read her lyrics) and many other that have proven their full potential and give so much joy to listen and watch. Off course Avery Molek also has to be mentionned. He posted video's on a regular basis from about the age of 6 years old. He now (14 years old) is a multi-instrumentalist (like Nandi Bushell, 11 years old) and last week posted a video of Dream On from Aerosmith with a twelve year old singer. They did a fantastic job; the Toxic-twins must be proud: th-cam.com/video/IGqLP9weB_w/w-d-xo.html. On a more lighter note: What was Jean Claude VanDamme doing when he was seven years old?
She is phenomenal I absolutely love her cover of Aerosmith's "eat the rich" , you could almost set a metronome by her timing, I love your videos as always take care mate
During this period of her life, she was already on the horizon in Japan, but this kind of cemented her notoriety. But, by this time in her life she had already been up on stage numerous times. If you look at her videos between six and seven, she really started putting all the pieces together. Over the years, she and Senri Kawaguchi became good friends with each other. In terms of throne presence, Senri has never rocked to the music, so to speak. Yoyoka does. I think that this hurt her in terms of recognition in her earlier days. When she gets into a groove she likes she will jive and shuck to the song she is playing, almost to the point where she looks out of control. I really believe that is what kept her from being the HLAG winner in 2018. It went to another Japanese drummer named Yuki Ogawa. She has a style similar to that of Senri Kawaguchi. Good drummer, but, how do you say this? She is not in the same class of skills as Yoyoka is. Not that many people know who Yoyoka is, but Yuki Ogawa is totally obscure. But, we all know that Yoyoka puts her body and body movements into her drumming. She is not a classical drummer. Music wise, Senri has been all over the map, great, great drummer, best in the world, but she is not going to be dancing to the music while sitting on the drum throne. Just the way that it is. As Yuki kind of takes after Senri, same with her music, she kind of goes towards a rock fusion, rock jazz type of sound. However you want to look at Yoyoka, whether you consider her a drummer or a musician, I say musician, because her skill set is way beyond that of a drummer, she is definitely way ahead of herself. But not necessarily. If you look at the 180 IQ Japanese crib babies, not a lot of difference between them and Yoyoka. In one situation, the crib babies become smart because of the parents. In Yoyoka's instance, she just enjoyed being in a musical atmosphere to the point she turned herself into a sponge and basically absorbed every detail she could as she was mentally and emotionally developing. Yoyoka has never let up and from what she has been doing over the past year or so, she is pushing herself even harder. We just need to hope that she doesn't burn out along the way. Not easy to do what she is doing when you consider that she has and is still growing up. Anyway, if you look at this video of Senri, Yoyoka is definitely ahead of Senri at the same point in life. This is not to take away from Senri as she is in a class of her own. I just think that Senri has put herself into a very narrow musical bandwidth. Good thing though is that Senri never burned out. Very talented and flawless drummer. Both of these ladies are the best at what they do. th-cam.com/video/24HM6KpY9X4/w-d-xo.html
@@dchristo10 Yoyoka's parents were not drummers so she did not have any advantage in this respect Senri had the benefit of having Kozo Suganuma as her teacher. Even so, Kozo's daughter is a drummer but not in Senri's class. But the thing with Yoyoka is that she acquired her brain/hand coordination at a very early age. Doesn't really matter how she did it, but she did it. Like with her click it is almost like time is standing still. She can be on the beat, slightly ahead of the beat, which Yoyoka has proven that acquired skills do not have anything to do with age. A lot of drummers, young drummers will be right or left hand dominant which, in drumming, you want coordination between feet and hands, but also, independence. I like Senri, very interesting drummer, but I am not so much into fusion and jazz. When she was younger she was into metal and hard rock. But she is drumming to the beat of what she likes. Yoyoka developed her coordination at a very early age, this can be said of male drummers as well. Can she drum in the same time signatures as Senri? Absolutely, but she is not interested in jazz or even metal for instance. This is why when fans request that she do a cover to certain music, she doesn't. Has nothing to do with her skillset. If Yoyoka stays on course, she is poised to go into a unique drummimg direction. Her cerebral cortex is on overdrive. So age between known skilled drummers, or drummers of a similar skillset can be used as an achievement marker. No different than comparing young athletes. Senri and Yoyoka are not in competition and are friends. The drum world has recognized both of them as being two of the best drummers in the world. When Yoyoka went to NAMM last year, she was a hit at the show. A number of some of the top guitarists in the business did jam with her and still want to jam with her. She is that good. The way that she has been approached makes you think of the Traveling Wilburys. Wouldn't surprise me if she glt together witj some of the top names in the business and toured with them. The wheels are turning in Haikaido, she was supposed to do something at the Olympics but Japan extended the lock down. Hard to say where she is going to end up, but there are a lot of eyes on her right now. Some of those eyes have infinitely deep pockets. If you go on her youtube channel and go to community scroll down until you find a picture of Yoyoka sitting next to an old man. He is a college dean and interviewed Yoyoka. You will have to follow the link in the box. The interview has English subs if you really want to become familiar with her take on music. The college made her a professor there. She is teaching entrepreneurial development with respect to becoming a successful musician.
@@tibetbill "Yoyoka's parents were not drummers so she did not have any advantage in this respect" - Of course she did. Being in a musical family conditioned her at an early age, whether or not her parents played drums. That's why it's not constructive to compare them by age. By age 7, Yoyoka had 7 years of exposure to a musical world, with drums at her disposal from the beginning. Senri didn't have any of that. She didn't touch a drum until she was 5 and didn't take lessons with Kozo until she was 8. Yoyoka is a great talent. She's also a kid. Just relax and let her do her thing. This over the top fanaticism is just crazy.
@@dchristo10 I am really curious how "being in a musical family conditioned her at an early age..." As a drummer, I would like to know how that is possible to be 'conditioned'. Her parent could have made her drums, but what does that have to do with her ability to play drums at whatever age? They could not tell her the difference between a 1A and a 5B. Neither of her parents could play the drums. Both of them are totally uncoordinated when it comes to playing the drums. The only thing that they did do was obtain a drum set for her to play on which came from their band. If what you are saying is true, then a paper should immediately be written for every parent with aspirations to give their kid an edge in whatever endeavor that may be, by conditioning them. So what possible conditioning could she have gotten which has made her the best under twenty one female drummer in the world? She is self taught, so what conditioning helped her other than herself motivation and fascination with drums and drumming? Please tell any of us what conditioning she received from her parents. And you don't think that she has done something phenomenal by doing what she managed to do at a young age? She was conditioned to be what she is today? Okay,so then credit goes to her parents since they 'conditioned' her. For your information, Yoyoka is no kid. If you think she is, you are living in lala land. She is a young adult. She is a professional musician and has her own business. You really think that this is a kid being interviewed? th-cam.com/video/u7t2bDP-X50/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/PJEpIdnLXmU/w-d-xo.html This, obviously, won't mean a thing to you, th-cam.com/video/YHFwTTQRcxA/w-d-xo.html But if you look closer, she is wearing a $2000 plus coat. Let's see, how much did she pocket for doing this moncler genius commercial? th-cam.com/video/c1uriRbdJFg/w-d-xo.html She wears another $2000 moncler coat on stage with Ellen Degenerate. Do you think anyone, other than moncler, Yoyoka and her parents had a clue? The cash register was ringing, still is. th-cam.com/video/kKQuG0qXinQ/w-d-xo.html You think that it is a coincidence that she is wearing a moncler tee shirt here? th-cam.com/video/aYRvYkTqauQ/w-d-xo.html or on stage with Cyndi Lauper? th-cam.com/video/T5hPkB6D-qU/w-d-xo.html You have to add Nike, Nissan, Lego, uniqlo, Sapphoro, among others. How much do you think she raked in off of SuperFamily? She has a connection with Tadashi Yanai, richest businessman in Japan at $70bn. As soon as the virus hit, she was worried about musicians who made their living playing music. Yoyoka started donating money and time to help people get by and through the inability to earn money because of the virus. She is doing her thing. She has a lot going on. There is something special about Yoyoka, you don't want to acknowledge that, that is your problem. Newsweek considers her one of the 100 most influential people in Japan. www.newsweekjapan.jp/magazine/238541.php For some strange reason, she is the only 'kid' on the list. She will probably own half of Japan by the time she is twenty one. Keep thinking that she is just a kid. Fanaticism? Perhaps, you should go figure out what Japanese living national treasure is. Try observations.
@@dchristo10 She actually wasn't TAUGHT how to drum by her parents. They just gave her 2 sticks and sat her at the drum kit. She started banging away at age 2. They just let her "play" on the drum kit. There was no official teachers teaching her. I am sure parent's drummer gave her instruction on how to hold the stick and hit the individual items, but there was no teaching her the music.
Watching her play Stray Cat Strut blew me away. The timing and precision was unreal. I'm an 80s teen and started playing hair guitar when I was 15 in 87, so I heard that song pretty regularly on Mtv. It's mot Tom Sawyer, but for a little kid, it's quite something.
If you haven't kept up with Yoyoka lately, she has recently signed (1.5 months ago) with a major Japanese talent agency who will be featuring her in their theme park, as well as, booking her internationally. Also, she has released two different vids on her channel where she is a "One Girl Band", keys, vocals, guitars and of course drums. She produced both and the vids which include her showing the process,
I am can't say that I am that confident that this talent agency is going to be any better than the last one she had. She is very talented, extremely talented, no question. But she really needs a manager. She needs to hook up with someone who understands the business, the way it is today. This is what she really needs. She will probably continue to do commercials and be able to make a living, doing what she is doing now, but this is not going to get her where she needs to be. There is another issue with Yoyoka which needs to be resolved before she can move forward with a band. There are two talent conflicts which she has as she likes to sing and play drums. So this question needs to be resolved. Every drummer who sings has had to get up off the throne and become a front man. It just doesn't really work singing from a mike sitting on the drum throne. People who go to concerts want to see who is singing up on center stage. If you go to an Eagles concert, when they play Don Henley's songs, Henley gets up from behind the drums to sing. Not a big issue, but it needs to be resolved. If you look at the band pool in Japan, probably the most notable is Band-Maid. But no one here in the US really knows who they are. Too far away and too much trouble to bring them here. Yes, there is incredible talent in Japan where Yoyoka can or could put together a world class band. Even so, without the right management, doesn't mean much. She needs to be with Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch, Paul McGuinness or John Reid to kick her aspirations down the road. I guess you could even add Warren Entner into the conversation as she likes to play songs from groups he manages. Anyone of these guys have taken bands from total obscurity and turned them into household names. They know the ropes, what venues to put them at to play, connect them to open at events or with well known musicians. Just a phone call or two and they can assemble the right band members for her to move forward with. I just can't see that happening with her living in Japan. Of course, it could, but here in the US, there is an infrastructure here in place to make that happen. I am not talking about America's got talent. The right manager, or management firm can easily launch a musician like Yoyoka Soma. She does not have a signature sound, at least not yet. She has the talent and probably when it comes to music production her talents are probably as good in the recording and mixing room as they are in the sound room. She certainly knows how to use pro tools. You would need a powerful manager to get her airtime as most radio stations are paying for their music in bundled play lists six months in advance. Totally different machine to break into than it used to be. Not trying to be negative, but this is what she is up against. She didn't go to NAMM this year, nobody did, it was virtual. She will be back for NAMM in 2022. Maybe, she might be able to hook herself up with or align herself with a manager interested in putting her on the map. What I have seen her write, even though she is into heavy beat quarter note rock is more like contemporary rock. Nothing wrong with that, she sold a couple of her songs to Japanese TV as theme songs. Even what you reference where she did Here, There and Everywhere and Shape of you, did not impress me as much as Grim Grinning Moon at Night. That really demonstrated her ability to put her talents to work on a song from scratch. We have not seen a Yoyoka rock song to date. Once she puts a couple out, even if she plays all the instruments, if she can make a statement that way, that is all she needs. She laid down the drum and guitar track to her brother's song. That made a statement. Doesn't have to be a smash hit, but that is starting to showcase what her capabilities are. She has the talent, all the talent she needs, she just needs an experienced manager or management firm.
@@tibetbill BabyMetal is more popular overseas than in Japan, so it can be done. I think the Soma's will figure it out as they go. They do need help and realize that. That's a start. They have already tried different things. I don't think they're afraid to change it up to get where they need to get. You need to have this conversation with the Soma's. I'm not a musician so it doesn't mean much to me. The agency she signed with has ties to an agency in Los Angeles (Creative Artist Agency which has 1800 employees) that they work with. Maybe they have plans to use them to promote Yoyoka, who knows. She's only 11, so any way you look at it, she's already light years ahead of most talent.
@@Glen.Black. What is really sad is that, hands down, Senri Kawaguchi is the best female drummer in the world. There is not another woman alive who has her ability to drum flawlessly in different time signatures. There are a lot of male drummers who would be hard pressed to play drums the way Senri does. There are some female drummers out there with several million followers on youtube, not that youtube is a measure of musical skills, but these drummers, some are very pretty, have large physical assets, are willing to take their clothes off when they drum. For whatever reason, people will talk about how great these women drum, but many of them miss the notes, cannot play in the pocket, in other words, there are a lot of flaws which are overlooked by their followers. Like Salon Gas, she is the fastest drummer on the planet. If memory serves me correctly, she is even faster than any male drummer. I believe she is listed as the fastest drummer in the Guiness Book. Excellent drummer you have probably never heard of. Very highly skilled, similar to Yoyoka or Senri but only a handful of followers. Why? Yoyoka is on a number of horizons, but the ultimate question is where are her stars going to align? I still say that she needs a manager who knows the ropes to get her to where she needs to be. Like Brian Epstein, would the Beatles have made it without him? Probably not. This is how important a manager can be to a group, or even a musician. Like Peter Mensch and Cliff Burstein, they manage groups like Metallica, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a number of other acts. If you get a manager like this, they can get you where you want to be. I am skeptical of a talent agency as they do book gigs, but they really do not invest time or money in the development of whom they represent. A talent agency usually does not groom the acts they represent. I already know what any of these guys would tell Yoyoka. They would tell her to focus and concentrate on developing her own distictive sound. Just like Toto, Jeff Procaro was the driving force and creative force behind Toto. However she does it, she needs to bring her own signature sound to a concert. I think that she could do the Cowasill thing with her family, but she would have to be the leader. She is going to have to step up and say this is going to be our sound. Or find the personnel to make the sound she is looking for. The right manager could help her make this happen. So far, what I have seen with Yoyoka is that she has appeared on stage with name acts as a session musician. She and her family tour around Japan performing traditional gigs at weddings, events, etc. Yes, she has written several songs, but the songs she has written are not what listeners want to hear. I hope that she succeeds in her musical endeavors, but she is not the first prodigy, nor will she be the last. Not so long ago, there was another Japanese prodigy. She is a singer. Her name is Nishida Hiraku. She is approximately four times Yoyoka's age. When she was very young, her family moved to LA. Nishida has a flawless voice, very similar to Karen Carpenter. There is no trace of a Japanese accent in her singing whatsoever. No rolls, no off pronunciations, perfect voice. Very similar to Yoyoka, had a large support base behind her. You can look her up and see for yourself. When she moved back to Japan, she had no problem finding singing gigs. th-cam.com/video/XkFjeM08oak/w-d-xo.html As she was really approaching the point where she was looking at international recognition, she decided to step back and have a family. Definitely not the Alyssa Milano type. But she was able to accumulate close to half a billion dollars when she stepped back. She is still actively singing, appearing on Japanese TV specials every now and then. I have had conversations with Yoyoka's mother. There is a definite language issue. You are right that they are not sure what to do to help Yoyoka further her musical endeavors. Yoyoka and her parents really need Emilio Buonanni to come back into her life. He was her English teacher and drum coach. He was really helping her and the whole family. Unfortunately, since he was an American, he got thrown out of Japan when the virus hit. They extended their lockdown so he has yet to return. Believe me, what Yoyoka has done is as good as it gets. There are many obstacles in her path to success. Her age, not her talents, she has to finish her schooling. I know that the Somas have always found a way to get her to where she needs to be during a school year. This is good as when you are hot, sometimes opportunities only come around once. Had they waited to put her on the Ellen shoe, guess what, the show was cancelled. There is a book floating around.I haven't seen the book in over twenty five years or so. The title of the book is something like The best One Hundred Rock Groups Which Never Made It. It was a very interesting book about bands which were incredibly talented but never hit the big time for whatever reasons. Like Van Morrison said, some of the best musical talent never gets recognized. He said he knew of much greater talent in the musical industry which no one ever heard of because the musician was not willing to travel. Yoyoka is more than willing to live out of a suitcase. This is why I am saying that she needs a manager in the music industry who is connected. I really doubt Yoyoka will make it through the front end of the music industry. She is not what they are looking for now no matter how talented she is. Not at this time. She needs to follow the Greatful Dead model or do what Pearl Jam did to get started. But, there is another thing to consider. The good thing with the Soma family is that they are very protective of their children. There is a very dark side to the music industry and kids so, part of me is glad that Yoyoka is kind of going in her own direction. She is a true artist in the sense that she is not looking for fame and fortune, which means that whatever she does or ends up doing the almighty dollar sign is not going to be her success marker.
@@tibetbill In the end, although they may want her to make it big, all they really care about is living a modest lifestyle and being able to do what they want musically. I believe their thoughts of becoming well known are only so that they can generate enough income to live comfortably and be able to afford to take their music to a higher level and share it with the world.
![One of the World's Greatest Drummers at 12 :: YOYOKA | Documentary of 2009-2022 [Japanese CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ONY0qUWR5pQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Yoyoka is a gift to the world!
she is a drumming Angel sent to us by Heaven..to make us feel happy .. ;)
We are all born to do something great. She found what she was born for. Most of us never do. I’m 61 and still don’t have a clue. Watching Yoyoka play the drums just makes me happy.
I think that's a big reason why we all love Yoyoka so much. As middle aged (or more) adults we realize how rare and special it is that she's found her calling SO young in life, and she's SO GOOD at it. That's why I sometimes get emotional watching her. Yoyoka has been blessed, and it seems we're all happy FOR her.
Your comment is depressing. Does anyone find you useful? Helpful? Handy? Better than completely horrible? Not a sadist, nor psychopath? Your purpose may be doing "trivial" things that make a difference. Somebody's got to do them, why not you? Ever cheated death? I could say I'm in the same boat as you, but I have literally cheated death half a dozen times. Legitimate, no joke, supposed to die, by some odd miracle didn't. Again, and again, and again. I don't know what it is I'm being kept around for, but I suspect as soon as I complete whatever task I'll get hit by a bus. I suspect I won't even know I'm completing whatever I'm supposed to when I'm doing it. It'll be some offhand, trivial, inconsequential, and easy thing. Easy for ME. This is all just a theory, although the cheating death thing is definitely not. 6 times. I just can't figure it out. It's weird. At this point I'm not even sure if I walked off a cliff on purpose some weird occurrence wouldn't save me at the last minute. It could happen. Pipe that in your hat & smoke it.
@@emanuelmota7217 I've been following Yoyoka for years. I'm a musician, and I marvel at all drummers. The ability to move four quadrants independently is just marvelous. Also, I have a theory that female Asian drummers are like gold. That she packages that with once-in-a-generation natural talent, excellent work ethic, great personality, and devoted parents just adds to the equation. She can't lose. I believe she will in short order be the best drummer in the world. She's already better than many more experienced drummers. I just hope she doesn't get burnt out. Plus manages to avoid boys, at least for a while. Boys are poison. I know, I'm one. Mother Nature will of course bite her some day, I just hope she keeps her wits about her and doesn't go "boy crazy" like some girls do. We'll see, if we live long enough. Now that she's local I'd sure like to see her play in person. Some day soon, I hope.
Lei ha imparato a suonare la batteria a nove mesi .Quando è nata era solo troppo piccola per arrivare al pedale e ai tamburi .😅😁
@@salvadormonella8953 🙂
The look on her face is like she's watching barney drums sticks as big as her arm and relaxed not rushed good lord
She brings tears to my eyes. Good ones. Bless her.
When a 7 year old is the best musician in a band of professional adult musicians and she 11 now amazing 👏👌🙌 oh and at 7 i was still sticking beans up my nose
"You're not allowed to do that at age 7"
Yoyoka didn't get the memo.
As a drummer after seeing this virtuous girl with a talent, an ear and a musical sense of God's mark, for dignity I would play only in children's parties or only at home for my wife and I would answer that the drums were just a hobby, she is extraordinary, her body is just an extension of the drums, Acapulco, Mexico.
The most "frightening" thing with Yoyoka is that she´s just having FUN and not losing a sweat + she´s a hard hitter too ;-)
She really has the most supporting family background music wise. They do family sessions on YT too, simply amazing.
This video deserves 100 times the views it has. Watch her body movements, head bobs, so relaxed, chill and feeling the groove while staying perfectly in the pocket, and yet casually looking around like, yeah, just another night in the club. She even appears embarrassed by the praise and laughs of amazement by the audience at her performance. Simply astounding!! Andrew thanks for reacting to what has become my favorite Yoyoka video.
Maaan... this kid. Shes a phenomenon. I hope she keeps at this. She could do anything she wants, start a band, a label, be the best studio drummer on the planet. The world is hers to take.
@Kayne Santor 🎯 🎯 BULLSEYE!! You speak the truth 💯%!!
Let's see where she goes!
I knew a bunch of very good musicians able to reproduce some song that exist perfectly but are in fact unable to create something good despite being very good in technics by starting from nothing.
I knew a few very good musicians that completely stoped playing music when they turned in their late teen age.
And I knew very good musicians that stoped playing music because the person who was with them didn't like their music mate.
So let see, we don't know what life she would have in the future because a lot of talented kids completely stop to play music when it doesn't fit their life.
@@gillesgrindel7985 She even plays on live stage with her mother..father..and little brother..they all live with music..and..check her latest videos..you'll be amazed..now..4 years later she is even much better..she drums like a real professional now @age 11.. ;)
I'll never get tired of her videos!
Me either. Just wished I'd seen them in order now! lol
I would love to hear your analysis of Yoyoka playing Good Times Bad Times at age 8 compared to playing it at age 11. To a non-drummer like myself they both sound great with the performance at age 11 maybe sounding a bit more polished. I’m sure I’m missing all the subtlety and nuance in her playing and where she has improved.
...tired...
Maybe I watched ONYX 40 or more times. After a two weeks pause, I view it again. I don't know why. It does not become boring.
She always, always makes me smile.
Really difficult to believe that a seven year old could play this. Most impressive video on the internet that I think I have ever seen. Excellent reaction Mr Rooney-Thank You.
Can't help but smile watching her play just WoW
This little girl already has her whole future ahead of her very young age!! ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!!!!! AWSOME PICK!!!!!!
YESSSS
She not only kills it but makes it look so easy she almost looks bored. Like someone with Ginger Baker's talent sitting in with an ACDC cover band
That's just f***ing INSANE! Simply awesome. It took me ages to get to grip with jazz type drumming and off beats though, despite not being a fan of jazz, taught me a lot about timing. But nothing anywhere near as good as this. Simply stunning
Not only is she SO in the pocket here, at age 7, but what gets me most is how relaxed she is, playing out, with a band, in front of an audience. You'd think she was a 25 yr old, seasoned veteren. She is just phenominal.
Yup so good Emanuel
Her time is amazing. She seems incapable of loosing the groove!
Yoyoka IS the pocket.
The seven year olds that I taught bless their hearts struggle with twinkle twinkle and Hot cross buns on recorder
Came back to your reaction on this video for the umteenth time just because. It's great to see someone who really understands drumming react to the phenomenon of Yoyoka. Cheers from the UK (again)!
Yoyoka covering Peter Gabriel’s steam at 9 yrs old is fire
AGREED !!
YES! "Stem" is ne of MORE phenominal performances.
She just blows my mind, At age 9 she really catapults her skills. It is insane. I was telling my neighbor about her, she replied there must be a bunch of boys her age that are better.I just said they wish.
Age 7.
340rps - it depends on what you call skills. There is a 5 year old boy, called Caleb, that can play much faster than Yoyoka. He can play frightening fast. So, regarding speed he is better and at a younger age. He plays Slipknot and such stuff. But, as far as I can hear he lacks the musicality of Yoyoka. It is mainly speed. And I still have not seen any video where he looks genuinely happy and comfortable. Which I find a bit disturbing.
I'm not a drummer ( percussionist ) but I remember watching this one of hers about 3 years ago and was amazed but never really knew if it was great because I don't drum but now my amazement has been justified. I stumbled across Yoyoka on TH-cam, she came up on my feed cause I love Led Zeppelin and her entry in Hit Like a Girl Zeppelin track popped up. I'm so glad it did as I've followed her since then, discovered new tracks, new bands and just simply love watching her perform.
Yoyoka, the greatest gift ever!
got my coffee and some yoyoka to watch, good times. makes me think of grown men having an existential crisis and some coffee watching mozart compose at the same age.
Excellent Drew!
Stuff like this makes me think the future is in good hands :)
Please do "Smoky" from Yoyoka..she was also 7 in there..so cute but sooo good.. ;)
Senri sparked a lot of young drummers not only in Japan but all over Asia. Some are just jaw-dropping like this one. Amazing.
My favourite Andrew reaction session. The teacher in him really came to the fore; appropriate, comprehensive musical adjectives soberly interspersing with sincere awe.
Legality, morality and what have you aside, Yoyoka was the coolest 7 year old ever in a nightclub. That it was Senri's Onyx made it all the more so.
Wish I could tap 10 likes! 👍👏
THANK YOU!
She's a gem!
Yoyoka is amazing, Wow, I don't know what else to say. First time I've seen this one, I watch everything that pops up on my suggestions, I'm blown away every time.
“Welcome to the Cutest Show on Earth”! 😎🇺🇸👍 “Our” little Yoyoka! 7 years old playing live, with a jazz/fusion band! Remarkable.
She really doesn't get nervous. She has only been nervous a couple of times. The first time was when she was getting ready to do a live TV show and didn’t get to rehearse. She didn’t even know that she was nervous until it was over. After it was over, she went to her Mom and said “What’s wrong with me, my hands are sweating?” Mom said, “You were nervous”…lol
Another time was when she played with Fall Out Boy in front of 20,000 people. Again, no rehersal. But what actually made her nervous was she was asked to use a click track at the last minute. She didn’t even know what that was, and was afraid that she might start playing at the wrong time. So not much that makes this little wonder nervous! (From “Yoyoka Radio Vol.3”)
I'm exactly the same. I'm only ever nervous when I'm not prepared. Thanks for the awesome comments here Glen!
@@AndrewRooneyDrums Of course. Can you tell I'm a huge fan of Yoyoka....LOL
Hi Glen... I didn't know those things. I hadn't heard that radio show before, so I've just listened to it now... It's delightful. Thanks for that.
@@goldreverre Sure. She does so many things people don't even know about. She also played drums for a Russian Couple who sang the Russian National Anthem In Japanese. Ok, thats odd....lol
Thanks for all the fun & insightful reaction vids, Andrew. That last portion of the song with Yoyoka's brilliant synchronized solo is the drumming equivalent of the grand finale in a fireworks show. Also, note the nervous laughter at the end where said Laughee (?) simply doesn't know how to react to such brilliance from a seven year old.
Isn't it Fantastic!
It really is. And to top it all off, at the end she does her now-standard instant metamorphosis back to kid status, here complete with almost-nose picking as she seemingly amusingly ponders how SHE should react to the off-camera adult laughter. Then the cherry on top is when she gives a silly little mouthed expression/phantom symbol smash (?) to someone off camera that, for me anyways, displays within a five second window a fascinating mix of real age silliness and beyond-her-years maturity.
Although not strictly a drumming video, please check out her latest where she takes you through the process of covering The Beatles' Here, There and Everywhere - playing all of the instruments herself (and all the vocals, too). Very impressive.
WOWSERS Joe!
Yoyoka is easily my favorite musician.
Oh wow. AWESOME!
She's certainly my favorite drummer! (I've watcher Yoyoka MUCH more than Ringo...)
Unbelievable. At age 7, I was frequently picking my nose, destroying star wars figures actually playing with them, and running around outside because we weren't allowed in the house during nice weather hahaha. This is... Unreal.
Also, your editing skills are top notch Andrew!
HAHA! Thank you for the great comments :)
Rock, Blues, Jaz? She can play it All!!. I'd hate to think how much better she can even get in years to come. Totally Bloody Jealous in the best possible way. She's An Absolute Star!!!
HA! Age 7 is about the time I started banging around on my desk at school orat homeon the tables with pencils or my fingers, not even realizing I wanted to be a drummer. Took about 4 or 5 years till my mom, who actually was a semi famous country singer and guitarist when she was 12 years old and her drummer was DJ Fontana, she realized that I should be a drummer and my grandmother, who is a pedal steel guitar player and played the Grand ole Opry when she was in a band with Hank William's wife, she bought me my first drum set and lessons. Been playing drums for 26 years now and it's all thanx to my mom and grandma for recognizing that I had a knack for the drums. Been in a band for 12 years now and i love your channel! You should do a reaction to a video of yourself lol
When you learn drums at the same age you learn to walk and read it comes as easy as walking and that is how Yoyoka makes it look.
Looks like someone was lost for words! We all are..
She is amazing
Yes Gary!
As soon as i find a match my studio is going up I flames. I been playing for 60 years. There is so much wrong and right with this. SEVEN!!!!!!!! She hits harder than me. She is so tight in time..ARRRRGGGGGHHHH
This is one, if not, my favorite (live) cover of her at 7. She’s a solid band member coz she’s Yoyoka ‘Pocket’ Soma. Like you said, her timing is phenomenal and she’s got a great ear. She listens to the band’s timing. And also, people forget to mention, she has a limited kit here compared to Senri’s and to be able to tackle the piece without losing the ‘gist’ of the piece is just so so impressive. And that last segment was my fave and just gold and also looked so effortless. To have the maturity to do that kind of phrasing 🤦🏻♀️. Like the piece is a piece of cake, nothing too special. SMH
Thanks Andrew for the reaction. 👍🥁🤘🏼
She's too good!!!
@@AndrewRooneyDrums Here, she sound like a 2 years experienced drummer, the only difficult part is the double-pedaling. I heard what you said in the video and I don't agree for this particular.
I totally agree that she showed very big skills on other songs but I have absolutely not been impressed on this one. I think this song has been given to her to learn the double-pedaling as it is the only difficulty I could notice.
BUT the way she hit, her angle of hitting, the sound she made, even if the quality of the cymbal set is for a lot, this particular song of course is far to be the best I heard from a 2 years experienced drummer.
Age doesn't matter, the years of practice are, if you don't look at her as a 7yo drummer on this video but as a 2 years experienced drummer, there is nothing extraordinary here.
@@gillesgrindel7985 dude, give it a rest. just appreciate the music and move on.
@@gillesgrindel7985 Seriously!?! It isn’t the difficulty of the piece that is impressive. This is a 7 year old playing live in front of an audience with a band, keeping perfectly in the pocket for nearly 4 minutes including a nearly 1 minute solo with those little noodle arms. If that alone isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is. SMH
@@KansaSCaymanS
1/ YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT DRUMS
2/ You don't know shit about children.
Two reasons for you to shut your mouth.
Age doesn't matter at all, a drummer tells you that. You know to count until 4, you know all you have to know to play drums.
You can start learning right when you're 5 years old and I would say the sooner the lessons begins, the better the child will be IF HE LIKES WHAT IS DOING and she loves playing drums.
I know looking at drummer can make you think "how difficult it is" and you can be confused but this is BASICS, this is one of the simpliest song to make and this is why this song has been chosen for the video.
Again, you know nothing about drums.
You know nothing about children.
So shut up.
PS My nephew took one lesson. He already know where the 1 (on 4) is, where the 2 is, etc, etc.
in one hour lesson, he's able to hit the 1 with his left foot (he's a left hander) on the drum bass, the 2 with his left hand, the 3 with his right hand, the 3 with his right hand the 4 with his left hand.
The basic.
Then he will learn to keep the 8th notes with his left hand while hitting the 1 with his left foot and the 3 with his right hand.
There is nothing complicated at all, it's something that can easily be learned by a 5 yo, especuially if this kid is born in a familly of musicians and he's been looking at her parents right when she's born.
It seems to be a female pseudo so I would say if modern spent more time with their own children as they should instead of having a career or sending them away to be free to do whatever they want, they would know what a 5yo is able to do.
But as they don't, I have one who answered me a complete non-sense comment full of things she knows nothing about.
ヨヨカはナンバーワン YOYOKA IS NUMBER ONE!!!!!
I have followed her for some time now and she’s magnificent! Prodigy, really!
A prodigy achived huge things in terms of execution in a young age.
She is now about twice that age, and she does more than execute something with perfection.
It's like a good storyteller. Hearing the story from him is experiencing a story based on somebody elses idea, but relive that story anew.
Great to see you reacting to this one Andrew. Although it's far from the most difficult piece she's done, I think it's probably the most impressed I've been by Yoyoka. As you say, it answers all sorts of questions and leaves you with the realisation that she really is just that good!
Yoyoka is out of this world.
I commented on her video a year ago and I basically said the same. In my comment, I said I have watched many of her videos but that was probably her top performance (up to that point) when you consider the venue, the age and the sheer brilliant execution.
I can't help but watch this again. I want to be like her when I grow up.
me too!
You can teach lots of things, but you can't teach feel. Yoyoka has feel. Lots and lots and lots of feel.
From what I've read, she was actually 6 years old when she did this.
So good. I am in tears
Love it Mark!
A common reaction!
She is the Gretzky of drumming. The great one!
And Gretzky would say she's the Orr of drumming! Whatever we believe, she's in good company! LOL
this shit is crazy. See tons of young performers playing really complex stuff in a studio. Doin a live gig is another thing!
Hope she had her plugs in. She got many years of live performance and hopefully lots of success ahead of her.
I hope she has her plugs in too, especially since she seems to be a regular at the Whisky in West Hollywood.
Total Yoyoka fan here since she was 7. She is the business.
... her parents are amazing, musos ... hard rockers and clearly able to inspire providing both their children with opportunity
Another fantastic phenomenon is "MIUMIU" the Guitargirl!! For her 8th birthday she played a cover of CANON ROCK!! I know guitar but it's worth a listen!! I believe YOYOKA will soon be the best drummer in the world!!
I do enjoy your reactions, they are so informative. Yoyoka of course never fails to astound us all. Thank you. Pat 🏴
Her - in the pocket - drumming in this video is phenomenal. I do not think you can do it better - no matter your age or experience. The drum solo is extra icing on the cake, and it is fun. But it is not that one the impresses me the most. What impresses me the most is that she is a part of the band 100% and doing a great job. And as the drummer she is actually the driving motor of the band. She go slower, the band go slower - and she did not fail on that. Good job!
She's nailing it Roland!
This was a great video! Excellently placed Van Damme.
Good tension... Good joy.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Gives you goosebumps doesn’t it. 🐰🥁🐰🥁🐰
Amazing, simply AMAZING❣❣
Go back 10yrs from the beginning! Talk about a devoted family! The SOMA FAMILY are remarkable people! Yoyoka is testament to that! Check out SHIDO! Another star in the making!
She makes it look so easy, like just another day on the job, but wow.
Check out her Virtual Insanity cover. Another jaw dropping performance by this amazing girl.
Glad to see this make the channel. Enjoyed your reaction... ..and I'm certain everyone has a smile right now. She's so good.
If one were to be super nitpicky in the end section, the answer seems to be that any imperfection doesn't phase her (musical maturity) and how great the band / bass player is to keep the hits in sync. Everyone working together to highlight her talent. Great job!
Totally. It's live and not ideal sound quality also.
Still. The player shines through!
Yoyoka did play by ear her first years 😃 natural talent drummer #1
Still does, to my knowledge.
When she was 10 years she started taking note lessons.
Her parents are musicians, so probably she was feeling music while she was still in her mother's womb. She definitely has the born sense of rhythm, perfect pitch and all that.
Hope she always protects them. Not following Beethoven.
Thank you for this delightful and illuminating reaction video. Not too many words left to describe how the combination here of her age, the setting, the complexity of the composition and her inate talent create amazement. She did a recent interview with a university president who asked her several questions about her history with the drums. He then asked her if she could remember a time when she didn't play the drums. No. She played the drums before she was able to speak. She went gigging with her parents when she was two. They sat her on a cajon on stage while they played. Not backstage. On stage staring out at the audience. No wonder she is able to play so well in public. Playing in public with other musicians is normal. That's just what her family and friends of the family have always done. Remarkable. Very much like Traps the Drum Wonder aka Buddy Rich. His parents were vaudeville performers. He was fascinated by the drummers in the orchestra and would bang on the stage with spoons. He went on to become one of the finest drummers of all time and a real s.o.b. besides. I hope Yoyoka doesn't lose that charisma she has. I don't think she will.
Thanks for the great comment Chris! I think she has her feet firmly on the ground :)
@md 42jkl very familiar with that! Love seeing tiny Yoyo in that vid.
I have absolutely no doubt that there's an Old Soul in that young body who'd already done this in a previous lifetime 😃
Ah yes
John bong am?😝😝
She has a clock built into her soul
Absolutely phenomenal 🐰🥁🐰🥁🐰
Ah, ok. Almost 8. No sweat. 🥁💚YOYOKA💚🥁
Beautiful child so proud of her
🙌
what a gift for a kid... Mozart was 6 or 7 when he started composing...
The gift is to be born in Asia where parents don't spoil their own kids, doesn't throw them away to be free to do whatever they want but mostly they still remember the importance to well-raise their child with the opposite idea of westerners:
Asian people are looking for what they can do for their society when westerners are looking for what their society can make for them.
And 35 when he started decomposing. Sorry.
@@gillesgrindel7985 sad but true for many. Rie and Akifumi are outstanding parents. Love their family channel!
Wow hard to believe Yoyoka plays this song is only 7 years old, every time I hear her play a piece of music it's always a song with a high degree of difficulty. Thank you very much for your excellent comments.
Having watched Buddy,Gene,John and Louis she is already up with them love it .
It’s October 2021. Yoyoka just celebrated her 12th birthday. She has continued to hone her incredible skills.
Going to look at one of those live vids soon!
God given talent ladies. God given talent
my little metronome
She is just Such a force of nature. To understand music theory at 7!!!! Beethoven reborn as a drummer!
Nice one Gary!
Under 7yo, kids's brain is a dry sponge absorbing all intel, datas and news, it's easier to learn something at 5-6-7yo than it is to learn at 16-18-20. Westerners don't really know that fact as they don't think 5-6-7yo should be bothered by a cultural activity and should just have to play with their toys. But in Asia, a lot of children have a cultural activity next to school and the time to play is not the longer for them. Note bene. I don't think this is bad at all. Westerners way to raise child is bad.
She is born in a musician familly, she must have look at them right from her first months of life and started hitting drums as soon as she was tall enough exactly because there is no need of music theory to play drums at the start and here, this song doesn't need good music theory knowledge at all to be played on drums.
@@gillesgrindel7985 You're almost right. In children all neurons are connected to all other neurons. Starting on average at 14 for girls, age 16 for boys, the brain starts to undergo maturation. Unused neurons are trimmed. Used neurons are fortified. This process takes roughly ten years to complete. It starts at the "lizard brain," the base of the brain stem, and works it's way until it completes at the cerebral cortex. So useful training time IS limited as you say, but it is not cut and dry by any means. Also, your characterization of "Asian" culture is both simplistic and incomplete, while also being slightly wrong. There is no "Asia" for there to be a culture, per se. Chinese are not the same as Koreans are not the same as Japanese, or Thai, or Taiwanese, or Indonesian, etc., etc. It is true that Chinese kids spend a lot more time at school than American kids, but a large part of that is because of Chinese writing. 50% of all elementary school time is spent just learning to write and understand those thousands of Chinese characters. This is also true of Taiwanese. Even more so, since they use Traditional Chinese. Other Asians use other alphabets, and some even use the Roman alphabet. Many Asian kids spend an extraordinary amount of time goofing off and not studying. The stereotype of studious Asian kids is not exactly true, or even mostly true. Their culture encourages behavior we would be aghast at, like cheating. There is a saying in China "If you can steal, steal. If you can cheat, cheat." Cheaters are viewed as "clever," so don't trust those test scores. China is successful not because of anything inherent. Tech was and is being stolen constantly from inventive nations. Their business acumen was taught to them almost entirely by foreigners, in particular, Taiwanese. I have done business extensively all throughout Asia in various countries, and have spent quite a bit of time there. I speak a smattering of Chinese. You don't need to trust me, but the things I state I know FOR A FACT. I have spent many an early morning on conference calls with folks around the world. Did you know Shanghai and Taipei are n the same time zone and Tokyo is an hour off? It's morning there now. No matter, Chinese tend to start late and work late. I know stuff like that off the top of my head,. I have done a TON of business overseas, and am one of the few Americans that has worked with Chinese in China on joint projects excluded by Chinese law from participation by others. Don't trust everything the news, or the media, tells you. It's mostly crud. I have so many stories and anecdotes it would fill a medium sized book. "Western way to raise children is bad?" Yeah, that's why Americans have invented more stuff, by far, than people from any other nation. Yeah, we're totally useless, morally bereft, losers. Go sell that to somebody buying that baloney.
@@salvadormonella8953 Tech was and is being stolen constantly from inventive nations.
I don't agree on this point:
All happened in the 80's: China didn't steal any invention at all, they made deals: They gave access to their market but in exchange, they had to produce in China and by so they had to transfert their technology.
They didn't steal, it's a win win deal. Westerners companies BETRAYED their own country for profits, they wanted to make money and they made a lot of money.
They haven't been steal at all: if you make billions of billions of profits, you can't say you have been stolen.
"Yeah, that's why Americans have invented more stuff,"
How arrogant of you and how blind you are to think it is still the case....
I stay on my position: westerners way to educate their children IS bad. It WAS good until they decided to destroy the familly. Until they decided that kids have to be only spoiled, until the level of school education start decreasing WILLINGLY.
Have you seen the actual level of school education of the last generation of westerners ?
They don't even know why there need to be a common language.
They think they can build the world better than mother-nature did.
They can't even define what a woman is.
They don't know why there need to be a hierarchy, laws, social and moral rules.
They want to abolish the police
they don't respect anything
They want freedom and made our society a territory of individuals living side by side.
They believe there are diversities when there is only marginality.
They live in denial
They can't deal with their frustration
they take what they have for granted
They are not taugh discipline, rigor and determination
They think life should be 100% about having fun and 0% about being upset.
They think all the people around the world are the same
They pretend men and women have interchangeable roles
And the list does not end here
Sorry but the way westerners are educating their kid IS bad because the parents put forward their own well-being, their own comfort and their own career before the well-being and the comfort of their own kids.
80% of wedding end up by a divorce and in 99% of the time, it's at the depend of their kids.
As long as male westerners could NOT shut up feminism non-sense, the western world is doomed to fall.
@@salvadormonella8953 I forgot:
They believe the money they didn't made is lost money, they don't even know that in order to loose money or whatever, you have to own it first.
Oh my God‼️Yoyoka❣️『MVP』⁉️^^
On the Ellen show she said she had played 150 times in bar/ club and the family band has gone on the road to play
her brain is a computer, my nephew is like her, they can play any instrument at an early age and fantastic in math, it's how they hear, it has to be.
She's done something right!
@@AndrewRooneyDrums Her family is incredible, they are the reason she can play so well with others
You should invite her on your show!
7 years old! Unreal! Absolutely incredible Boketo! 🇺🇸🇯🇵
awesome
You´ve been fooled Andrew. She´s not Yoyoka, he´s a 25 yo dwarf from Japan who happens to be a professional drummer : )
BAHAHA!
As always, another great video. I was still trying to get out of bed seven years ago, and I just tied my left shoe lace this morning.
HAHA MICHAEL!
Thanks Andrew for your great analysis. I wish I could go 10 years into the future and know what kinda multi-instrumentalist Yoyoka became. The great thing is we have some references of young female drummers like, Senri, Kanade Sato, Pau Villareal (talking about intellectual maturity at a young age when you read her lyrics) and many other that have proven their full potential and give so much joy to listen and watch. Off course Avery Molek also has to be mentionned. He posted video's on a regular basis from about the age of 6 years old. He now (14 years old) is a multi-instrumentalist (like Nandi Bushell, 11 years old) and last week posted a video of Dream On from Aerosmith with a twelve year old singer. They did a fantastic job; the Toxic-twins must be proud: th-cam.com/video/IGqLP9weB_w/w-d-xo.html. On a more lighter note: What was Jean Claude VanDamme doing when he was seven years old?
yoyoka is drummer others are others
She is phenomenal I absolutely love her cover of Aerosmith's "eat the rich" , you could almost set a metronome by her timing, I love your videos as always take care mate
I've just watched this cover a few days ago. And I love it too!
Amazing👏
Yoyoka. Una de las mejores bateristas del mundo. Nació con el Chip puesto.
During this period of her life, she was already on the horizon in Japan, but this kind of cemented her notoriety. But, by this time in her life she had already been up on stage numerous times. If you look at her videos between six and seven, she really started putting all the pieces together. Over the years, she and Senri Kawaguchi became good friends with each other. In terms of throne presence, Senri has never rocked to the music, so to speak. Yoyoka does. I think that this hurt her in terms of recognition in her earlier days. When she gets into a groove she likes she will jive and shuck to the song she is playing, almost to the point where she looks out of control. I really believe that is what kept her from being the HLAG winner in 2018. It went to another Japanese drummer named Yuki Ogawa. She has a style similar to that of Senri Kawaguchi. Good drummer, but, how do you say this? She is not in the same class of skills as Yoyoka is. Not that many people know who Yoyoka is, but Yuki Ogawa is totally obscure. But, we all know that Yoyoka puts her body and body movements into her drumming. She is not a classical drummer. Music wise, Senri has been all over the map, great, great drummer, best in the world, but she is not going to be dancing to the music while sitting on the drum throne. Just the way that it is. As Yuki kind of takes after Senri, same with her music, she kind of goes towards a rock fusion, rock jazz type of sound.
However you want to look at Yoyoka, whether you consider her a drummer or a musician, I say musician, because her skill set is way beyond that of a drummer, she is definitely way ahead of herself. But not necessarily. If you look at the 180 IQ Japanese crib babies, not a lot of difference between them and Yoyoka. In one situation, the crib babies become smart because of the parents. In Yoyoka's instance, she just enjoyed being in a musical atmosphere to the point she turned herself into a sponge and basically absorbed every detail she could as she was mentally and emotionally developing. Yoyoka has never let up and from what she has been doing over the past year or so, she is pushing herself even harder. We just need to hope that she doesn't burn out along the way. Not easy to do what she is doing when you consider that she has and is still growing up.
Anyway, if you look at this video of Senri, Yoyoka is definitely ahead of Senri at the same point in life. This is not to take away from Senri as she is in a class of her own. I just think that Senri has put herself into a very narrow musical bandwidth. Good thing though is that Senri never burned out. Very talented and flawless drummer. Both of these ladies are the best at what they do.
th-cam.com/video/24HM6KpY9X4/w-d-xo.html
I don't know that comparing by age is constructive. Yoyoka grew up in a musical family. Senri didn't, and Senri started later.
@@dchristo10 Yoyoka's parents were not drummers so she did not have any advantage in this respect
Senri had the benefit of having Kozo Suganuma as her teacher. Even so, Kozo's daughter is a drummer but not in Senri's class. But the thing with Yoyoka is that she acquired her brain/hand coordination at a very early age. Doesn't really matter how she did it, but she did it. Like with her click it is almost like time is standing still. She can be on the beat, slightly ahead of the beat, which Yoyoka has proven that acquired skills do not have anything to do with age.
A lot of drummers, young drummers will be right or left hand dominant which, in drumming, you want coordination between feet and hands, but also, independence.
I like Senri, very interesting drummer, but I am not so much into fusion and jazz. When she was younger she was into metal and hard rock. But she is drumming to the beat of what she likes.
Yoyoka developed her coordination at a very early age, this can be said of male drummers as well.
Can she drum in the same time signatures as Senri? Absolutely, but she is not interested in jazz or even metal for instance. This is why when fans request that she do a cover to certain music, she doesn't. Has nothing to do with her skillset.
If Yoyoka stays on course, she is poised to go into a unique drummimg direction. Her cerebral cortex is on overdrive. So age between known skilled drummers, or drummers of a similar skillset can be used as an achievement marker. No different than comparing young athletes.
Senri and Yoyoka are not in competition and are friends. The drum world has recognized both of them as being two of the best drummers in the world.
When Yoyoka went to NAMM last year, she was a hit at the show. A number of some of the top guitarists in the business did jam with her and still want to jam with her. She is that good. The way that she has been approached makes you think of the Traveling Wilburys. Wouldn't surprise me if she glt together witj some of the top names in the business and toured with them.
The wheels are turning in Haikaido, she was supposed to do something at the Olympics but Japan extended the lock down.
Hard to say where she is going to end up, but there are a lot of eyes on her right now. Some of those eyes have infinitely deep pockets. If you go on her youtube channel and go to community scroll down until you find a picture of Yoyoka sitting next to an old man.
He is a college dean and interviewed Yoyoka. You will have to follow the link in the box. The interview has English subs if you really want to become familiar with her take on music. The college made her a professor there. She is teaching entrepreneurial development with respect to becoming a successful musician.
@@tibetbill "Yoyoka's parents were not drummers so she did not have any advantage in this respect" - Of course she did. Being in a musical family conditioned her at an early age, whether or not her parents played drums. That's why it's not constructive to compare them by age. By age 7, Yoyoka had 7 years of exposure to a musical world, with drums at her disposal from the beginning. Senri didn't have any of that. She didn't touch a drum until she was 5 and didn't take lessons with Kozo until she was 8.
Yoyoka is a great talent. She's also a kid. Just relax and let her do her thing. This over the top fanaticism is just crazy.
@@dchristo10 I am really curious how "being in a musical family conditioned her at an early age..." As a drummer, I would like to know how that is possible to be 'conditioned'. Her parent could have made her drums, but what does that have to do with her ability to play drums at whatever age? They could not tell her the difference between a 1A and a 5B. Neither of her parents could play the drums. Both of them are totally uncoordinated when it comes to playing the drums. The only thing that they did do was obtain a drum set for her to play on which came from their band. If what you are saying is true, then a paper should immediately be written for every parent with aspirations to give their kid an edge in whatever endeavor that may be, by conditioning them. So what possible conditioning could she have gotten which has made her the best under twenty one female drummer in the world? She is self taught, so what conditioning helped her other than herself motivation and fascination with drums and drumming? Please tell any of us what conditioning she received from her parents.
And you don't think that she has done something phenomenal by doing what she managed to do at a young age? She was conditioned to be what she is today? Okay,so then credit goes to her parents since they 'conditioned' her.
For your information, Yoyoka is no kid. If you think she is, you are living in lala land. She is a young adult. She is a professional musician and has her own business. You really think that this is a kid being interviewed?
th-cam.com/video/u7t2bDP-X50/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/PJEpIdnLXmU/w-d-xo.html
This, obviously, won't mean a thing to you,
th-cam.com/video/YHFwTTQRcxA/w-d-xo.html
But if you look closer, she is wearing a $2000 plus coat.
Let's see, how much did she pocket for doing this moncler genius commercial?
th-cam.com/video/c1uriRbdJFg/w-d-xo.html
She wears another $2000 moncler coat on stage with Ellen Degenerate. Do you think anyone, other than moncler, Yoyoka and her parents had a clue? The cash register was ringing, still is.
th-cam.com/video/kKQuG0qXinQ/w-d-xo.html
You think that it is a coincidence that she is wearing a moncler tee shirt here?
th-cam.com/video/aYRvYkTqauQ/w-d-xo.html
or on stage with Cyndi Lauper?
th-cam.com/video/T5hPkB6D-qU/w-d-xo.html
You have to add Nike, Nissan, Lego, uniqlo, Sapphoro, among others. How much do you think she raked in off of SuperFamily?
She has a connection with Tadashi Yanai, richest businessman in Japan at $70bn. As soon as the virus hit, she was worried about musicians who made their living playing music. Yoyoka started donating money and time to help people get by and through the inability to earn money because of the virus.
She is doing her thing. She has a lot going on.
There is something special about Yoyoka, you don't want to acknowledge that, that is your problem.
Newsweek considers her one of the 100 most influential people in Japan.
www.newsweekjapan.jp/magazine/238541.php
For some strange reason, she is the only 'kid' on the list.
She will probably own half of Japan by the time she is twenty one. Keep thinking that she is just a kid.
Fanaticism? Perhaps, you should go figure out what Japanese living national treasure is. Try observations.
@@dchristo10 She actually wasn't TAUGHT how to drum by her parents. They just gave her 2 sticks and sat her at the drum kit. She started banging away at age 2. They just let her "play" on the drum kit. There was no official teachers teaching her. I am sure parent's drummer gave her instruction on how to hold the stick and hit the individual items, but there was no teaching her the music.
The sticks are bigger than her arms! Hell she's holding those stick by the very ends too. She must have some serious grip!
I think in one of her vids, you can see her right palm has callouses already.
I’m most impressed by her meter. Talk about in the pocket.
Yup!
Watching her play Stray Cat Strut blew me away. The timing and precision was unreal. I'm an 80s teen and started playing hair guitar when I was 15 in 87, so I heard that song pretty regularly on Mtv. It's mot Tom Sawyer, but for a little kid, it's quite something.
What the hell is in the water in Japan. So many impossibly young kids excellently performing music at the highest level. Unbelievable, mind blowing!
Discipline is in the water!
AWSOME PICK Roodney!! And great PATREON PICK!!!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🤟🤘🤙🤘🤘🤙
Yes Butch!
If you haven't kept up with Yoyoka lately, she has recently signed (1.5 months ago) with a major Japanese talent agency who will be featuring her in their theme park, as well as, booking her internationally. Also, she has released two different vids on her channel where she is a "One Girl Band", keys, vocals, guitars and of course drums. She produced both and the vids which include her showing the process,
Thanks for the heads up!
I am can't say that I am that confident that this talent agency is going to be any better than the last one she had. She is very talented, extremely talented, no question. But she really needs a manager. She needs to hook up with someone who understands the business, the way it is today. This is what she really needs. She will probably continue to do commercials and be able to make a living, doing what she is doing now, but this is not going to get her where she needs to be.
There is another issue with Yoyoka which needs to be resolved before she can move forward with a band. There are two talent conflicts which she has as she likes to sing and play drums. So this question needs to be resolved. Every drummer who sings has had to get up off the throne and become a front man. It just doesn't really work singing from a mike sitting on the drum throne. People who go to concerts want to see who is singing up on center stage. If you go to an Eagles concert, when they play Don Henley's songs, Henley gets up from behind the drums to sing. Not a big issue, but it needs to be resolved.
If you look at the band pool in Japan, probably the most notable is Band-Maid. But no one here in the US really knows who they are. Too far away and too much trouble to bring them here. Yes, there is incredible talent in Japan where Yoyoka can or could put together a world class band. Even so, without the right management, doesn't mean much. She needs to be with Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch, Paul McGuinness or John Reid to kick her aspirations down the road. I guess you could even add Warren Entner into the conversation as she likes to play songs from groups he manages.
Anyone of these guys have taken bands from total obscurity and turned them into household names. They know the ropes, what venues to put them at to play, connect them to open at events or with well known musicians. Just a phone call or two and they can assemble the right band members for her to move forward with. I just can't see that happening with her living in Japan. Of course, it could, but here in the US, there is an infrastructure here in place to make that happen. I am not talking about America's got talent. The right manager, or management firm can easily launch a musician like Yoyoka Soma.
She does not have a signature sound, at least not yet. She has the talent and probably when it comes to music production her talents are probably as good in the recording and mixing room as they are in the sound room. She certainly knows how to use pro tools.
You would need a powerful manager to get her airtime as most radio stations are paying for their music in bundled play lists six months in advance. Totally different machine to break into than it used to be. Not trying to be negative, but this is what she is up against. She didn't go to NAMM this year, nobody did, it was virtual. She will be back for NAMM in 2022. Maybe, she might be able to hook herself up with or align herself with a manager interested in putting her on the map.
What I have seen her write, even though she is into heavy beat quarter note rock is more like contemporary rock. Nothing wrong with that, she sold a couple of her songs to Japanese TV as theme songs. Even what you reference where she did Here, There and Everywhere and Shape of you, did not impress me as much as Grim Grinning Moon at Night. That really demonstrated her ability to put her talents to work on a song from scratch. We have not seen a Yoyoka rock song to date. Once she puts a couple out, even if she plays all the instruments, if she can make a statement that way, that is all she needs. She laid down the drum and guitar track to her brother's song. That made a statement. Doesn't have to be a smash hit, but that is starting to showcase what her capabilities are. She has the talent, all the talent she needs, she just needs an experienced manager or management firm.
@@tibetbill BabyMetal is more popular overseas than in Japan, so it can be done. I think the Soma's will figure it out as they go. They do need help and realize that. That's a start. They have already tried different things. I don't think they're afraid to change it up to get where they need to get. You need to have this conversation with the Soma's. I'm not a musician so it doesn't mean much to me. The agency she signed with has ties to an agency in Los Angeles (Creative Artist Agency which has 1800 employees) that they work with. Maybe they have plans to use them to promote Yoyoka, who knows. She's only 11, so any way you look at it, she's already light years ahead of most talent.
@@Glen.Black. What is really sad is that, hands down, Senri Kawaguchi is the best female drummer in the world. There is not another woman alive who has her ability to drum flawlessly in different time signatures. There are a lot of male drummers who would be hard pressed to play drums the way Senri does. There are some female drummers out there with several million followers on youtube, not that youtube is a measure of musical skills, but these drummers, some are very pretty, have large physical assets, are willing to take their clothes off when they drum. For whatever reason, people will talk about how great these women drum, but many of them miss the notes, cannot play in the pocket, in other words, there are a lot of flaws which are overlooked by their followers. Like Salon Gas, she is the fastest drummer on the planet. If memory serves me correctly, she is even faster than any male drummer. I believe she is listed as the fastest drummer in the
Guiness Book. Excellent drummer you have probably never heard of. Very highly skilled, similar to Yoyoka or Senri but only a handful of followers. Why?
Yoyoka is on a number of horizons, but the ultimate question is where are her stars going to align? I still say that she needs a manager who knows the ropes to get her to where she needs to be. Like Brian Epstein, would the Beatles have made it without him? Probably not. This is how important a manager can be to a group, or even a musician.
Like Peter Mensch and Cliff Burstein, they manage groups like Metallica, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and a number of other acts. If you get a manager like this, they can get you where you want to be. I am skeptical of a talent agency as they do book gigs, but they really do not invest time or money in the development of whom they represent. A talent agency usually does not groom the acts they represent.
I already know what any of these guys would tell Yoyoka. They would tell her to focus and concentrate on developing her own distictive sound. Just like Toto, Jeff Procaro was the driving force and creative force behind Toto. However she does it, she needs to bring her own signature sound to a concert. I think that she could do the Cowasill thing with her family, but she would have to be the leader. She is going to have to step up and say this is going to be our sound. Or find the personnel to make the sound she is looking for. The right manager could help her make this happen.
So far, what I have seen with Yoyoka is that she has appeared on stage with name acts as a session musician. She and her family tour around Japan performing traditional gigs at weddings, events, etc. Yes, she has written several songs, but the songs she has written are not what listeners want to hear.
I hope that she succeeds in her musical endeavors, but she is not the first prodigy, nor will she be the last.
Not so long ago, there was another Japanese prodigy. She is a singer. Her name is Nishida Hiraku. She is approximately four times Yoyoka's age. When she was very young, her family moved to LA. Nishida has a flawless voice, very similar to Karen Carpenter. There is no trace of a Japanese accent in her singing whatsoever. No rolls, no off pronunciations, perfect voice. Very similar to Yoyoka, had a large support base behind her. You can look her up and see for yourself. When she moved back to Japan, she had no problem finding singing gigs. th-cam.com/video/XkFjeM08oak/w-d-xo.html As she was really approaching the point where she was looking at international recognition, she decided to step back and have a family. Definitely not the Alyssa Milano type. But she was able to accumulate close to half a billion dollars when she stepped back. She is still actively singing, appearing on Japanese TV specials every now and then.
I have had conversations with Yoyoka's mother. There is a definite language issue. You are right that they are not sure what to do to help Yoyoka further her musical endeavors. Yoyoka and her parents really need Emilio Buonanni to come back into her life. He was her English teacher and drum coach. He was really helping her and the whole family. Unfortunately, since he was an American, he got thrown out of Japan when the virus hit. They extended their lockdown so he has yet to return.
Believe me, what Yoyoka has done is as good as it gets. There are many obstacles in her path to success. Her age, not her talents, she has to finish her schooling. I know that the Somas have always found a way to get her to where she needs to be during a school year. This is good as when you are hot, sometimes opportunities only come around once. Had they waited to put her on the Ellen shoe, guess what, the show was cancelled.
There is a book floating around.I haven't seen the book in over twenty five years or so. The title of the book is something like The best One Hundred Rock Groups Which Never Made It. It was a very interesting book about bands which were incredibly talented but never hit the big time for whatever reasons. Like Van Morrison said, some of the best musical talent never gets recognized. He said he knew of much greater talent in the musical industry which no one ever heard of because the musician was not willing to travel. Yoyoka is more than willing to live out of a suitcase.
This is why I am saying that she needs a manager in the music industry who is connected. I really doubt Yoyoka will make it through the front end of the music industry. She is not what they are looking for now no matter how talented she is. Not at this time. She needs to follow the Greatful Dead model or do what Pearl Jam did to get started.
But, there is another thing to consider. The good thing with the Soma family is that they are very protective of their children. There is a very dark side to the music industry and kids so, part of me is glad that Yoyoka is kind of going in her own direction. She is a true artist in the sense that she is not looking for fame and fortune, which means that whatever she does or ends up doing the almighty dollar sign is not going to be her success marker.
@@tibetbill In the end, although they may want her to make it big, all they really care about is living a modest lifestyle and being able to do what they want musically. I believe their thoughts of becoming well known are only so that they can generate enough income to live comfortably and be able to afford to take their music to a higher level and share it with the world.
You should check out Ian Paice's reaction to BURN
This one was better than the usual thrash metal drummers you seem to do a lot of these days
Glad you dug it Pesky!