Tarn Softwhip is a 27-year-old drumming sensation from Thailand. Tarn is a nickname, but Softwhip? Softwhip explains: “I have a contrast in my personality. On the outside I look nerdy, I look neat, I look girlish and soft, but inside I feel hype and a bit crazy. I feel free when I play drum sets, and playing drums is a bit like a whip, so I combined that contrast and made it my name.” It’s an apt choice. Softwhip wears librarian glasses but attacks the drums with skill, precision and force.
Softwhip started playing drums when she was eleven. She says that she was at an all girls’ school and her friends all chose to pursue piano or guitar or singing. At first she chose to play drums because no one else was doing it, but as she learnt to play, she felt joy when playing and fell in love with the specific sound of the drums, like the sound of the snare. It made her passionate and really happy, so she kept practicing. Here is Tarn Softwhip playing Avenged Sevenfold’s Nightmare:
When she rolls on the snare and spins her right hand stick in the air, deftly catching it, you know that she means business! DH-iu4gn comments: “Absolute perfection. No skimpy outfit required, just top notch drumming skill. I’ve watched several drum covers of this song and this one is by far the best.” Dimmyjeams7489 points out a specific moment in the performance: “That kick drum pattern at 3:05 has to be my absolute favourite”. Softwhip says she started recording herself to help her remembe
When she started out, she would forget parts of a song she had learnt, so she made recordings to keep track. At first she posted a few of these clips on Facebook and got responses from school friends and teachers. When YouTube became popular in Thailand, she created a channel and was surprised by the responses to her videos. She now has 2.07M YouTube subscribers, 120,000 Instagram followers and 850,000 followers on TikTok! Her most popular video is her drumming to Jintara Poonlarp’s Tao Ngoi:
The original is a massive hit in Thailand (149 YouTube views in 5 years). By adding her rock drum backbeat, Softwhip transforms the song from frothy pop to something more substantial. Her cover has 32M YouTube views in 4 years.
Chanittha Lojananont (Tarn Softwhip) was born in April 1996 in Thailand. After completing school in 2014, she attended the College of Music at Mahidol University. In 2017 she opened the Softwhip Music School, where she teaches drums in Bangkok, Thailand. Softwhip is the first female drummer in Thailand to receive drum sponsorship from Yamaha. In 2023, Softwhip was a judge of the Hit Like A Girl international drum competition. Her competition bio states that “Tarn’s combination of chops, groove, power, taste, showmanship and more has made her a drum hero in Thailand.” It adds that her internet profile is such that “she is as well-known and respected outside of Thailand as she already is in it.”
There is more. Tarn Softwhip is the drummer for the all-girl Thai band Aliz. The band released their first digital single Lost in April 2019. Other singles include Goodnight and Among two others. Why don’t we take a look at a live performance of Goodnight on the channel of their record company, Move Records:
If you would like to see more from Tarn Softwhip, you can subscribe to her YouTube channel or follow her on Facebook or Instagram. You can also visit her official website for more information. For anyone who is interested in finding out more about Tarn Softwhip, here is a video interview with her: