choosing doubles or singles

AndeeT

Senior Member
Hi All,

My brain is having some trouble in deciding wether to use singles or doubles in snare accent patterns. I play rock music almost exclusively, and it seems many of the drummers i look up to use almost exclusively single strokes to execute snare rolls and patterns, as they simply have more power like this I believe.

However, my natural incline is to use double strokes on the unaccented notes and singles on the accented, in a flow of say 8th/16th notes.

Do you think it is purely down to what I have practiced more? For example, i have probably put more time into rudiments with diddles than purely single stroke playing. Maybe I just need to soend a bit more time playing single stroke rolls.

Take this situation - playing a continuous flow of 16th notes at 130 bpm, with every 3rd 16th note accented, giving a 'steam train' sort of beat. I am struggling to execute this as my brain is wanting to play both singles and doubles for all the unaccented notes.


Maybe I am overthinking and just need to play the damn thing!
 
If i think a little more on the matter, it is probably also the tempo of the song that determines wether its singles or doubles that are used, i.e faster songs need more doubles.
 
For any given thing that you can play comfortably, if it sounds good, then don't worry about it. I like single strokes more for the kit when I want things to be articulate. Marching snares are great for hammering away perfect diddles but a regular snare and floppy toms aren't as cohesive to getting those clean, powerful doubles. On the kit I almost never double on my toms (my 8" gets a little action) and what double strokes do happen on the rest of the kit are, like you said, unaccented beats.

Take this situation - playing a continuous flow of 16th notes at 130 bpm, with every 3rd 16th note accented, giving a 'steam train' sort of beat. I am struggling to execute this as my brain is wanting to play both singles and doubles for all the unaccented notes.

Try rrL if you haven't already. I love using continuous groups of threes like that for different accents. Also llR, Rll, Lrr, Rrl, Llr, etc.

Maybe I am overthinking and just need to play the damn thing!

That too =D
 
Thanks Jankowske. I understand what you mean with tom's e.t.c. I sometimes forget this as I do all my practice on an e-kit with rubber tom pads! But for me this is usually just a snare drum roll thing.

I'm not sure I get your sticking example for the rhythm I suggested though. Your sticking only has three hits, but you would need four to complete the four 16th notes. Do you mean to play all unaccented notes with on hand and the accented one with another?

Cheers,

Andy
 
I think all forms of rolls have a place on the set.

I use doubles when I want a more 'fluffy' sound...singles for a more 'sharp' texture...

I think that excluding a tool from your playing is a mistake...even worse than under-developing its usage...but different folks have different opinions...
 
I'm not sure I get your sticking example for the rhythm I suggested though. Your sticking only has three hits, but you would need four to complete the four 16th notes. Do you mean to play all unaccented notes with on hand and the accented one with another?

Well I thought you meant "one e AND a two E and a THREE e and A four e AND a" when you said every third hit, or maybe "ONE e and A two e AND a three E and a FOUR e and A". Maybe you meant "ONE e and a TWO e and a THREE e and a FOUR e and a"? If you meant the latter, then try paradiddles. Those are fun.


I think all forms of rolls have a place on the set.

I use doubles when I want a more 'fluffy' sound...singles for a more 'sharp' texture...

I think that excluding a tool from your playing is a mistake...even worse than under-developing its usage...but different folks have different opinions...

I only avoid rolls on the toms because mine are tuned very low. Their texture would not be "fluffy"...it would be un-baked. If I had huge tubs that I felt like tuning higher then I'd be rollin' all day...
 
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