R K L K Linear Fill

rebonn

rebonn

Senior Member
This fill showed up on a reel in FB and couldn't find it again. I found a video using one kick which is basically the same but using two feet seems more balanced for me. This sounds like a most basic and great sounding linear fill but seems to be rarely used. One comment said it was the forbidden linear fill. I'm going to give it a go and see if I can get some speed and use it.
 
Last edited:
Is this the same fill? John Rick does it super smooth.
I got this video link from his Drummerworld post called "4 Limb Single Stroke Roll (RH, LF, LH, RF)"

 
Love these linear patterns...really cements my bass to my other voices when not playing the pattern.

Use care when flavoring your playing with the pattern itself...while it may feel interesting to you, be sure you are saying what you mean to inside the song(of course!). Its easy to get lost in skills that are interesting but don't really work inside the song...or I should say, easy to let your composition be effected by your desire to show skill.

I find that I am happiest with my compositions when they do not attract attention...even though I am, traditionally, a skill chaser with a passion for prog-ish-ness.
 
To me it's the most basic linear pattern but certainly not the easiest to play. Even playing it very well, he says he rarely uses it. I'm thinking a slower tempo fill.
 
As for the 6 note pattern - RLKLRK - the first time I recall hearing it was on the great forgotten gem of an album - Jack Daugherty and the Class of Nineteen Seventy-One. On the track “Feel So Good” - played by Jeff Porcaro (with Jim Keltner playing other drum part). Jeff plays bits of the lick throughout - but it’s first big appearance is right after 2:20

BTW legend has it that this Jeff’s first union recording session.

 
I've got the hang of it. I don't see a problem using it within a fill such as others using the RLKK the same way or actually alternating between the two. I actually like it at a slower tempo as well.
 
rebonn said:
This fill showed up on a reel in FB and couldn't find it again. I found a video using one kick which is basically the same but using two feet seems more balanced for me. This sounds like a most basic and great sounding linear fill but seems to be rarely used. One comment said it was the forbidden linear fill. I'm going to give it a go and see if I can get some speed and use it.
Click to expand...
It’s a famous Buddy Rich lick. You can play it in duples and triples.
 
Matched Gripper said:
It’s a famous Buddy Rich lick. You can play it in duples and triples.
Click to expand...
Didn't know that, and with one kick. Yes, the doubles and ruffs are good for slower tempos, really changes things. I do that with other linear stuff where the kicks are usually together. That's why I like this riff, a kick between everything. I like inserting it into things for a beat or so. Like the 4 before a fill and maybe the 3rd beat of the fill.
 
How practical is this stuff? When I started trying to using tom/kick combos I found that they sounded like garbage coming out of the P.A. because the mix was always off, and that's something I have no control over. It seems that kick combo's would be more practical for acoustic playing (e.g. Jazz) or when working with more professional sound tech's (i.e. in a more professional setting than I get to play), but they're not so practical for playing in the average bar. Yes? No?
 
TMe said:
How practical is this stuff? When I started trying to using tom/kick combos I found that they sounded like garbage coming out of the P.A. because the mix was always off, and that's something I have no control over. It seems that kick combo's would be more practical for acoustic playing (e.g. Jazz) or when working with more professional sound tech's (i.e. in a more professional setting than I get to play), but they're not so practical for playing in the average bar. Yes? No?
Click to expand...
I think it can be used by making each voice on the set live in its own freq distribution(either due to the moment in the song/no one else in those freq ranges or making sure all instruments, including your parts of the set, do not overlap - I hear many drummers that do not have clear intervals between their toms which makes things awfully muddy)

Its an awfully angular feel and quickly asks the 'taste' question once the muddy-ness is resolved.

Practical?...well, playing an instrument in general seems to flex against the concept in life...so....as much as anything else.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TMe
Practical ? We’ll, if I use it as 1 of the 4 patterns within a fill, I think it’s great. I’ll use it as a blast within other things or perhaps end a solo with it.
 
rebonn said:
Practical ? We’ll, if I use it as 1 of the 4 patterns within a fill, I think it’s great.
Click to expand...
My point is that if the sound tech's mix is wonky, "R LK L RK"comes out of the P.A. sounding more like "R L- L R-" or "- -K - -K" which makes no sense at all. It doesn't matter how well I balance the kit if the P.A. mix is way off. And in small bars, that's often what the mix is like. Either a ridiculous amount of kick, or no kick at all.
 
Still working on this Body Roll as I call it (RKLK). Fast bursts are the easiest, which I use within a fill. Medium tempo around 120 is what I'm needing to get down.
I think this sounds like the most earthy, caveman type basic linear pattern there is.
Mike Mangini finished a drum solo with it 15 years ago. It starts at 4:09.

 
This thread got me thinking about hand/foot linear patterning.

I found it useful once i got fast enough that i had a metric *hit-tonne of overhead room...that is, once i had some CLEAN fast hand-foot interactions going I was then able to do it at tempo but quiet. That quiet part gave me ghost note like usages.

I have reticence about using this patterning except where I would normally use the underlying rhythmic pattern regardless of inter-limb exchanges...the inter-limb texture is very different at different dynamic levels...and can be built into a tasteful riding pattern...but the ability to do it with 'room to spare' will give the facility to place it where most do not.
 
TMe said:
My point is that if the sound tech's mix is wonky, "R LK L RK"comes out of the P.A. sounding more like "R L- L R-" or "- -K - -K" which makes no sense at all. It doesn't matter how well I balance the kit if the P.A. mix is way off. And in small bars, that's often what the mix is like. Either a ridiculous amount of kick, or no kick at all.
Click to expand...
My ideal is to pre-mix at my chair and send my mix to the house board and try to communicate that it represents the mix I need...please do not change it drastically....but yeah, right!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top