"Drum roll" - a drummer's rant

[Terjyn]

[Terjyn]

[Malyonsus]

[Malyonsus]

[NoPance]

Yes! Thank you. :P

This has been a peeve of mine, but I haven't really wanted to go off on it just because it seemed to be so widespread in the DM/RB community. I've played drums for a long time too (tenors in a divi 1 drum corps, tenors for an independent WGI line, local symphonies, college symphony/marching band, drumset since I was in elementary school, teach/write now, etc.) and it definitely bugs me.

Connotively, a "roll" most often refers to either a closed or open-stroke roll like you mentioned. If you ask anyone who's a drummer to play a roll, their response is never going to be 16th notes.

There's no good way to get a firm definition on what a "roll" is though. You could claim that it's purely a textural designation, where the strokes are played fast and more or less out-of-time to emulate sustain (as is the case in single-stroke or closed rolls), but open rolls are in time and more like the tremelos that originated as shorthand for string players.

You could claim that a roll requires a specific technique, which encapsulates open and closed rolls (multiple bounce and controlled bounce respectively), but a proper single-stroke roll is essentially a series of serial legato strokes which is no different than a string of 16th notes.

I think it just has to fall back on the the "accepted" usage of the word, which would not qualify normal streams of notes (16th, 24th, 32nd, or otherwse) as rolls.

So it's not technically "wrong" to call the fills or singles in rock band rolls, it's more or less like calling a motorcycle a bicycle. It may be technically true (using the bicycle is a two-wheeled mode of transportation definition), but no one would ever make that association because it's ambiguous with it's connotive usage.

[NoPance]

Yes! Thank you. :P

This has been a peeve of mine, but I haven't really wanted to go off on it just because it seemed to be so widespread in the DM/RB community. I've played drums for a long time too (tenors in a divi 1 drum corps, tenors for an independent WGI line, local symphonies, college symphony/marching band, drumset since I was in elementary school, teach/write now, etc.) and it definitely bugs me.

Connotively, a "roll" most often refers to either a closed or open-stroke roll like you mentioned. If you ask anyone who's a drummer to play a roll, their response is never going to be 16th notes.

There's no good way to get a firm definition on what a "roll" is though. You could claim that it's purely a textural designation, where the strokes are played fast and more or less out-of-time to emulate sustain (as is the case in single-stroke or closed rolls), but open rolls are in time and more like the tremelos that originated as shorthand for string players.

You could claim that a roll requires a specific technique, which encapsulates open and closed rolls (multiple bounce and controlled bounce respectively), but a proper single-stroke roll is essentially a series of serial legato strokes which is no different than a string of 16th notes.

I think it just has to fall back on the the "accepted" usage of the word, which would not qualify normal streams of notes (16th, 24th, 32nd, or otherwse) as rolls.

So it's not technically "wrong" to call the fills or singles in rock band rolls, it's more or less like calling a motorcycle a bicycle. It may be technically true (using the bicycle is a two-wheeled mode of transportation definition), but no one would ever make that association because it's ambiguous with it's connotive usage.

[rhythmjunkie]

Double-Stroke rolls are what I find to be using in RB- and no I don't play percussion. Anyways, why does it matter? I've been watching drum lessons on YouTube because I'm considering getting a set. A guy demonstrated a "buzz roll" that you mentioned before-- it doesn't look like any of the techniques used in RB and seems to be NAMED buzz roll because of the speed and the way it sounds on the snare drum. Correct me if I'm wrong

[rhythmjunkie]

Double-Stroke rolls are what I find to be using in RB- and no I don't play percussion. Anyways, why does it matter? I've been watching drum lessons on YouTube because I'm considering getting a set. A guy demonstrated a "buzz roll" that you mentioned before-- it doesn't look like any of the techniques used in RB and seems to be NAMED buzz roll because of the speed and the way it sounds on the snare drum. Correct me if I'm wrong

[GurnKiller]

[GurnKiller]

[0v3rki11]

I've found it extremely annoying that I can't successfully play double tapped rolls during songs like that, mainly due to a. the amount of bounce that the pads provide, b. the sensors in the pad which seem to be faulty for double tapping anyway, and c. the fact that most of the rolls or fast parts in the game could actually be hit with a simple double tap which I prefer to do over single stroking 16th notes or something...

So yeah, although I understand your logic based on a drummer's perspective, in RB, it doesn't really apply because it was made for the masses...

Also, I'm not a drum expert or anything, I just know how to play them...

The simple solution would've been to add a red strip where you had to play a roll lol...

[0v3rki11]

I've found it extremely annoying that I can't successfully play double tapped rolls during songs like that, mainly due to a. the amount of bounce that the pads provide, b. the sensors in the pad which seem to be faulty for double tapping anyway, and c. the fact that most of the rolls or fast parts in the game could actually be hit with a simple double tap which I prefer to do over single stroking 16th notes or something...

So yeah, although I understand your logic based on a drummer's perspective, in RB, it doesn't really apply because it was made for the masses...

Also, I'm not a drum expert or anything, I just know how to play them...

The simple solution would've been to add a red strip where you had to play a roll lol...