Drum roll

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This article is about the drum roll, a percussion technique. The autobiography of James Blades is also titled Drum Roll

A drum roll is a method a percussionist employs to produce a sustained sound on a drum. Rolls are used on other percussion instruments as well, such as the marimba and xylophone, to sustain the sound, where it can be likened to tremolo on string instruments.

Contents 1 The snare drum roll 2 The timpani roll 3 The keyboard roll 4 Notation 5 See also

[edit] The snare drum roll

The most common snare drum roll is the closed (or "buzz") roll. The open roll (or "double-stroke roll") is played with double strokes alternating between the left and right hands; the closed roll or multiple-bounce roll is produced by applying slightly more pressure to the fulcrum upon impact which allows for the stick to bounce many times on the drum head. One stick hits the head slightly before the other bouncing stick is pulled up from the head. This produces a near continual sound when the technique is mastered.

Other than the open, double-stroke roll there are many other rolls and rudiments that sound like rolls when they are played fast enough (like the freehand technique or single paradiddle). In the table below, lower-case letters represent grace notes (drags, flams etc) and hyphens represent rests.

Rudiment	Sticking pattern
Single-stroke roll	RLRLRLRLRL
Double-stroke roll	RRLLRRLL
Triple-stroke roll (or French Roll)	RRRLLLRRRLLL
Single paradiddle	RLRR LRLL
Double paradiddle	RLRLRR LRLRLL
Five-stroke roll	RRLLR-LLRRL
Seven-stroke roll	RRLLRRL- LLRRLLR-

Also, the six-stroke roll, perhaps a misleading name, is often used in snare solo and marching percussion situations. It has four variations; each is a quarter note in length and consists of two double strokes (RRLL) and two singles (R L). Doubles:

Six-stroke rolls
R L RRLL	L R LLRR
R LLRR L	L RRLL R
RRLL R L	LLRR L R
RR L R LL	LL R L RR

[edit] The timpani roll

Rolls on timpani are almost exclusively single-stroked. Due to the instruments' resonance, a fairly open roll is usually used, although the exact rate at which a roll is played depends greatly on the acoustic conditions, the size of the drum, the pitch to which is it tuned and the sticks being used. Harder mallets require a faster roll to sustain the sounder, as do higher pitches. In the end, it often comes down to the discretion of the timpanist.

[edit] The keyboard roll

These are similar to the timpani rolls in that they are done nearly the same way and are both single-stroked. Yarn mallets usually can be rolled much more easily on a marimba than plastic ones can be on a xylophone, because the extra reverberation of a marimba will mask the silent gaps between strokes. For this reason, the rolls can be much slower and still effective. But for xylophone and orchestra bells a much swifter roll is required, especially for rubber or plastic mallets. A brass mallet used with orchestra bells will add extra vibration to aid in the smoothing of the sound.

To get these faster rolls, percussionists (keyboard, snare and timpani) all often use the muscles of their fingers instead of those of the wrists. The fingers have a shorter rotation length and can move faster with less effort than the wrist. Finger muscles are usually not as well developed, so percussionists, especially of the middle or high school age, will be seen twirling or rolling their sticks and mallets through their fingers rapidly. This differs in some way from the twirling majorettes perform.

[edit] Notation

In most recent music, all three types of rolls are notated as tremolos, with slashes through the note stem. However, in some older pieces, as well as some recent timpani music, timpani and keyboard rolls are notated as trills.

[edit] See also

• Snare Rush