Question for buzz roll masters

JohnW said:
It's different in Pipe Band. The whip cream roll doesn't sound good on Pipe Band drums, because the top head has a very specific sweet spot to play on. The Kevlar heads we use are ridiculously tight -more than some other genres- since they have to match the pitch of the bagpipes, which seem to go up every year. Plus, there's a strainer lightly pressed against the top head, as well the Mylar head on the bottom. Open rolls sound very staccato on these drums, so in order to get the sustained effect of a roll they have to be buzzed. The sticks are relatively big, light and have a large bead to draw off even more high pitch tone off the top.

All this makes the drum ideally suited for buzz rolls. The way they're used to compliment the bagpipes has led to some highly developed phrases, with a wide range of dynamics, light & shading and expression. But it's a focused sound with little tonal variety.

I posted a video of a World Champion soloist earlier in this thread.
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I’m still curious to see video from the calf head days of pipe band drumming
 
Push pull stroke said:
I’m still curious to see video from the calf head days of pipe band drumming
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You get a closeup here of a snare playing (and tenor flourishing) around 2:00 from this 1948 film. Around 1:10 there's a closeup of the bass drums. I knew someone who played during the calfskin days and he told me they rubbed Vaseline on the heads to protect them from the rain. The drums and playing have changed quite a bit since then!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nINX4sUtgc

This clip from 1963 doesn't show any closeups, but you get to hear a stylistic change and something closer to modern competitive Pipe Band drumming from around 2:27. Still calfskin. From 3:30 to 3:35 you can see legendary player Alex Duthart at the top of the screen. He revolutionized the playing style and his drum scores are still used in competition today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgyXWu2f7pc
 
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Thanks, JohnW, that was nice.

I still have this theory that buzz rolls are much better among Scottish players than anywhere else in Europe. LOL
 
evilash1996 said:
Can you explain the purpose of this exercise? I am confused on how this will help make your buzz rolls cleaner.
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It forces you to put a quiet, accurate buzz between taps. So you're going from a relaxed tap to a moderately to highly pressured buzz and immediately back to a relaxed tap. Basically you're playing alternating doubles as 16th notes, then three on a hand as 16th note triplets, then four on a hand 32nd notes. Only you drop a buzz immediately after the 1st tap. It takes a lot of control, so you need to start it very slowly.

How will it make your buzz rolls cleaner? The way any short roll exercise will make your rolls cleaner; whether they're open or closed.

NOTE: The way it's written is Right Hand: above the line, Left Hand: below the line. The greater than sign accent means a clean strike, not necessarily a loud accent.
 
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JohnW said:
It forces you to put a quiet, accurate buzz between taps. So you're going from a relaxed tap to a moderately to highly pressured buzz and immediately back to a relaxed tap. Basically you're playing alternating doubles as 16th notes, then three on a hand as 16th note triplets, then four on a hand 32nd notes. Only you drop a buzz immediately after the 1st tap. It takes a lot of control, so you need to start it very slowly.

How will it make your buzz rolls cleaner? The way any short roll exercise will make your rolls cleaner; whether they're open or closed.

NOTE: The way it's written is Right Hand: above the line, Left Hand: below the line. The greater than sign accent means a clean strike, not necessarily a loud accent.
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Thank you a lot John, I am going to give this exercise a try.
 
evilash1996 said:
Thank you a lot John, I am going to give this exercise a try.
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My pleasure evilash 1996! This is a challenging bit and if you're playing on a drum set snare, there'll be some adjustment. So here's something that might give a better idea of the buzz and taps normally used in Pipe Bands broken down by a top player and judge, Gordon Bell. It's the Massed Bands 4/4 and there are slight variations of this, but it's something that you could jump in and play along with any Highland Games around the World:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5a1cfCbOc0

Like anything else, there's a language it's part of and to isolate a tiny phrase out of context can be misleading.
And here's the written music:

http://euspba.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/EUSPBA_drums_24-44.pdf
 
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I was going to start a new thread, but might as well ask here. I'm just starting to work on my buzz rolls, but so far it seems like I do best when I get to pick the tempo that makes it sound most even. Most videos I've watched talk about it this way too. My question then, is how do you do a buzz roll when you also need to keep time, like you want to buzz half a measure for example? Do you adapt your buzz to the best subdivision (probably 16ths), or do you go at the tempo you like and keep time by instinct or something?
 
Mastiff said:
My question then, is how do you do a buzz roll when you also need to keep time, like you want to buzz half a measure for example? Do you adapt your buzz to the best subdivision (probably 16ths), or do you go at the tempo you like and keep time by instinct or something?
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Probably most people play the easiest subdivision for the time feel, and the quality of the roll just suffers a little bit-- the speed may not be right for getting the best sounding long tone with the roll, but it usually doesn't matter.

This is what the whole last part of the book Stick Control is for, by the way-- the roll studies with 5s and 7s-- for getting a good quality buzz roll at different tempos.
 
I am also starting to work on buzz rolls. Mark Wessels has a nice Vic Firth video on how to begin;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfASLVhB8hk

(though, I still can't believe how German his hands are... I need a thumb on top to do buzz')

That Ted Akatz video is awesome. Buzz rolls are clearly an art in themselves.

Steep learning curve here!

For some reason, I tend to play my hand movements in a triplet note rate...
 
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