What is This Note?

that is a open double stroke drag played on the "a" of beat 4 (I am assuming). The little slash is an abbreviation for 32nd notes, which is the actual subdivision that is played/heard
 
Weird. Usually the slash means a roll but there isn’t much time to play a roll there. I probably would have notated it as two 32nd notes or as a flam before the next note. It wouldn’t play the same but is probably easier to understand and play.

it is a roll...just a short one...a drag: llR or rrL depending on how you want to stick it...
 
A drag usually would be notated just before the next note, as the flam would. The extremely short roll just looks weird to me. (Unless the tempo is extremely slow)

it is actually a drag to the beat 1 of the next measure...like the little strokes written out as the actual rhythm they make - which are 32nd notes
 
So I'm a total newb here. The slash denotes a short roll which is also known as a "drag"?
 
actual yes...a drag is the shortest roll you can have...a total of 3 strokes: the 2 little ones, and the release --> ll R or rr L

the slash is the common notation of taking the slashed note to the next smallest subdivision, which in this case would be a 32nd note, since the slash is on the 16th note

a roll is a combination of a bunch of the drag strokes in longer form. so a 9 stroke roll would be rr-ll-rr-ll-R...
 
Realistically, are they indicating two 32nds, four 64ths, or what(?) between the start of that roll and the first note in the next measure? What is the “most proper” number of notes from the point of view of those writing these things, in your opinion.

The notation is meant to indicate two 32nds, played as a double. This is just the modern way of writing a drag in rudimental style, nothing more.
 
OK. So, the rudimentary notation point/reason is to say “play as a double stroke”, meaning the same hand and not alternating hands?

yes...exactly.

In some of the prior discussion, there is an indication of accenting the last note of the roll. Is this implied in this rudiment notation?
[/QUOTE]

yes as well...this would be the "release" of the roll. I think you are talking about the 9 stroke roll I listed: rr-ll-rr-ll R...in rudimental notation, that would be written as 4 16th notes with slashes on them, and then a quarter note with an accent on it...so the drag is 1 16th note with a slash, and the release note with an accent
 
Realistically, are they indicating two 32nds, four 64ths, or what(?) between the start of that roll and the first note in the next measure? What is the “most proper” number of notes from the point of view of those writing these things, in your opinion.
32nd notes, essentially. This was pretty common notation in drum corps. An open roll is, generally, doubled sixteenth notes, so basically 32nds. It was not at all unusual to place those doubles on any one (or more) of the sixteenth notes in grouping.
So, in any one count, you might have:
Open roll rrllrrll
Doubled first sixteenth rr L R L
Or doubled 2nd 16th R ll R L
Or any other sixteenth in the grouping might be doubled like that.

It's very easy in practice. Play a R L R L pattern in even sixteenths, and just double whatever stroke has that marking.

I'm not sure my explanation is clear, but it really is a simple and common notation. Don't overthink it.
 
this might help as well....(first time trying to upload this way so lets see)

drag - Score.jpg
 
yes as well...this would be the "release" of the roll. I think you are talking about the 9 stroke roll I listed: rr-ll-rr-ll R...in rudimental notation, that would be written as 4 16th notes with slashes on them, and then a quarter note with an accent on it...so the drag is 1 16th note with a slash, and the release note with an accent
OK. Thanks. I’m learning. ?
[/QUOTE]

cool...that is what this site is all about...mostly!
 
The slash indicates that note is doubled. That's all, it's not a roll or rudiment. The less simple part is interpretation, if it's in an actual score. That could change how it's played. I see this a lot in classical music. Three slashes denote a roll. It's fairly common to see this in classical, Wind Symphony and Show tunes. It's common to see a half note or quarter note that has one or two slashes. Sometimes I think the composer, or engraver, just needs to save space on the page. It's really a bummer to have a page turn and only have a couple of bars on the following page. That was a good question. I hope my answer is clear.
 
In some of the prior discussion, there is an indication of accenting the last note of the roll. Is this implied in this rudiment notation?
yes as well...this would be the "release" of the roll. I think you are talking about the 9 stroke roll I listed: rr-ll-rr-ll R...in rudimental notation, that would be written as 4 16th notes with slashes on them, and then a quarter note with an accent on it...so the drag is 1 16th note with a slash, and the release note with an accent
FWIW, in my community, both in corps and with concert snare drum, there is no accent implied on the release of a roll or drag, or on the main note of a ruff, unless it's actually written. Accenting the end was something people were specifically told not to do.
 
FWIW, in my community, both in corps and with concert snare drum, there is no accent implied on the release of a roll or drag, or on the main note of a ruff, unless it's actually written. Accenting the end was something people were specifically told not to do.

same as me, but then it sort of evolves into an agogic accent after a while...but yes, true interpretation with no accent should be at the same volume level as the doubles
 
So the second version resembles the one I posted, accept the ending quarter note in yours (the 3rd R) is the first 8th note of the next measure in mine?

exactly
 
Thanks. After all the discussion of drags finishes up, maybe you could discuss flams. That is, is there an equivalent non-grace note version to flams as in the case of drags (that a number of people actually use)?

Interesting question. The non-grace note version of flams would essentially be a double stroke roll. If you think about the sticking of alternating flams: lR rL lR rL (lower case indicates grace notes), we can see the collapsed double strokes in there.

Flams don't suffer from the same ambiguity of drags though, really. They can be interpreted very closed or very open (pipe drumming plays them as buzz strokes, for example), but there isn't really an equivalent of that discussed in the drags paper.

If you're interested, have a look at some work on collapsed rolls. The Double strokes collapsing to flams is a good example of that.
 
Back
Top