Drum flourish endings....

B

Bozozoid

Platinum Member
Do you count yours or is it flail away until you raise your arms and it's over. In my old age I'm thinking about counting to sound tighter and not so Spinal tappy. Over the years I've come to notice a count and not just...hey..are you done?.
 
"you don't have to count it" but it is an, in-context metered (like 64th 32nd etc etc (even a freakin six polyrhythm) note/value
It has a relationship in other words (to the (prior) meter (of the song)...

Used to have an old time guitar player- Ronnie- ww2 era- and he'd end a song with a rapid up/down strum that befuddled me / amazed me/ at first; then I realized- he was using 32nd (or was it 64th) notes. (and then I'd join in and use it on the floor tom..

That has stayed with me. "how Ronnie ended a song"

deladeladeladela Dum

He was either consciously very skilled or it was nervous energy perfectly placed..
think it was the latter..
 
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IMO - no, no counting. All based on the very idea of the "fermata". The musical idea of the "held note" - held with a suspension of time. Stopping the count through the "free from time" space is the point. Counting muddies that effect - and if actually noticeable literally ruins the effect - changing it something different... a long "in time" chord.

And even if we are talking solo flourishes in an undetermined empty space before the last "on cue" chord - then again, no. As the those solos are bass on the tradition of the "cadenza" - again a free open - out of time - space for the soloist to express themselves before "on cue" playing a chord or resuming the time feel.

Classical music, jazz and even rock and pop (before we became addicted to plotting things out with a click) are historical fill with examples of both of these - from not just drummers, but vocalists and other instruments as well.

My vote - don't force fermatas to be in time.

And IMO if the cadenza is well executed, there should rarely be a question of "Are you done?" :)
 
I generally don't like big "stadium" endings, because I can't play blinding single stroke rolls, so I do what I can, what I think would be a appropriate, based upon my limitations, like a simple flourish around the snare and toms. What I prefer is an extended cymbal roll, with four hits on the snare, and a final hit, punctuated by a two eighth notes and a quarter note on the bass drum to put a tag on the song. I read that Dave Tough used to do that when he played with the big bands. It was his signature. If it was good enough for Dave, it's definitely good enough for me.
 
Just hold it until you or somebody else is ready to cue the last note. It doesn't have to be perfectly tight. And you don't have to play fast.

Treat it like it's music though, don't just make noise.

The only time I would do it in time is if I decided to force an outro-- in situations where we have some freedom to play.
 
it doesn't need to be "fast single strokes".. it's what half the effort, double strokes are for.
 
I always like those faster songs (140+bpm)….but then it actually ends slowing down like a time warp. Dave Holland was not my favorite JP drummer of all time….but I loved how he ended songs like Heading out to the Highway. Really would slow down some tom sequences, alternating snare flams with kick drum….cymbal rolls…and maybe a floor tom flam to end it all.
 
It was hard for me to do a true fermata feel when I had a click going.
Took a few practise runs.
I think less is more on these deals. A musical statement is kind of good.
I have done......"galloping-hat pumping bonham trips over toms....many times"....not always good.
 
I abhor loud rock "flourished" endings. They're just filler that don't add anything to a tune. Kinda like adding water to your vodka or seeds & stems to your lid. As a teenager, I remember watching bands blast the audience with 120dB noise and it always made me wonder, "Why? The tune is over. Please stop." A total waste, IMO.

What I really, really like are the endings that have an in-tempo flourish for a couple bars, finishing with a tight punch.

That said, I attended a classical concert with a large orchestra and they ended the concert with a very long fermata, going from nearly silent to full volume (as the conductor instructed/led them). It was cool and held my interest.
 
It's annoying when you do all those rolls, slow it down a bit and then make it clear to everyone that the final hit is coming....

...and then no-one bothers to play it, so it's just stupid me hitting a cymbal in isolation.
 
jda said:
it doesn't need to be "fast single strokes".. it's what half the effort, double strokes are for.
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Uh, I know that already, OK?
 
right. no need for a "can't do" it -when a substitute exists
 
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In the all original bands I am in I am trying to learn and develop drum endings to the songs that are not all the same. Not like huge epic endings all the time, but little historical flourishes that say, “we’re done now.” It’s fun and keeps the songs from just petering out on guitar all the time
 
Rock Salad said:
In the all original bands I am in I am trying to learn and develop drum endings to the songs that are not all the same. Not like huge epic endings all the time, but little historical flourishes that say, “we’re done now.” It’s fun and keeps the songs from just petering out on guitar all the time
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Love that..beautiful. Myself also. One of my fave mini flourish endings is Ginger Baker's on Creams Crossroads.
 
A good lesson here on how to end a song using a patten you may already be familiar with...

 
"O you meant "those" drum endings..

I thought you meant when the whole band "scratches as fast as it can" all together to an ending..

y'all mean a drum alone solo ending cadenza
o those can go on for a week..
 
To me a trash can ending is playing every thing you got, throwing it all in a trash can with a single shot ending. More of a feeling than linear counting. Just my personal thoughts on the matter.
 
I tend to start with fast crashes then toms, then slow down as I get to the lower drums. The final hit might be crash, might be a frag on the floortom.

If there are a few in a set I make the early ones shorter, save the longest until the end.

*A fun game - someone holds up 2 or 5 or 3 fingers - and we all do that many final hits together. Last week’s crowd was cheering, so he yelled out “13” and we counted 13 final hits. Actually a lot of fun.
 
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