At 4:39 PM -0500 11/08/02, Andrew Stiller wrote:
If it's essential to put the traps on a single staff, I can think of all manner of ways the above could be collapsed onto a single set of lines and spaces, frinstance:
hi-hat open
unused
hi-hat closed
crash
ride
snare
tom
floor tom
bdr.
All that said, I freely admit the value of tradition, and that many players would be more comfortable w. the sort of setup you advocate.
Andrew,
Although I have total respect for your knowledge on the subject of instrument notation, there are a few nits I would pick with your method.
It is quite intuitive to put each instrument of the kit on its own line or space, but you have the hi-hat in two different places on the staff, depending on whether it's open or closed, which IMHO is not as easily readable as + and o articulations, which has the further advantage of having been used before in drum-kit writing, so the player won't have to learn a new system just for your piece.
Commonly, circled x-heads are used to denote cymbals that ring (like a crash) though, as we know, the difference between crash and ride is more in the method (shoulder of the stick versus tip) than in the instrument. Most of the drummers that I write for would automatically strike a cymbal rather than a hi-hat if they saw a circled X-head, no matter WHERE on the staff it was written.
I think the most common notation for the "stomp" is an x-head at the bottom of the staff, often the space below the staff, which relates to where the pedal is situated on the kit. Thus the different position on the staff relates more to the performance method than it relates to the instrument.
My method of drum-kit writing (gleaned from the drummers I write for, as my opinion is of no importance, since <I> don't have to read the darn thing!) is as follows:
Space over the staff - all cymbals, notated as x-heads with English to distinguish the different ones. ("ride", "crash", "hi-hat", etc.)*see footnote
Also on the space over the staff - regular noteheads, stems up, layer 3, 75% size, for ensemble "kicks" over slash notation. Once again, always English cues to tell the drummer who is playing the kicks, as he will react quite differently to trumpets than to say, trombones. I always note a dynamic for the hit as well, though I admit this is not standard (but it should be!)
4th space - any and all mounted toms. This relates to their position on the kit. Generally I only write for one mounted tom, and drummers who have more than one choose the right one themselves. If I absolutely HAD to distinguish between more than one mounted tom, I would use the 4th and 5th lines for additional mounted toms.
3rd space - snare. Normal notes heads for regular snare sounds. X-heads for cross-sticks and rim shots. To distinguish between the two, an English cue ("X-stick", "Rim shot", or "R.S.")
2nd space - any floor toms, one again relating to their position on the kit. As for the mounted toms, I usually only write for one, but might use the 2nd and 3rd lines for additional toms.
1st space, stems always down - bass drum (or "kick" for the rock guys!) This, along with the snare on the 3rd space, are the only staff placements that I think are absolutely standard.
Space below the staff, x-heads, stems always down - hi-hat stomp. Usually for the sake of clarity, I leave this out unless I need an unusual rhythm, as the drummer usually knows where to put it, and including it clutters the part.
Anything else (cowbell, splash, tambourine etc.) I find a spare line somewhere around where the thing might be mounted, and give it a name when it first enters, and name it again any time I think the drummer might have forgotten what exactly was written on the 4th line, or wherever I chose to put it.
As a rule, I put instruments played with the feet stems down, and hands stems up, which means I never have to write a "chord" that has more than two notes in in it per stem. (drummers with extra limbs are the exception, of course!) Occasionally though in pop parts I will write the snare stems down with the bass drum, as the relationship between these two instruments is such that writing them in the same "voice" makes them clearer to read.
I also make a big point of letting the drummer know what else is going on at different times in the piece. "Vocal", "brass shout", "sax solo", anything that lets him keep his place and keep it in perspective. He might latch on to a certain passage as a target, and having a clear overview of the whole work is important to him.
*footnote: About cymbals. I see in drum method books beats that change between different cymbals, or between cymbal and hi-hat, which are notated with every cymbal on its own line or space, and sometimes with their own notehead shape. As far as I am concerned, this is indeed very detailed and precise, and I even tried it out for a while on my own parts, but I noticed that the drummers tended to ignore my detail, in favour of something that they thought sounded right in the circumstances. Plus, without the English note "ride" or "hihat", they tended to misread the line or space, and play on the wrong instrument altogether. Now, this may start a big discussion about who makes the decision about which cymbal to play, the composer or the drummer. My own thoughts on this, for my own music, are that I want the drummer to play something that sounds good on my piece, and if his concept of what to play is better than mine (or at least more convincing, because he has been doing it a long time!) then I am willing to let him put his two cents in. For this, I give him less detail, but I give him everything I think he will need to construct a convincing drum performance. Remember that I am writing for jazz/pop/rock/show/studio drummers, and not usually for classical percussionists who sit down at the kit when a part shows up for that concert. Your kilometrage may vary.
Christopher
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