There doesn't seem to be much of a standard, except for the first-space bass 
drum and 3rd space snare that Chuck mentioned, but I have mostly adhered to 
Modern Drummer magazine's conventions, since that is a widely-read publication 
written for and by drummers. I didn't have much success with putting the 
different cymbals on different lines as they do, however, and most just write 
them ALL on the space above the staff, with a text key to tell them which one 
to play.

I tend to like hands stems-up, feet stems-down (and unlike Darcy, I have seen 
it a lot) but for a lot of rock and pop music, the relationship between the 
bass drum and the snare seems to be largely contrapuntal and is notated better 
with the snare stems down with the bass drum. Rock and pop drummers are used to 
thinking "right foot versus left hand" so putting those two in the same Finale 
layer makes that more obvious. Linear-type beats would probably be clearer with 
hands-up, feet down.

I learned most of this by asking drummers, so my notation probably reflects 
their biases. Try asking the drummer who is going to read it what he likes.

Christopher

----- Original Message -----
From: Nigel Hanley <[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 12:07 pm
Subject: [Finale] Drum Parts
To: [email protected]

> Is there a consensus as to whether drum parts should be written 
> with the snare in the same voice/layer as the kick drum, as 
> opposed to being part of the hi-hat/cymbal layer?
> 
> 
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