Quite frequently, I’ve come across an interesting assumption that early drummers were not expected to be particularly skilled. Specifically, they suggest that drummers didn’t start rolling until fairly recently.
In many cases, people assume the tension of the calfskin head and the heaviness of the sticks make performing rolls impossible. Or at least incapable of performing them well.
Some of them have therefore speculated that rolls may instead have been performed as fast single strokes.
Modern Scholarship on Drum Rolls
For example, Susan Sandman, in “Indications of Snare-Drum Technique in Philidor Collection MS 1163,” explores the dynamism of snare drum technique in the Philidor MS. Sandman does provide interesting commentary on the dynamism of Philidor’s drum beatings.
However, she assumes there is only one example of a sustained long roll because she fails to take into account the need to translate the drum beatings into the correct time signatures; therefore, she assumes limited complexity in Philidor’s use of rolls, which is not true. (See my discussion of my translation and interpretation of Philidor’s Drum Beatings.)
Likewise, Raoul Camus in Military Music of the American Revolution assumes a lack of ability among even late-18th century drummers. His main argument rests on the simple and rudimentary duty calls musicians performed. He states:
“Available records indicate that prior to the eighteenth century, nothing musically involved was expected from the technique of the drummers”
Camus (8)
and that the
“general level of ability of the drummers of the period was not of a high standard, and there were few rudiments required of the average company musician.”
Camus (84)
Camus’ conclusions rest predominately on the simple nature of the duty calls. I argue they are purposefully simple to make them easy for the drummer to memorize and perform and to make it easy for the general soldier to identify.
Complexity of Drum Rolls in Historic Music
But just because the duty calls are simple, does not mean that ceremonial marches, troops, and quicksteps are equally plain. In fact, we know that they could be quite complex or interesting.
For example, the structure of short troops evident in Ashworth’s ‘The Duke of York’s Short Troop’, supported by Potter’s reference to Dragadiddle No. 1 being used in Short Troops, show very fast, musical, and ornate 3/8 beatings.
Also, there is an abundant use of Double Drag beatings in Benjamin Clark’s MS (c. 1790), as well as in Issac Day’s MS (1790), the Gardner MS (c. 1777).
“Over the Hills and in the Valleys”, found in Benjamin Clark’s drum manuscript (c. 1797).
There are references to Double Drag beatings in fife manuals from 1750-1860. We also see continued use of double drags throughout the American Civil War.
(Note: Camus also argues that the Double Drag version of Roast Beef found in Ashworth was unlikely the version played by late-18th century American drummers because the Double Drag structure would have been too difficult; instead, he proposes a simple 6/8 beating found in a turn-of-the-century military manual.)
When do drummers start playing longer rolls?
Additionally, Camus suggests numbered rolls only became longer and more complex as the 19th century progresses. Thus, he makes the claim:
“In plotting this progression backward, one might venture that the seven- and nine-stroke rolls of the early nineteenth century may have been five- and seven-stroke rolls during the Revolution.”
Camus (84)
Camus’ assumptions of these military drummers’ lack of skill leads to the impression that drummers start rolling in more complex ways only in the 19th century.
This comment implies 18th century drummers are incapable of sustained rolls or the more complex and longer rolls seen later. Philidor’s 1705 MS clearly disputes this. His beatings include an amazing variety of rolls, as does a number of early British resources, such as the Douce Manuscript, The Young Drummer’s Assistant, and the various drum manuals written by Ben Clark, Issac Day, and Gardner.
Impact of drum construction on drum rolls
Because of the lack of clear evidence of complex rolls, many academics have made assumptions that drummers didn’t start rolling until quite late because of the drum’s materials.
Early rope tension drums were made of wood. Animal hide was stretched and wrapped around a small hoop to form the drum heads. These heads were bound to the drum via counter hoops – wood hoops pressing down on the drum head – and held together by a cord. The drum heads could then be tightened or loosened via knots or leather tabs.
In order to produce a strong sound, the drum sticks were much heavier than today’s sticks. They were also made of denser materials, typically ebony or rosewood.
Because of the poor tension and the weight of the sticks, James Blades suggests that the early drummer would have struggled to perform a sustained double stroke roll. Blades comments:
“Heavy sticks and thick vellums must have created problems for the drummers of this period, particularly if the long roll were used. To perform the legitimate double-beat roll, especially if the heads were at low tension, could not have been easy. It is feasible, therefore, that if a roll of any length was required, single strokes were used, a large drum producing a note of sufficient length to cover possible deficiencies in the roll. As has already been said, the lower tension was unavoidable until the introduction of the counter hoop to safeguard the vellum.”
Blades (211-12)
Blades suggests that drummers start rolling only once counter hoops were invented to distribute pressure against the drum heads better. This is confusing because a principle feature of the snare drum appears to be the existence of counter hoops.
impact of counter hoop on drum rolls
However, evidence indicates that the counter hoop developed throughout the 1500s and was well establishment by the early 1600s. [See my discussion of the evolution of counter hoops in greater detail.] Thus, Blades’ comment seems entirely out of place.
Here is a Dutch etching of a drummer from the late 16th century.
Note the clear use of Flesh Hoops. The rope wraps around the flesh hoop (piercing the hide).
This provides fairly sufficient tension.
“The Drumming” by Jacob de Gheyn II, 1587
Margaret Fortier, formerly of Parks Canada and Fortress Louisburg, agrees with Blades assumptions. She admits that the mid-18th century drummers could probably play double stroke rolls (because of their counter hoops). However, she doubts their ability to play them with extreme proficiency or consistently. She comments that
“the tension of [the heads of the drums at Fortress Louisbourg] and the clarity of the rolls often must have left much to be desired due to the extreme humidity of the climate. On a wet, foggy day, as the skins become limp in the dampness, it is still almost impossible to get the sticks to rebound properly on the heads.”
Fortier (5)
Much like Blades, she doubts skin heads have the tension modern drummers require to perform clean rolls.
possibility of rhythmic rolls
Even John Cooper questions how the heavier sticks influenced these early drummer’s ability to perform a roll. He acknowledges the existence of the “roulement” or long roll in the early French drummer’s repertoire. However he questions whether Mersenne’s roll is performed with “single or bounced strokes,” despite the fact that Mersenne describes double strokes in the same section (161).
He suggests that “the type of stick used may well have influenced the decision more than considerations of sound quality” (161). This implies that heavier sticks would have made a double stroke roll impossible (161). His suggestion also implies that these earlier drummers are less concerned with their quality of sound than modern drummers.
Jeremy Montagu is the closest to appreciate the abilities of these earlier drummers. He notes that it would be impossible
“to produce the modern closed roll with these thick, heavy sticks, especially on the fairly slack heads which are inevitable on large-diameter drums”
Montague, Early Percussion Instruments (198)
and if he means today’s buzz roll, he is probably correct.
But he instead theorizes that they performed “an open roll, probably with a strong rhythmic content” (59). I would argue is precisely the kind of rhythmically detailed rolls we see described by Arbeau, throughout Philidor, and taught in the English and American styles.
What modern arguments misunderstand:
1. How much tension skin heads can attain
In the first case, quality goat or calf skin heads will already have a reasonably high level of tension. When the drum is properly maintained and tensioned, a skin head can have incredibly high levels of tension.
When the air is cool and dry, the heads will naturally become more tense without additional effort. Fortier is correct that damp and warm conditions will slacken the heads. This can be somewhat counteracted by properly tensioning the cords before tensioning the drum.
Regardless of the weather, rope tension drums with skin heads will never have the same tension as a modern drum; thus, in order to perform a clean double stroke roll, one must approach the rudiment differently. Blades, Fortier, and Cooper all suggest the slackness in the heads prevents any rebound to bounce the sticks.
2. Period methods of approaching the long roll
In the modern approach, drummers start rolling by using the natural rebound of a drumstick to create the two strokes. This occurs because the light-weight sticks, when they strike the high-tension drumhead, will rebound several inches. The drummer therefore only has to throw the stick back towards the drumhead. This allows the drummer to play very quickly with little real effort.
Older methods of instruction have no need for rebound and do not think about bouncing the stick. In the older style of playing Double Stroke Rolls, the heavier stick on the less tensioned head rebound only slightly.
Therefore, older instructors teach the drummer to start rolling by striking the drum. They then manually lift the stick to its original height and strike the drum again. Some instructors even recommend striking harder on the second stroke. This builds more muscular endurance and a cleaner roll. (See my discussion of ‘Performing the Double Stroke Roll’.)
Therefore, older instructors teach the drummer to start rolling by striking the drum. They then manually lift the stick to its original height and strike the drum again. Some instructors even recommend striking harder on the second stroke. This builds more muscular endurance and a cleaner roll. (See my discussion of ‘Performing the Double Stroke Roll’.)
Trained in this manner, drummers have no real need for any great amount of tension. They can perform a clean, well-formed double stroke roll despite the drum’s materials.
Historic Evidence for Complex Rolls
Numerous 17th century resources confirm that drummers of the era were performing what we call today The Long Roll. The two most significant French resources come from two priests. Jehan Tabourot published Orchésographie in 1588 under the pseudonym Thoinet Arbeau and Marin Mersenne published Harmonie Universelle in 1636.
3 types of rolls in 17th c. drum theory
In both works, the authors discuss how to beat the drum and the basic rhythms associated with both. Arbeau notates three types of notes that can be performed on the drum. He also provides verbalizations or onomatopoeic versions of the rhythms: “tan” for a single, slow note; “tere” for a set of two, slightly quicker notes; and “fre” for a group of four quick notes (22).
Note, the sixteenth notes should be cut to 32nd notes. Notice that “fre” represents a cluster of 4 notes.
Arbeau, p. 11
Mersenne clarifies that Arbeau uses the sound “fre” under the four quick notes
“because the beat which follows the speed of the crotchets cannot be explained with the voice unless it holds firm in pronouncing fre, or re, which make only the consonant R heard.”
Mersenne (555)
If one imagines trying to vocalize a drum beating, you might find yourself trying to imitate a drum roll with a rolled R or a “burr” sound. Perhaps Claude-François Ménestrier says it best when he notes that the rolling variations make a
“Frrr, which I could not express myself better than by these letters which make a sound similar to that of a troop of pigeons when they suddenly fly away.” – “Les longs font les Pan, les bress les pata & les plus bress les Frr, que je ne sçaurois mieux exprimer que par ces lettres qui font un bruit sembable á celui d’une troupe de pigeons quand ils s’envolent tout d’un coup.”
Ménestrier (123)
Based on Mersenne and Ménestrier, it’s clear that Arbeau’s four quick notes represent some kind of roll.
Early Descriptions of Rolls in English Sources
There are two 17th century English resources that also confirm the use of rolls. Holme names the ‘rowle’ and ‘dragge’ as existing drum rudiments (222). We also have a handwritten MS, “The Grounds of Beating the Drum” (c. 1600-1650), found in the Douce MS known as . This MS includes a description of a long roll: “[symbol] is rowling [sic] two stroakes with one hand, and two with the other” and a different symbol “is continuall rowling” (see Byrne’s “The English March and Early Drum Notation” for more on the Douce MS).
Complexity of rolls in historic music theory
The long roll is not simply a roll; rather it’s beating two strokes on each hand, alternating at different speeds depending on the type of roll being played. Arbeau and Mersenne prove that drummers had started rolling with various types of rolls prior to the 1680s.
With a basic understanding of the musical notation of the 16th and 17th century (Mensural Notation), we can easily interpret Arbeau’s notation. When transcribed into modern notation, these four quick notes become 32nd notes in 2/4, 32nd notes in 6/8, and 64th notes in Cut Time (22, 36).
Mersenne confirms this interpretation. He comments that a drummer “can easily beat [the drum] 16, 24, or 32 times in the space of a measure of music” (554-5).
We understand that a measure of music at this time indicates 2 steps, or 2 beats. Thus, he means that a drummer can perform a string of 32nd notes in 2/4, a string of 32nd notes in 6/8, and a string of 64th notes in Cut Time – the same as Arbeau.
This is significant because the Long Roll has three rhythms. One, 32nd notes in 2/4, creating an open, loose, controlled roll. Two, 32nd notes in triplet time, played in 6/8, which creates a tighter, but still opened roll. And three, 64th notes in duple time, which creates a tight, forceful roll, but not quite the buzzing of modern marching band rolls.
When did drummers start rolling?
Arbeau’s and Mersenne’s discussions demonstrate clearly that French drummers start rolling in complex ways in the 17th century. Not only played rolls, but were as conscious of the rhythmic differences of the Long Roll as modern drummers.
This is absolutely represented in Phildior’s MS, which includes every modern version of double stroke rolls and multiple beatings that have rolling seconds parts. See Philidor’s “La Retraitte” to the right.
Not only do Double Stroke Rolls clearly exist in early music, but there is a clear sense of pride and accomplishment. Mersenne tells us that
“some beat the drum so fast that the mind or the imagination cannot comprehend the multitude of blows that fall on the skin like a very violent hailstorm; among them the drummers who beat the [drum] perfectly strike sometimes with so much violence that its noise imitated that of muskets or cannons, and one admires how a simple parchment can endure such great blows without splitting.”
Mersenne (555)
His description certainly refers to a drum roll. He even provides an acknowledgement that those drummers who play “perfectly” can play with the crisp, clean, open sound that modern drummers strive for when developing their long rolls.
Conclusion
These 17th century drummers described by Mersenne are not the poorly developed musicians described by Camus and other academics. Instead, they are skilled performers who could likely rival any modern drummer.
Based on the evidence, we know that drummers start rolling at least in the 1600s.
Most likely, drummers start rolling as early as the 1500s when flesh hoops and counter hoops distinguish the Tabor from the Snare Drum.
To get a better sense of the history of the Double Stroke Roll, or Long Roll, take a look at my research:
If you’d like to learn some of my tips and suggestions for learning and practicing this method, check out my Double Stroke Roll Practice Guide.