“When composing a single line, how do I help create phrasing on an instrument that makes one sound?”
I received this question during a recent Zoom lecture to composition students at the University of Auckland. It’s a great question and one with limitless, and often dissertation worthy answers. However, I’m going to do my best to sum it up with one word…Flams!
It is true that a single rhythmic line written for a monophonic, mono-acoustic, staccato producing instrument is not likely to win any awards for melody of the year, but with a little help, that same line can help create a phrase that is memorable and capable of assisting the musical lines around it. With all respect and recognition to the individual performer’s ability to interpret a line, Flams and Flam rudiments can equip the composer with the tools to suggest: phrasing, mood, style, feel, volume, and texture.
That is not to say there are not many other ways, but remember this is an attempt to answer this composer’s question with one word…Flams.
Let’s begin by taking a look at a single rhythmic phrase, lacking in any accents, slur marks, dynamics, etc.
This is a fairly simple phrase comprised of quarters, eights, and sixteenths. Something you might see in a Beginning Snare Drum Studies Book. Let’s take a listen.
Clearly, this carries the emotional substance of an economic theory lecture from Ben Stein, not lacking in substance, but not exactly toe-tapping. Without spending hours deciding on how and when we should add some life to this phrase, let’s start with one simple direction: add a flam to the beginning of every extended passage of 16th notes.
We’re on our way! Already, we’ve taken this stale rhythm and at least given it some character. This placement of the Flams creates a feeling of heaviness, even a sense of urgency. It has a somewhat declamatory effect. We’ve quickly shifted from a boring economics lecture to an over-eager P.E. teacher barking orders during a timeout for the last play of a tie game.
This sudden musical change occurred with only a quick and subtle instruction; add a flam to the beginning of every extended passage of 16th notes. If such a subtle change can make such a big difference, what would happen if we attempted other simple directions.
What if we said, add a flam to the END of every extended passage of 16th notes?
This quick shift of Flams has suddenly turned our phrase into a more hopeful statement. It’s almost as if the Flam has an upward inflection similar to a hopeful friend’s question of “do you want to go the Beach?”… “do you want to get an ice cream?”. It has a more excited quality, one that is in search of a positive response.
These two simple examples are just the beginning of what is an endless treasure chest of possibilities using flams. That treasure chest comes packaged nicely in the collection of Flam Rudiments in the Percussive Arts Society 40 International Rudiments. There are 11 such rudiments and each one has its own unique properties and can change the phrasing of a passage instantly.
The one thing I’d like to stress to composers comes from the great artist, Leonardo Da Vinci who said “Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication”. If Leo were writing snare drum lines, I think he might urge you to consider choosing only one or two of the rudiments to embellish your phrase. In a world where Dumline seems to take the spotlight, there’s often a macho/competitive instinct to cram as many rudiments into a phrase as possible. As musicians, and composers we should consider that creating a phrase is not competitive, nor should it take the look of a Brian Ferneyough Score in an effort to show how complicated we can make things.
Brian Ferneyhough - excerpt from Unity Capsule
Let’s start with a simple approach by taking only one additional Flam rudiment (the Flam itself is Rudiment #20) and finding ways to inject it into our phrase. One of my favourites is #22 the Flam Tap.
#22 Flam Taps
This rudiment falls nicely in the hands by overlapping triple strokes (RRRLLL). We can place it into our phrase in a few spots of our phrase and see how it affects the overall phrase. We’ll continue to use simple flams throughout the phrase to assist as well.
Listening to this phrase doesn’t exactly inspire me on its own, but the important thing to hear is how the Flam Taps affect the rhythm and phrasing. There’s a lot of information in those quick little passages. You might ask yourself, “how can I use this to assist the slurred 16th notes in the French Horn line?”
As we stated at the beginning, there is a Doctorate to be earned in the explanation of how to create phrasing in a single rhythmic line, however, that shouldn’t stop us from finding our own ways to create in the here and now. Explore the Flam rudiments in some of your writing and see what ways they change your music.
I’ll leave you with one final example. I attempted to find a way to incorporate a rudiment into every note in our phrase. You can be the judge wether this would offend Da Vinci.
