I'd like to add my two bits to the conversation about layers and stems up or down in drumset parts. I think the discussion might be better served by not being concerned about layers, but by thinking about what is easiest to read. When notating drum parts (and I notate as a performer who will need to read what I write, and for my students), I first make the decision about whether the drums constitute different instruments, or are part of a complex instrument in which the drums are just individual sounds, like keys on a piano. The reason for this is that I get to choose how many rests I'm going to write. For example, consider playing snare drum on beat 4 and bass drum on the and of 4. If I consider the drums to be a single instrument, I can beam snare drum notes to bass drum notes, and save myself writing an eighth note rest for the bass drum on beat 4; this is visually more clear than writing individual notes and the necessary rests. As duration for a snare drum note is essentially meaningless, it doesn't matter if I notate the snare drum with a quarter note (which admittedly is the norm) or an eighth note. The same is true for bass drum notes. If I want to consider the drums as each being individual instruments, then technically I should make all the necessary rests visible in each and every bar. Generally, this is a hassle, and it adds un-necessary visual information to the part. So, the discussion of layers is perhaps less useful than a discussion of instruments, and this in part takes care of the worry about stem directions. Most of the music I have seen in my life has bass drum stem downs, and snare drums stems varying considering the context of the piece. If the music in question is a jazz chart and the cymbal part isn't being written out, then the snare drum stems generally point up. I could certainly point list members to a large collection of drumset pedagogical sources and transcriptions that present the snare drum stems in either or both directions One last comment; drummers don't usually think in 'layers'; this a term and thought process used in Finale to facilitate handling complex musical notation. Well-chosen layers may coincide with "hands" or "feet", but they don't *necessarily* have any relevance to how the drummer thinks. I usually use a cymbals layer and a pedals (bass drum and hi hat) layer, and the snare drum moves back and forth as necessary/convenient/desirable to maximise clarity. -- Geoff
> >------------------------------ > >Message: 6 >Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:06:38 +1000 >From: Nigel Hanley <i...@nigelhanley.com> >Subject: [Finale] Drum Parts >To: <finale@shsu.edu> >Message-ID: <67dd0708-b671-46ad-9b39-158370943...@nigelhanley.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > >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? > > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
