Tormod Kayser - Downfall of Paris
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- This version of Downfall of Paris was from The Moeller Book. However, interpretation of the 7- and 15-stroke rolls was inspired by Norwegian folk drumming, and the two accents of the Single Paradiddle was according to Ashworth's (1812) System of Drum Beating.
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Lenny Hart died of natural causes on February 2, 1975. He had been teaching music in Mill Valley since his release from prison. According to Dennis McNally "Mickey went to the funeral home, cleared the room, took out the snakewood sticks that had been his inheritance, played a traditional rudimental drum piece, "The Downfall of Paris" on Lenny's coffin, and split."
@ajcf1995
Thanks again! I took lessons from a symphonic percussionist when I was ten and onwards. Later i studied Carmine Appice's Realistick Rock (best rock drumming book ever!), and in the 1980's I studied jazz drumming with Stanley Spector who had a drum school in New York. Only the past few years have I tried to learn these old drum solos, such as The Downfall of Paris, and the Moeller technique.
That roll quality is great.. Learning this solo now, and it's so much fun.
My band director is making us do solos for our final grade in the class (to which all the percussionists replied: "what grade?") LOL. Being captain, I figured I'd choose one of the more challenging ones out of his selections, which was this one. To be perfectly honest with you, after listening to this, I'm a little intimidated, but also more excited to get down to learning this :D
Thank you for the performance c:
i have to play downfall of Paris for my solo and ensemble. You played it great good job!!
Fantastic...it swings too....
I like the tempo and the seventh roles and great hand technique u did great
Thanks! The 15 stroke drum roll at 1:10 is followed by two Lesson 25's, a Flam, and a Flamacue. The Flamacue consist of a right hand Flam, an accented left hand stroke, a light right hand stroke, a light left hand stroke, and a right hand Flam. It is the combination of Lesson 25's and Flamacue's that make up the characteristic beat of Downfall of Paris. You can find music notation for the rudiments at the Rudimentaldrumming website.
Great sound, great performance. Really enjoyed it.
That is just excellent !! What great control and musicality. JM
james matthews Hi, Thanks for your kind comment!
Thanks for posting the rudimental drum solos! I was quite surprised to see and hear these American beatings played by a Norwegian drummer. This is quite a treat and a gold mine for young and seasoned drummers in our drumming community in Norway!
Thanks! Glad you liked the performance of Downfall pf Paris. Good luck with your drumming!
@2LOUD2LOUD
Thanks for information, and good luck with the show! Krupa is certainly one of my absolute favourites, and I have spent some time studying his drum methods, which I find to be among the best. Not an easy drummer to copy, Krupa, I think, but the drummer in the video clip you referred to does i very well!
love your playing =D Don't hear much of this where I live. All the military style percussionists are elsewhere. SoCal is just DCI/WGI type of stuff. LIVE THE BEAT!
Veeeeeery nice work. WoooHoooooo!!! Love it!!!!
Hi, Thanks! My best wishes for your success with The Downfall of Paris!
I really loved your interpretation, but was all confused after reviewing my notation, and this was why. I'm glad to hear the deviation, sometimes it's tough to get off the page! Thanks!
Hi, Thanks for your comment! When teaching myself to play these rolls, I was playing all the strokes very slowly with a metronome counting the fifteen strokes (one stroke equaling one beat on the metronome). When I was able to play all strokes evenly at a slow tempo, I gradually increased the metronome speed. You could also think of the 15-stroke roll as one accented sixteenth note (single stroke) followed by fourteen thirty-second notes. (The usual notation consisting of one eighth note followed by a dotted quarter note roll is misleading in terms of how the 15-stroke roll should be interpreted.)
Yes, exactly! There are different ways to phrase the seven stroke roll. One could even substitute the seven stroke roll with a five stroke roll (starting on the "and" count), a flammed five stroke roll (as played by the Swiss Basel drummers) or a flammed seven stroke roll (the latter sometimes used in Norwegian marches).
Thanks for for your response. I'll be checking in on You Tube to watch and listen to your snare drum videos. They will surely be a treasure trove for the rudimental drumming aficionado.
I really enjoyed that - great, thanks!
Drum sounds really good and nice moeller skill.
@circulardrummer
Thanks! Yes, well, the old Norwegian drumming (going back as far as the sixteenth century) seem to have much in common with the "ancient style" American drumming and I find it interesting to learn both styles and compare them.
Our school plays a cadence called "The Rebuilding of Paris", I wonder if it's a 'sequel' to this cadence 😂 other than that, this is a great video!! I'm more new school, but it's nice to see some of the more ancient rudiments and old school cadences 😏
The drum is a Pearl 14" FFXC Carbonply high tension snare drum. Great drum. Very loud! The drum was fitted with the original Pearl drumheads when I made this video clip.
Hi, thanks for your kind comment and interest in this performance. At the moment I am only teaching drum set in the west coast of Norway, but I plan to make some snare drum videos for RUclips that will explain the techniques and methods of learning that I use.
@KonguAwesome
No, it shouldn't be too hard. However you need to be familiar with the Seven Stroke Roll, the Flam and the Paradiddle. When learning such a musical piece as The Downfall of Paris, I start out slowly, learing it bit by bit, at very slow tempos to begin with, focusing on accuracy. I use the Moeller tecnique as decribed by Jim Chapin, using weighth of my arms to create the accents, and wrist strokes for the soft strokes. The sticking pattern on the video is from The Moeller Book.
Hi, thanks. Yes, the drumhead makes a difference, as does the tuning of the drum. The Mylar head sounds more open and "ringy" than an Aramid-fiber/Kevlar head and the Mylar snare side drumhead contributes to a very crisp sound from the snares. I guess you could get much the same sound from a 15 inch drum.
Yes, this is one great drum! Good sound and very loud! It's a Pearl "carbonply" drum, which means a mahogany wood shell that is covered by thin layer of cabonfiber innside and outside. Pearl calls it the FFXC Championship CarbonPly Snare Drum. Check out Pearl's website for more information.
Thanks for your kind comment! You see, coming from the Norwegian tambour tradition, I thought I could take some liberty concerning the interpretation of the piece. Often, the musical notation is an approximation as to how the piece is supposed to sound. Many drummers play traditional drumbeats exactly as written. However, from my experience with the Norwegian tradition, I know that many pieces were never played exactly as notated in music notation.
I love the sound of Mylar if it's tuned right! :) i'm still in middle school, but once I become a director, i think i'm gonna put Mylar heads on the marching snares. It's a really warm, crsipy, warm sound.
Hi, Thanks for your kind comment. Glad you like it!
@2LOUD2LOUD
Hi, Thanks for kind comment! Funny, I used to own a drum book by Al Miller when I was a teenager. At that time I bought quite a few drum books from the USA and got them to Norway where knowledge of jazz and rock drumming was hard to find. Yeah! pick up the books and sticks and have fun!
Yes, a great drum solo, the Downfall of Paris! The sticks are Cooperman Samurai. Very good sticks indeed.
This is good to practice my fife with, though it is a little fast for me. Thanks for posting
@betaniini1
Yes, they are Cooperman drumsticks and called Greg Zuber "Samurai". Very good drumsticks for snare drum and practise pad work.
@thedarkwizardable
Hi, the sticks are made by Cooperman and the stick model is Greg Zuber "Samurai". Good drumsticks, the Coopermans.
Hi, For Crazy Army notation, you could go to the website for Sudbury Ancients, click on Music, on the the next page click on ACN, and you will find the PDF file for Crazy Army in the Drum Beatings column. That is the notation I used when learning this drum beat. I prefer the notation with the left hand notated above the line and the right hand below.
Thanks!
Hi, The Downfall of Paris was from The Moeller Boodk by Sanford A. Moeller. I bought that book from Amazon.
I first heard this solo as at 12 when another drummer my age performed it. I never heard it with some of your accenting though. It sounds much more interesting this way.
@Northeagle66
Hi, thanks! Glad you liked the performance of this famous drum solo.
Nice!
Great !
I suspect those preferring kevlar are those who've basically grown up with it and learned to drum on kevlar, since there are patterns you could do clean on kevlar that would be hopelessly muddy on mylar.
I don't mind the sound of kevlar in general, but there are some lines tuned so tight it sounds like a tabletop.
Is it generally acceptable for the 7 and 15 stroke rolls to begin on the 16th after the downbeat ("e") rather than on the "and" of the beat? I've been trying to squeeze the 7s into half a beat (not bad) and the 15s into 1 1/2 beats (awkward 7 over 6 polyrhythm). Your drum sounds amazing as always.
thats a good performance
@ajcf1995
Hi, and yeah! It is one great drum solo! Are you familiar with these rudiments: the Seven Stroke Roll, the Paradiddle, and the Flam? If that is the case you're on your way! Let met tell you this: It took me quite some time to learn it, and years of drumming has taught me to be patient. I learned the solo piece by piece, practising only a few measures at a time and beginning at a slow tempo.Then gradually playing longer phrases until I could play the whole solo. Good luck!
Hi, I bought this suit in Norway. I don't know if it is available in other countries. The drum heads I used on this video was the original Pearl Mylar head that came with the drum. Nowadays I use a Remo Powerstroke 77 Mylar head that sounds a bit darker.
This was a brilliant rendition of Downfall of Paris! Quite a treat to listen to. Do you do any teaching? If so, where?
Hi, thanks for your interest. There are different opinions as to when to begin the rolls. Some argues that one should play as written, and ususlly that means starting the 7 stroke roll on the "and" count. I, on the other hand, am inspired by the old Norwegian drumming which would have rolls and accents played continuously without pausing. Therefore I'm closer to the "e". When rules and opinions are put aside, I guess it comes down to how you like to phrase the musical piece.
Cooperman does make rather wonderful sticks; I just very recently picked up the Excaliburs and I already profess a love for them.
The Samurai would probably play and sound better/fuller on a marching snare, but either way, I gotta give credit to the player itself. Very wonderful performance; it's easy to see you paid close attention when putting this together.
@MoustacheCloud
Hi, thanks for your comment.
I know of 2 approaches to the 7-stroke roll: 1) sixteenth rest followed by 3 doubled sixteenth notes and a tap 2 eighth rest followed by a doubled sixteenth-note triplet and a tap. You use the 1st example, which I find sounds much better.
Thanks! - Yes, it's a great solo, the Downfall of Paris! Good luck!
Thanks! The sound of this drum has been much deabated lately because some drummers obviously prefer the sound of a Kevlar head. The Mylar head was the original Pearl drumhead delivered with the drum.
@TheLordZixx
This is me on the video.
That was the "wettest" sound I've ever heard from a free-floating snare...ahhhhhhhh...mylar heads...
Yes, the drum is 14" by 12".
@TheLordZixx
Thanks...
@Paradiddledrummer :P Is this you or you just posted this vid of this guy?
Solos like these look like fun...and it wouldn't murder my concert sticks with rimshots x3
Those look like coopermans. What kind exactly?
dam i love the sound of this drum type...good ole traditional! does the plastic head give it that sound? wow...I love it...tell me something...if this was a 15 inch...would it sound the same? thanks
Where can I find the musical pieces that you are playing so that I can learn them by heart? I am a great snare drum player and played snare drum in college. I need some traditional pieces like this one ....do you know where I can get the music from? thanks
@Paradiddledrummer Well done then, I am impressed
I really mean this where can I get a coat like that? I want one. ps love this solo and what heads do you use?
that shit was awesome
Great solo. Do you use your pinky to grip the right hand stick or the index and thumb?
+Tim Sutherland Well, when I started out learning drums, I was taught to hold the drumstick between thumb and forefinger and manipulate the stick with the fingers (relying entirely on the bouncing of the stick back from the drumhead). Later, when I studied with Stanley Spector, I held the drumstick with all fingers (which is a much better grip for Rock drumming), and beating was done with shoulders, arms and wrist, not fingers. Now, after having studied the Moeller Book and the Jim Chapin videos, I still hold the drumstick with all fingers for the right hand, but with an emphasis on the back of the hand (the little- and ring fingers). Thanks for your comment and good luck with your drumming.
Tim Sutherland
It's the traditional grip for most marching drums like that. Because I play snare in my marching band, and that's how we're supposed to hold it. Again, its traditional.
Brenda Michelle Tradition grip is how I hold the sticks for drum set. However, I grip the stick in my right hand with just the thumb and first finger.
I saw a video of Tony williams (Jazz drummer) mentioning that he gripped the sticks with the pinky and ring fingers which is why I asked the question. Good luck with your marching band. :)
Hi, Thanks for your interest in the video. Holding the sticks with thumb and first finger is how I was taught as a child. However my teachers back then were symphonic players, not rock drummers. Personally I believe that putting more fingers on the stick gives a more strong grip and reduces the tension on thumb and first finger for more heavy playing. It was when I studied old military drumming a few years ago that I came across the idea of the "little finger grip". I also saw the video with Tony Williams who was able to get an amazing sound from his drums. Probably the ultimate solution is to try and master both "front of hand" and "back of hand" grips so that one can choose what works best in any situation and what keeps your hands, arms and shoulders healthy.
Do you employ some sort of mnemotic to control the 15-stroke roll? I try to count the strokes but often lose it because it must be played rather fast.
what kind of sticks were you using?
Is that drum 14 by 12?
Ludwig drums do have a reputation for good sound, so your Ludwig drum should sound just as good as my Pearl drum, allthough there may be a suble difference in the character of the sound. The way the drum is beaten also contributes to the sound, as does the room in which the drum is played. Good luck!
what drum is that
DO YOU HEAR THE DRUMMING OF THE 99%!
better than most of the othershit that's here xD
would I lugwig drum sound the same as this pearl drum? thanks man
Would have been nice to have demonstrated this solo on a traditional revolutionary rope drum. The selection just loses so much of its impact on a contemporary instrument. Also, various rhythms begin to adopt different sounds and style idiosyncrises that were most likely not intended.
Agree. It would also be interesting to play this solo on a traditional rope drum. I'll keep this in mind for future videos.
John Wooton has a video where he uses a traditional rope drum. Very Inspirational. BTW ... well done Sir! Hawk ^v^
I can play the song
hi, how did you get that sound out of that snare? what kind of snare is it?
Hi, Thanks. The drum is a Pearl "high-tension" marching drum with a Mylar drum head, which has more "ring" and "depth" than the Aramid/Kevlar heads commonly used on this kind of drum. The recording was made in a large room with additional microphones to pick up the natural reverb in the room, thus enhancing the sound. Then, of course, the performance has something to do with the sound too.