When performing a ballad with brushes, another way to play is the "figure eight" method. Both hands perform a figure eight on the snare drum, swirling and rarely leaving the surface. Generally, the ride hand starts on beat 1 at the upper portion of the drum while the snare hand is placed toward the lower portion on the same beat. The hands move in contrary directions to each other, both in figure eight patterns, and end up on opposite sides of the drum on beats 2 and 4. This enables a drummer to lightly accent all four beats of a measure with both hands simultaneously. Musical transcriptions of each style are written out.
One of the distinct sounds of jazz drumming is achieved with brushes, which are commonly used in both standard tempo songs and, especially, in ballads. The primary brush technique is to drag ("swirl") the snare hand in a clockwise circular motion on the snare while playing a consistent time pattern with the ride hand on the same surface. This requires proper coordination between the two hands. The snare hand, circling as a hand of a clock, will arrive at ten o'clock on beats 1 and 3, and four o'clock on beats 2 and 4. The time pattern of the ride hand will strike beat 1, the plus of beat 2, beat 3 and the plus of beat 4 at four o'clock and beats 2 and 4 at ten o'clock, crossing over the circling snare hand.
Latin Rock incorporates rhythms from Afro Cuban and Brazilian music into a Rock format, while often utilizing percussion instruments from all three styles. Though the Afro Cuban and Brazilian styles contain grooves which can be used in such early Latin Rock songs as "Tequila" by The Champs, this style normally uses less authentic and often simplified drum set patterns. The late 1960s saw the emergence of Carlos Santana, probably the most important musician to popularize the Latin Rock genre. His band featured the use of Afro Cuban percussion instruments in a Rock music setting. His impact on this style has spanned well over three decades, as he remains a popular figure world wide. Afro Cuban, Brazilian and Jazz ballads drum set rhythms are often simplified to avoid duplicating the parts of other percussionists.
Latin Rock artists include Los Lobos and Miami Sound Machine (featuring Gloria Estefan), as well as more recent artists such as Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony. Much as with patterns from the Afro Cuban and Brazilian styles, the drum set rhythms are often simplified in Latin Rock to avoid duplicating the parts of other percussionists. When playing alone, the Latin Rock drum set player may expand on the simplified grooves to approximate a more authentic sound. The grooves may combine Afro Cuban Brazilian, and Kock patterns to offer a wide variety of practical options. The tempos range from those of most Standard Rock songs at quarter note equal from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty beats per minute to that of a double time Afro Cuban and Brazilian feel at quarter note equal from 200 to 232 beats per minute.
In Cuba, two of the most common names for 6/8 styles are "Bembe" and "Abakwa" (also spelled "Abakua"). Bembes were religious celebrations which included music and dance, while Abakwas were exclusive organizations formed in Cuba by slaves descending from the Calibar area of western Africa. Both influences had a profound effect on the development of Afro-Cuban music. It is now quite common to hear 6/8 rhythmic styles interchanged with authentic Cuban styles (such as Mambo, Guaguanco, Songo, etc.). So, it is highly useful to develop the ability to flow from one feel to the other.
The Afro-Cuban 6/8 pattern for drum set replicates a signature melody of the conga drums along with the conventional 6/8 bell pattern. The main bell pattern itself is based around the 6/8 clave rhythm (containing two additional notes which are usually played more softly). The pulse is most commonly felt on each downbeat (played by the hi-hat foot). However, the same pattern may produce a different feel by changing the pulse to six beats within the pattern. Although the 6/8 bell and drum set patterns are written as one measure 4/4 patterns, the Afro-Cuban 6/8 does contain two sides" similar to the son and rumba clave (3-2 versus 2-3). It's good to develop the ability to start from the third beat of the 4/4 measure, creating a reversed order of the 6/8 pattern.
Unlike Mambo, Cha Cha, and other types of Afro Cuban music, Cascara is not a musical style but a rhythmic pattern copied from another pattern called "palito" ("little stick"). The word Cascara means "shell,"' which indicates where the pattern is played: on the shell of the timbales. During the early part of the 20th century, the instrumentation of Son music expanded to include timbales (fairly wide but shallow single-headed drums). The use of this instrument led to the introduction of the Palito Cascara pattern in Afro-Cuban ensembles. When adapted for drum set, the Cascara rhythm is commonly played with the ride hand on either a closed hi-hat, the shell and/or rim of a floor tom, or a cowbell or ride cymbal bell.
The snare hand plays a rim click or a wood block, while the bass drum plays a Tumbao pattern. The Cascara is a two-measure pattern which complements specific sides of the clave. Though it may be played as a 3-2 or a 2-3 clave (rumba or son), the position of the clave remains consistent with the notes of the Cascara pattern. This pattern is played in a wide range of tempos, depending on the style of music. The Cascara pattern can be used as a substitute for other patterns or styles (such as Mambo, Guaguanco, etc.) so as not to duplicate the parts of other percussionists and can be effective when playing during the softer sections of an arrangement. The Cascara pattern may be substituted for any groove as long as it coincides with the clave pattern of that groove or the song itself (e.g., a Guaguanco should continue to have a rumba clave feel when it features a Cascara, a Mambo a son clave, etc.) And when playing the Cascara rhythm on a surface other than the closed hi-hat, the hi-hat foot may play beats I & 3 or 2 & 4 of both measures.
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