The drums

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

Each drum has a short symbol. The symbol decides the sound, whatever the line is called.

Symbol	Sound
`c`	closed hi-hat
`o`	open hi-hat
`b`	bass drum
`s`	snare
`r`	ride cymbal
`x`	crash cymbal
`t`	high tom
`m`	mid tom
`f`	floor tom
`k`	side stick (the stick across the snare's rim)

Each line also has a name, written before the =. The custom is to use the short names studios and drum machines use:

Line name	Short for	Drum
`hh`	hi-hat	hi-hat
`bd`	bass drum	bass drum
`sd`	snare drum	snare
`rd`	ride	ride cymbal
`cr`	crash	crash cymbal
`tom`	tom	toms
`rim`	rim	side stick

The name is only a label, to find your way; the symbol decides the sound. A line hats = cc cc cc cc inside drums { } sounds the same.

The lines can sit together in a drums { } block, which shows they all belong to the kit:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 100

drums {
  hh = cc cc cc co
  bd = b - bb -
  sd = - s - s
}

The hi-hat opens on the last eighth (co) and the bass drum doubles on beat 3 (bb).

Accents

An upper-case letter is played with an accent, louder. Listen to the snare accented on beat 4:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

drums {
  hh = cc cc cc cc
  bd = b - b -
  sd = - s - S
}

And an apostrophe after a symbol makes it short: c' is a very tight hi-hat.

A cymbal to start

The crash marks the start of a phrase. Here it plays on beat 1 while the ride keeps the eighths:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

drums {
  cr = x - - -
  rd = rr rr rr rr
  bd = b - b -
  sd = - s - s
}

The cr (crash) line holds the crash, x, and the rd (ride) line holds the ride, r. Change an r to c and hear the ride turn into the hi-hat.

Toms and the rim

The toms play the fills: t is the high tom, m the mid tom and f the floor tom. Here the second bar ends going down through all three:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 96

drums {
  hh  = | cc cc cc cc | cc cc -  -  |
  bd  = | b  -  bb -  | b  -  -  -  |
  sd  = | -  s  -  s  | -  s  -  -  |
  tom = | -  -  -  -  | -  -  tm ff |
}

The rim, k, is the stick laid across the snare: a dry, woody click with no snare wires. It is the bossa nova beat:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 130

drums {
  hh  = cc cc cc cc
  bd  = b -b b -b
  rim = | k- -k - k | - k -k - |
}

Claps, and names in other languages

p is a hand clap. The lines may also have their Portuguese or Spanish names (chimbal, bumbo, caixa, charles, bombo, caja, palmas), and the block may be called bateria:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 100

drums {
  hh   = cc cc cc cc
  bd   = b - b -
  clap = - p - p
}

The pandeiro, the zabumba, the triangle, the agogô and the other instruments of Brazilian percussion have a lesson of their own, a little further on.

Rolls

A tilde, ~, after the symbol makes a roll: the hit becomes very fast strokes, eight a beat, through its whole length. With _ the roll lasts more beats, and with < it grows into the next mark:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 90

drums {
  sd = | p:s~< _ _ f:S | - s - s |
  bd = | -     - - b   | b - b - |
  cr = | -     - - x   | - - - - |
}

The roll grows for three beats and bursts into the accent with the crash. Try f~ on the floor tom or x~ on a cymbal.

Exercises

A rock beat with the snare accented on beat 4.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

drums {
  bd = b - b -
  sd = - s - s
}

See an answer

drums {
  bd = b - b -
  sd = - s - S
}

Open the hi-hat on the last eighth of the bar.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

hh = cc cc cc cc

See an answer

hh = cc cc cc co

End the bar with a fill: on beat 4, an eighth on the high tom and one on the floor tom.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

drums {
  sd  = s s s -
  tom = - - - -
}

See an answer

drums {
  sd  = s s s -
  tom = - - - tf
}

Now build a whole beat: hi-hat in eighths, bass drum on beats 1 and 3 and on the second half of beat 3, snare on beats 2 and 4.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

drums {
  hh = - - - -
  bd = - - - -
  sd = - - - -
}

See an answer

drums {
  hh = cc cc cc cc
  bd = b - bb -
  sd = - s - s
}