Backwards quads?

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:31:00 -0700

So I've been stepping up my double-bass game lately-- no, not what you're thinking, I promise it will be classy. Anyway, I have a very specific fill that is needed for one of our tunes, which is essentially an undulating set of sextuplets across an entire measure. This is commonly referred to as a "double-bass quad". This name has always thrown me because when I think 'quad', I immediately think of something divisible by 4, as in a 16th or 32nd note phrase, but these are clearly done as sextuplets (sixes). I guess the term 'quad' comes from all 4 limbs being used and not the actual phrasing. So to get to the point, when researching the "proper" method to perform these, I've discovered that I've been doing them utterly the opposite way from the rest of the world. Every mention I've seen (outside of the "ladder" technique) states to start with two toms followed by the two kicks, moving from right to left, as in RH,LH,RF,LF. The odd thing is, I've always been doing this the other way.. starting from the kicks and then moving to the toms, moving from left to right, as in LF, RF, LH, RH. I think this comes from years of using this little flam trick I do with a single bass to end fills, where I'd go RF, LH, RH. On double kick the leading left foot just sorta slips in there naturally making it LF,RF,LH,RH. I use this to end the last bar of very busy sections, usually ending with the right hand on 4, leaving the rest of beat 4 as empty space. This flurry of low-end notes followed by dead space alleviates the tension and then allows me to return to a tighter, more controlled beat on 1 of the next bar. A nice little trick for the end of choruses or more importantly, bridges. So anyways, tell me, how do you execute double-bass quads. Am I just a weirdo, or do you do them "backwards" too?

Drum Wagon - technique

Backwards quads?