"flam" - please school me on them

[hiphopsupamix]

hey guys,

I'm looking at ReDrum in Reason 2.5, and it has the "flam" effect/option... can someone please explain what "flam" actually is/does?

thanks!

 

[zed32]

im pretty sure flam is like when you hit a drum with both sticks at the same time, but slightly offset. you usually hear it done on the snare.

 

[Brad_C]

A flam I a simple any note with a grace note placed in front of it. So they come on the same beat but they are just a little apart from each other.

 

[Folkie]

A flam I a simple any note with a grace note placed in front of it. So they come on the same beat but they are just a little apart from each other.

Brad and Zed are both correct--One of the "rudiments" (building blocks) of drumming is the flam--both sticks hitting at almost but not exactly the same time--a little offset from each other. (Other rudiments of drumming have equally wierd terms, like "ratamacue", "paradiddle" and even "flamadiddle"--a paradiddle starting with a flam. The guys who named these obviously had a sense of humor.) The flam is a kind of "ba-dump" sound--but faster than you say it.

If you want some musical explanations, try this site:

http://www.drummingweb.com/rudiments.htm

Now whether this is what your software actually does, I don't know, having never used Reason (that's a telling statement! ) However I expect the software will add a grace note and fatten up a single strike of the drumstick.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nick The Man]

yep everyone eles got to it before me ........all i can say is i love flams they are fun and they sound awesome if used in the right spot

 

[hiphopsupamix]

thanks for the info!

does anyone have any drum loops or songs (preferablly hip-hop) that can show me the almighty "flam" in action?

thanks!

 

[mdlynn]

OK, I am not sure this is the kind of thing you are looking for. But here is a link that will illustrate what flam rudiments sound like on a snare drum and then how they can be voiced over the kit in a groove.
http://www.domfamularo.com/education.html

Flams are created by holding one stick say about 10 inches off the drum and the other stick considerably lower--maybe an inch or so. The two sticks are brought down togehter and make sort of a flam or blup sound. The lower note is called a grace note. Flams are also incorporated into a few other ruidments such as paradiddle, paradiddles-diddles, flam accents, Swiss Army Triplets, flam taps and probably more than I can remember right now. The link above has MP3s, so listen for that sort of "flamming" or "blup" sound. If you are familiar with Kansas' Carry on Wayward Son, the drummer uses a flam right at the start of the song. Hope this helps.

 

[zed32]

thanks for the info!

does anyone have any drum loops or songs (preferablly hip-hop) that can show me the almighty "flam" in action?

thanks!

i dunno about hip hop since i don't really listen to it, but check out the chorus on the song Digital Bath by Deftones for some super hot snare flam action.

oh and reason, yeah i've used Redrum to program drum tracks before and the flam feature on tehre is decent as long as you adjust the delay time properly so it doesnt sound "chorused".