I was just having a practice playing a simple beat with independent hands and then comparing it to the alternating technique (what we do here).
Timing is more challenging but I noticed the dynamics were better. I could blend the snare and hi hats better, plus the kick also had better dynamics since it’s not being triggered with my thumb.
Also the slight timing difference between hi hat pattern and kick/snare pattern brings some interesting swing opportunities. (Although I’m not great at this yet)
I find the alternating approach much easier in terms of dividing beats for ghost notes, etc. So, I was just wondering how people are approaching playing 16ths, ghost notes etc with one hand as opposed to divided between two hands? Pad layout is fine, it’s mostly fingering technique?
Well, you just named one of the main reasons I switch to independent hands. When the snare and hi hat dynamics have to be independent from one another and you have to play snares and hi hats at the same time.
The slight difference in timing is also a thing of course although for me personally that has not really been the reason to use it.
Playing 16th notes with independent hands in most cases would require proficiency in Moeller technique because you’ll tire out your hand really quick if you just keep tapping really fast.
Ghost notes… honestly you should be able to play ghost notes with both left and right. That is something that happens automatically when you go from just alternating RLRLRLRLRL to something like paradiddles, RlrrLrll (capital letters are loud, the others soft).
Thanks for the reply.
I’ve only been using paradiddles for fills at the moment. I also definitely want to look at the Moeller technique at some point soon.
I had another go yesterday, and I think the reason I can ‘blend’ a bit better is down to my index finger being the kick and not my thumb. I seem to have better dynamic control with my index finger compared to my thumb. A bit like when alternating hands, I often do ghost notes (kick or snare) with my index finger.
The thumb dynamics thing might be down to the 8x8 controller I’m using.
Yeah I have the same thing. Index finger has the most control. On an 8x8 I can also imagine that using the thumbs is quite a bit harder.