TOP END DRUMMING INTRODUCTION Top end drumming is one of a number of styles which use predominately single end sticking, although Mel Mercer, who has codified and developed many of the rhythms, uses traditional centre drumming. By top end we mean holding the beater in a more vertical position and letting it hang down in the hand whilst poising it about 4"above the drum. The beater, which is longer than normal, (about the thickness of a pencil and up to half as long again), hangs down almost vertically in some cases, and in others is held almost horizontally. Whatever is comfortable for the player. Eamon Murray holds his fairly horizontally, which allows him to come down to the centre of the drum more easily. The top end style is not ideally suited to larger drums and so most players in this style will be using a 16"-14" drum. (However, you can still practice on an 18" drum but your arm tends to get tired, because you are holding your hand much higher than usual). Compensation for the loss of the deeper notes of large drums is made by having the drums deeper than normal, 6"-8" of even 10" in some cases. This smaller drum sits on the knee in the usual way but allows a lower arm action. The skin hand spends much more of its time at the top of the drum than normal, creating a tiny popping drum at the top. This method gets maximum contrast between the high and low notes which is a characteristic of this sound. The difficulty for traditionalists with single end sticking is the use of double beats. DD UU DD UU. This method seems to come from traditional snare drumming with the mammy daddy rolls and paradiddles. The new trend is to explore traditional snare beats and bring them into bodhrán playing. Many traditionalists like myself asked why this method was necessary at all, until I was shown that with single end sticking, what is lost initially in the natural flow of the up down is gained tenfold in the variety of accents and rhythms which can be achieved. THE METHOD It is important to understand that the main thrust of modern playing is in single end sticking, whether top end or normal styles are adopted. It is just that all the young bloods are now top enders. Most top end players hold this thin beater about two thirds the way up, so that most of it is hanging below the hand. The beater is placed in the cruck of the fist knuckle of the forefinger and held there by the ball / fingerprint of the thumb. The middle finger merely supports the stick from underneath. The other fingers do whatever they like, some people hold them out as though they are drinking a posh cup of tea whilst others just leave them curled under the middle finger. Whatever is comfortable. In contrast, Mel Mercer uses more traditional beaters and holds them in traditional grip, but still achieves the same results as top enders. In fact most of the top enders cite Mel as their guide. The basic jig rhythm is achieved by DDUDDU, (down down up, down down up) six beats in the bar. The basic reel is DDUDDUDU, (down down up, down down up, down up) eight beats in the bar. The triplet is achieved by replacing any of the DDU's with a four beat, single end roll. DUDU being played in the same time-span as DDU, so in the reel you would play DUDU,DDU,DU. (My commas here do not indicate pauses but are inserted merely to show the different sections clearly). Because this form of triplet has four notes, this has led to a change in terminology. They are now called 'rolls'. However, these basics are only the start of a whole range of rhythm variations which can now be achieved. The basic Jig may well be DDU DDU but how about playing DUD DUD or DUD DDD. (There are no gaps, I have put them in to illustrate each half bar). And for the Reel we could have the paradiddle DDUD UUDU or one of its many variants DUDD UDUU. Here are some more of Mel Mercer's variations. Remember, there aren't any gaps really. JIG (6/8 time : 6 beats to a bar) DDD DUD (actually DDDDUD) DDD DDU DUD DUU DDU UDU DUD UDU UDU DUD D-D UDU (all these variation can be further refined with skip beats and accents falling all over the place) REEL (4/4 time : 8 beats to a bar) DUDU DDUU (actually DUDUDDUU) DDUU DDUU (mammy daddy) DUDD UUDU DUDD UDUU (paradiddle) DUDD UDDU Mel has listed over 200 variations for the reel. Until now my bodhrán playing has lacked the discipline which is an essential element in learning any other instrument, and hence I have often strayed from the tune or disappeared up my own proverbial in trying to get back into the groove. Single end sticking has brought me back to basics, and is worth every bit of effort put into it .