by yoni » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:23 pm
Hey Tone, hey all,
The "heel-toe" roll I've also heard referred to as "the fish" at one time or another... To get it to "sing" as in an open roll, you let the hands bounce more into two distinct strokes, or tones, with each hand. You can start with the heel-toe "fish" roll then pull hands toward you and edge of drum so that just fingers and the part of the palm just below them are bouncing, as in a normal open tone. The two "flams" that each hand does should eventually meld into a smooth open double roll.
Of course, like everyone else said, it takes LOTS of practice. Start slow, slowly gain speed til it messes up, then start again. That's one way. Speeding up and slowing down the rolls also seems to help. Play strong, clear strokes, but relaxed.
My two strokes.
Hope this helps,
Yoni