Ralph Rolle occupies one of the grooviest drum chairs on the planet. As well as his current job, holding down the foundation for disco/funk legends Nile Rogers & Chic, Ralph has also played for an impressive list of funk, soul, hip-hop artists and beyond, with a CV boasting Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Notorious B.I.G., Roger Daltrey, Bono and many, many more.
Armed with our cameras, we met Ralph at Yamaha’s UK HQ where he took the time to share some of his favourite funk and disco concepts, as well as important advice on how to approach your drumming goals.
Ralph Rolle's kit
Thanks to Yamaha, Zildjian and Remo for supplying the gear used in this masterclass.
Drums
Yamaha Tour Custom (maple shells)
Toms: 10” x 7” 12” x 8”, 16” x 15”
Bass drum: 22 x 16”
Snare Drum: Yamaha Tour Custom 14 x 6.5”
Cymbals
Zildjian: 13” K hi-hats, 10” A Custom Splash, 16” A Custom Fast Crash, 16” A Custom Medium Crash, 17” K Custom Hybrid Crash, 17” K China, 20” A Custom Ride
Heads
Remo Ambassador Coated, Powerstroke P3 Clear bass drum batter
Electronics
Roland SPD-SX
Armed with our cameras, we met Ralph at Yamaha’s UK HQ where he took the time to share some of his favourite funk and disco concepts, as well as important advice on how to approach your drumming goals.
Ralph Rolle's kit
Thanks to Yamaha, Zildjian and Remo for supplying the gear used in this masterclass.
Drums
Yamaha Tour Custom (maple shells)
Toms: 10” x 7” 12” x 8”, 16” x 15”
Bass drum: 22 x 16”
Snare Drum: Yamaha Tour Custom 14 x 6.5”
Cymbals
Zildjian: 13” K hi-hats, 10” A Custom Splash, 16” A Custom Fast Crash, 16” A Custom Medium Crash, 17” K Custom Hybrid Crash, 17” K China, 20” A Custom Ride
Heads
Remo Ambassador Coated, Powerstroke P3 Clear bass drum batter
Electronics
Roland SPD-SX
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:04 So, currently, right now, I am the drummer with Nile Rodgers and Chic, which is a really, really great gig.
00:12 What's so great about it is that we're looked upon as a disco band, but the truth of the matter is that we play R&B, disco, funk, pop,
00:23 and we cover a lot of different styles within our show, and it's always a lot of fun.
00:28 So what I'm going to demonstrate to you, the first thing I want to do is I want to show you the groove that I play on "Good Times."
00:34 Now, if you listen to the original, I think everyone knows that song, but if you listen to the original recording,
00:40 what you'll hear is claps, and that's a group of people coming in and doing claps.
00:45 I actually have to play the claps when I'm doing that groove.
00:48 So I'm holding down the groove, and I'm bringing in the claps when it comes to the chorus.
00:54 So in the beginning of the song, it starts out with just bass and drums, and then the keys come in,
01:00 and then I come in with the claps on the chorus, and I'll demonstrate that. Here we go.
01:05 [MUSIC]
01:09 [MUSIC]
01:14 [MUSIC]
01:19 [MUSIC]
01:24 [MUSIC]
01:29 [MUSIC]
01:34 [MUSIC]
01:39 [MUSIC]
01:44 Now, what I'm doing when I'm playing that groove, when it comes to the claps,
01:50 my left hand is actually staying within the 16th notes, and I'll show you. It's going...
01:56 [MUSIC]
02:01 [MUSIC]
02:06 [MUSIC]
02:09 If you see...
02:10 [MUSIC]
02:12 I'm getting the claps in the middle of the upbeat 16th note.
02:17 [MUSIC]
02:21 Because I want to get that consistent 16th note sound coming in on the snare, so...
02:26 [MUSIC]
02:36 Which is a lot of fun to get it in there and try to get it on time with the kick, the snare, and the hi-hat.
02:43 Takes a little bit of practice, but I think anybody can do it. All you just got to do is put in the time.
02:50 One of the next songs that we do in Chic is the opening song, which is called "Everybody Dance."
02:56 That is basically a straight disco song. It's the same type of groove, because back when disco started,
03:02 what was consistent throughout the songs that were written then was a quarter note bass drum.
03:07 [MUSIC]
03:09 That was consistent throughout most of the songs, because when you went to the club,
03:14 that big sound would basically hit you in the chest, and you would just want to get up and dance no matter what.
03:20 Now, depending on the song, I will, again, utilize the claps along with holding down the groove,
03:29 doing a 2/4 pattern on the snare, also with grace notes, with ghost notes, and I'll demonstrate that.
03:36 [MUSIC]
04:02 Now, when I first started playing in bands in New York, it was essential to try to get the sounds of the records that we were playing.
04:12 Back then, a clap machine was just one little machine with only claps.
04:17 There wasn't percussion or any other thing on there.
04:20 Now you can play whatever you want, because you can sample any sound, which is great.
04:25 But to emulate that particular sound, I usually use claps, and then on other songs, I will use congas and do conga fills and conga patterns.
04:35 Now, when I'm playing and I'm doing the conga sounds and conga patterns,
04:42 I'm holding down the groove with my right hand on the hi-hat and the snare.
04:47 My foot is doing the same thing, but my left hand, luckily I'm a left-handed, open-handed drummer,
04:53 I'm holding down a conga pattern on my left hand and doing different types of syncopated fills in the middle.
05:01 I will start out slow first, and then I'll show you the tempos that we'll do it when I'm playing with Nile Rodgers and Chic.
05:08 So, you start out...
05:10 [music]
05:38 And then, after you do the conga pattern, you throw the hand claps on 2 and 4 with the snare.
05:44 Okay, so I'm going to do the whole pattern together.
05:47 I'm laughing because I remember when I started learning this, it was a mess.
05:53 Yes, it was a head explosion, exactly.
05:55 So the nickname in the band for me is Octopus, because I'm doing all of this stuff at the same time.
06:01 So I'm going to show you how, first, this beat is slow, and then I'll show you the tempo we do it, which is about 120, 125.
06:08 [music]
06:34 Okay, so now I'll show you the tempo we usually do it, which is about 120. Here we go.
06:42 [music]
07:10 Now, if I'm doing that same exact groove without the hand claps, I'm doing more of a syncopated pattern with the conga sounds.
07:20 So I'll show you what I'm talking about.
07:23 [music]
07:51 Ah, fun. I have a lot of fun doing that.
07:54 So that is how I play a disco groove with Nile Rodgers and Chic.
07:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]