How can I play 16th-note hi-hats at 150 bpm?

Question

Is it possible to play a beat of 16th-note hi-hats with bass drum on 1 and 3, and snare on 2 and 4, at 150 bpm? I.e.:

|xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx|
|----s-------s---|
|d-------d-------|

A song I'm trying to learn seems to require this (although this may be a bug in its transcription).

It seems very doable if you skip the hi-hat on counts 2 and 4, but I'm wondering if it's possible to hit the hi-hat too.

Are single-handed 16th-notes at 150 bpm possible? If not, would you use some doubles (and if so, can you give an example as to which hand to play on the hi-hat and which on the snare)? Maybe some foot tricks?

Answer 1

I agree with @Tim, the standard way a drummer would handle this is alternate sticking and leaving out the high hat on 2 and 4. However if you really want to have that simultaneous hat and snare it’s not out of the question. Assuming you’re starting with the right hand you can do this: (B is for both hands)

RLRL BLRL RLRL BLRL

It requires 3 rapid strokes in a row with the left hand. It’s not easy but also not impossible for a skilled drummer by any means. It’s not necessary to do it this way unless you literally want every 16th on the hi hit played. It’s certainly easier than trying to play steady 16ths with one hand at 150bpm.

Answer 2

tl;dr summary: I am not convinced that 4th 16th note on the backbeat is actually in the original song, but even if it is, those drums are programmed and not (meant to be) played by a human, and at any rate, the live drummer does not play that note.

---

Carpenter Brut is a one-man electro project. Carpenter Brut is a keyboard player, not a drummer, these parts are definitely not recorded, they are programmed.

It is very hard to hear whether the hi-hat on the downbeat is actually played or not. But even if it is: it is fairly typical for non-drummers to program drum parts in a way that they cannot actually be played by a drummer. Nor would anyone expect an electronic drum part to be playable by a human player.

I just looked at a live concert as well, and the drummer is definitely playing a standard disco beat during that part:

X: 1
T: Turbo Killer [B part]
C: Carpenter Brut
O: France
M: 4/4
L: 1/16
Q: 1/4=150
Z: Jörg W Mittag
R: disco feel
%%score (Hands Feet)
V: Hands stem=up
V: Feet stem=down
K:C clef=perc
%%ornament above
[V:Hands]|:"^R"g"^L"g"^R"L!open!g"^L"g "^R"c"^L"g"^R"L!open!g"^L"g "^R"g"^L"g"^R"L!open!g"^L"g "^R"c"^L"g"^R"L!open!g"^L"g:|
[V:Feet]|:F4F4F4F4:|

The live instruments are also heavily augmented with backing tracks, so even on a live performance, not everything you hear is actually played.

Even without hearing the live performance, I would have played this part like a disco part, and I am convinced that is what the live drummer is actually playing.

Answer 3

This seems to me like a typical 'disco' beat. There's absolutely no need to play snare and hi-hat together on beats 2 and 4, so alternate hands, leaving the actual beats 2 and 4 themselves to be played, for r.h. drummers, with the r.h. on snare.

Answer 4

I'm a relative intermediate so I'll give an example from one of the best drummers I know, Takashi Sasaki of Casiopea.

タイム・リミット (Time Limit) is one of their more popular songs and it starts with a 4/4 16th-note with a relatively similar beat as seen below. Now admittedly, it is a tiny bit slower at 127 bpm but I think that it's a great example of how you can make it sound seamless. The snare is particularly isolated in these notes but if you listen to the actual track, the missing hi-hat is almost unnoticeable. Also, don't forget that accents can go a long way in selling the beat and making it sound cleaner. So basically what I'm trying to say is, as long as you hit the hi-hat cleanly it won't be noticed, especially in such a fast song. I'll leave the sheet below for reference:

The entire sheet from Musescore

Hope that this was helpful :)