Singles and Doubles Hybrid Rudiment — Travis Orbin (Periphery) Drum Lick | MetalForge
Learn the Singles and Doubles Hybrid Rudiment drum lick by Travis Orbin of Periphery. From Jetpacks Was Yes! (Periphery (2010)). Travis Orbin's YouTube channel is one of the most pedagogically valuable resources in modern drummin...
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1. Travis Orbin's Signature Licks — Travis Orbin's YouTube channel is one of the most pedagogically valuable resources in modern drumming, and his demonstrations of hybrid rudiments — combinations of single strokes and double strokes that create rhythmic textures unavailable from either technique alone — are a cornerstone of his online teaching. The singles-and-doubles hybrid pattern he documents and demonstrates is not derived from a single song but represents a distillation of the sticking vocabulary that underlies virtually all of his most recognisable playing. From the djent grooves and fill cascades of Periphery's "Jetpacks Was Yes!" — which features some of his most expressive sticking work on the debut — to the blast-adjacent sections of his extreme-metal-influenced material, the interplay between single strokes and double strokes is the engine beneath the complexity. By constructing a deliberate, teachable hybrid rudiment, Orbin makes this technique accessible to drummers who would otherwise encounter it only in the context of already-complex music.
The pattern operates on a principle that Orbin explains with characteristic clarity in his tutorial content: the single stroke provides the accent and defines the rhythmic pulse, while the double that follows fills the subdivision and creates density without interrupting the accent pattern. Chaining these singles-into-doubles creates phrases that sound more complex than either technique alone — the rhythmic profile shifts slightly with each group as the accent falls on a different stroke in the double — and produces what is often called the "cascade" quality that characterises Orbin's most explosive fills. At slow speeds, the architecture of the pattern is fully audible and analysable; as tempo builds, the details merge into a continuous rhythmic texture that sounds technically formidable but is built on a learnable systematic foundation.
The practical application of this pattern in a musical context requires developing the fine motor control to switch between single and double strokes without changing wrist angle, rebound height, or grip pressure — the consistency of touch that allows the pattern to remain dynamically even as the sticking beneath it changes. Orbin addresses this directly: the wrist remains neutral, the rebound is allowed to happen naturally, and the difference between single and double is produced by the timing of the second wrist movement rather than a different grip or posture. For drummers, this hybrid study is one of the most efficient technique investments available: it builds single-stroke speed, develops double-stroke control, and creates a bridge between the two that enables the kind of flowing, complex sticking patterns that define Orbin's approach to modern progressive metal drumming.2. Travis Orbin Profile — Execute the single stroke with a deliberate accent; let the double that follows trail at a slightly lower dynamic to project the rhythmic pulse Keep the wrist angle and rebound height identical between single and double strokes — the transition must be seamless Practise the pattern slowly enough to feel each stroke individually before building to the speed at which it sounds like a cascade Apply the hybrid pattern as a fill in a groove context — entry and exit points are as important as the rudiment itself Practise weak-side leading as rigorously as strong-side to maintain the hybrid's shape regardless of sticking direction
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