A drum roll is a method a percussionist employs to produce a sustained sound on a drum. Rolls are used on other percussion instruments such as the marimba and xylophone to sustain the sound, where it can be likened to tremolo on string instruments.
The snare drum roll
The most common snare drum roll is the closed roll. The open roll ( or "double stroke roll")is played with double strokes alternating between the left and right hands; the closed roll is produced by applying slightly more pressure to the fulcrum upon impact which allows for the stick to bounce many times on the drum head. One stick hits the head slightly before the other bouncing stick is pulled up from the head. This produces a near continual sound when the technique is mastered.
Other than the open double stroke roll there are many other rolls and rudiments that sound like rolls when they are played fast enough (like the paradiddle family). In the table below, lower-case letters represent grace notes (drags, flams etc) and hyphens represent rests.
Rudiment Sticking pattern
Single-stroke roll RLRLRLRLRL
Double-stroke roll RRLLRRLL
French roll RRRLLLRRRLLL /interesno e tova obzna4enie kato "frensko tremolo/
Single paradiddle RLRR LRLL
Double paradiddle RLRLRR LRLRLL
Five-stroke roll RRLLR-LLRRL
Seven-stroke roll RRLLRRL- LLRRLLR-
Also, the six-stroke roll, perhaps a misleading name, is often used in snare solo situation. It has four variations; each is a quarter note in length and consists of two double strokes(RRLL) and two singles (R L).