OK, here's my rant on Indian syllables and counting...smoke 'em if you got 'em (except for Felix, of course!)
There are many different ways to count rhythms and divisions. Bart and I recommend learning Indian syllables, used to teach (for example) tabla (North India) or mridangam (South India) playing. In those traditions, the syllables represent the sound of certain finger or hand techniques on the drum: "ta" is a high-pitched sound on tabla, "Dun" is a low pitched sound, "tet-te" ("tet-tay") is two muffled notes in a row, etc. The idea is that one learns new rhythmic patterns and cycles by singing these syllables, and once one can sing these patterns, it's much easier to play them.
Even tho the sounds of the syllables don't apply to the drum set directly (altho some have done work in this area), the syllables can be used to count rhythms, and since these syllables are designed to be spoken - and spoken quickly - they work far better ("in my not so humble opinion) than the makeshift English words and syllables most of us were taught - saying "hippopotamus" to count fives, or "eat your (gosh darned) spinach" (edited for this family-friendly board!) to sing "three against four." These bastardized applications of these words have their limitations, tho - and I think they're far less effective.
One doesn't need to become a tabla or mridangam virtuoso in order to benefit from using these syllables. I'm probably the world's worst tabla player (well, I can think of one worse - the non-percussion-major pictured in the student newspaper of my old University fifteen years ago, playing his tabla like bongo drums - ick), but the rhythmic concepts I learned have informed my other percussion work, from jazz to classical to...whatever.
Some suggested syllables or syllable combinations for counting common divisions of the beat:
2 divisions (i.e., "eighth notes"): "ta-ke" or "ta-ka"
3 divisions: "ta-ke-ta"
4 divisions: "te-re-ket-ta"
5 divisions: "ta-ke ta-ke-ta" (2+3), or "ta-ke-ta ta-ke" (3+2)
6 divisions: "ta-ke-ta ta-ke-ta" (3+3), or "ta-ke te-re ket-ta" (2+2+2)
7 divisions: "ta-ket-ta ta-ke-di-mi" (3+4), or "ta-ke-di-mi ta-ke-ta" (4+3)
8 divisions: "te-re-ke-ta te-re-ke-ta"
9 divisions: "ta-ke-ta ta-ke-ta ta-ke-ta" (3+3+3)
I'll bet you my house that I can say "ta-ke ta-ke-ta" faster than you can say "hippopotamus" (while still being understood) to count fives.
Break things down into groupings of 2's and 3's, and you can evenly count elevens, thirteens, seventeens...can King Crimson be far behind?
And what's great about this is, you can practice it away from your drums...and when you walk down the street mumbling "ta-ke-te-re-ke-ta" (etc.),
people leave you alone...
