Wanna Do Some Fancy Footwork?

by Rick Van Horn & Photos by Jim Esposito

The original Duallist twin-action pedal features a single footboard that operates two beaters. You push on the footboard and the right beater strikes the bass drum. You release it and the left beater hits. That's it in a nutshell.

Now, as if getting two strikes out of one pedal movement wasn't enough, Kevin Mackie (the inventor of the Duallist) has applied his engineering skills toward involving the drummer's other foot. The Duallist is now available in a "triple pedal" version that adds a left or right slave pedal to the original twin-action model.

In a sense, the triple pedal is actually four pedals: a conventional single, a conventional double, a twin-action single, and a double that adds the capabilities of the twin-action main pedal. This offers the potential for traditional and very non-traditional bass drum patterns.

Construction

The Duallist pedal might appear big and clunky, but it's actually only slightly wider than a standard pedal. The frame is constructed of a nylon polymer, so the main Duallist pedal weighs only six pounds, while the slave pedal weighs only three. Yet they're tough enough to withstand the heaviest pounding. The black color is an integral element of the polymer material, so the parts will never scratch.

On the main pedal, the drive connection for the right beater is a high-strength Kevlar strap. The connection for the left beater is a rubber strap that provides added flexibility. (The slave pedal uses the Kevlar strap.) The straps are secured under the footboard, and each can be adjusted individually. In fact, the Duallist has a few more adjustments than you'd find on a standard pedal. Fortunately, it comes with printed instructions and a demo video that make things pretty clear.

The beaters supplied with the Duallist have felt and plastic playing surfaces. A hoop clamp that slides forward and back in the frame allows you to adjust the spacing between the pedal and the bass drum. Spikes mounted in the bases help to hold the pedals in place.

How Does It Work?

There have been several twin-action pedal designs on the market over the years. Most have required the drummer to alter his or her playing style dramatically in order to operate them. The Duallist has survived (while others have not) largely because it lets drummers play in a normal fashion, and does the double-action playing for them.

Still, there's not much benefit to a twin-action pedal if it doesn't produce a decent single action. The Duallist main pedal, on the other hand, works well in single mode. You can individually adjust the stroke, the beater height, the spring tension, and the length of the drive straps for each beater to obtain the action that you want. The unit came with a pretty stiff spring setting and a firm feel.

After a bit of tweaking, I was able to get the light, responsive action I prefer.

Now, when it comes to the twin-action mode, there's a certain amount of physics (mass, energy, and weight) involved in moving two beaters simultaneously. So it simply isn't possible to get exactly the same feel here as in single mode. Drummers who prefer a certain amount of resistance from their pedals will likely have better luck with the Duallist initially than will those who favor a very light action.

Shifting from single to double playing mode on the main pedal is accomplished by stepping on the Speedswitch levers located to the left and right of the footboard. The positioning of the switches lets you do the switching with your heel, thereby keeping your foot on the footboard. Press the left-side switch and the left beater is locked back, putting you in single mode. Slide your heel over and press the right side to release the left beater, and you're in double mode. Your playing pattern can go uninterrupted.

The triple-pedal function is added by the attachment of a fairly traditional slave pedal, connected to the main pedal by a universal-linkage axle. The third beater is mounted on the main pedal, on a very fluid bearing. The holder positions the slave beater close to the two main beaters for a uniform sound on the bass drum.

How Well Does It Work?

I guarantee that you're not going to sit down, shift the main Duallist pedal into twin-action mode, and instantly play fluid double-bass patterns with one foot. Even if you're a single-pedal-playing son-of-a-gun, you're going to need a goodly amount of time to get used to some of the Duallist's idiosyncrasies.

To begin with, precise control of pedal timing is necessary in order to get even strokes from the Duallist's "return beat" action. So you're likely to find it easier to operate the twin-action function if you play heel-down. If you play exclusively heel-up, you'll probably need to experiment with where you step on the footboard. Also, shifting between single- and twin-action mode is something that isn't a normal element of bass-drum playing, so you'll have to consciously think about the timing involved.

As described earlier, the way the main pedal's twin-action function works is that when you step on the footboard, the right beater strikes the bass drum head and the left beater is drawn back. When you release the footboard, the left beater comes forward and strikes the head. That means that you power the downstroke, and the mechanics of the pedal provide the upstroke.

This differentiation in stroke power created the one major limitation we discovered with the Duallist. The mechanically-produced return stroke could not duplicate the power and volume of a foot-powered pedal stomp. The only way to get matched volume between the two strokes was to back off on the downstroke. (Again, playing heel-down helped out in this endeavor.) When the pedal was played full-bore, the pedal-operated stroke sounded almost like a ghost note as compared to the downstroke. Now, if you're playing patterns at lightning speed—especially with the addition of beats played on the slave pedal—this sonic difference might not be a major issue. But it's something to be aware of.

Licks And Tricks

The Duallist triple pedal provides lots of interesting rhythmic-pattern possibilities. For example: If you play 8th notes on the main pedal in double mode, the pedal translates them into 16ths. Play a double stroke with the right beater, and with what the left beater adds you get a one-8th-and-two-16ths pattern. Play a bouncing shuffle and get triplets...and so forth.

Now, factor in the contribution of the left pedal, and the possibilities boggle the mind. Once again, it's going to take some serious practice to work that left pedal into the timing of the twin-action right pedal. Otherwise you'll find yourself simply duplicating beater strikes. But once you've accomplished that, the sky's the limit in terms of polyrhythms and solo figures.

Conclusion

The Duallist triple pedal is an innovative product that offers tremendous potential to the right user. But it's not for everyone. In order to utilize it to its fullest capacity, you need to have excellent foot control and independence. You also need to be playing music that can accommodate the intricate patterns it can produce. And you should be aware of the volume-balance limitations inherent in the twin-action design. But given those conditions, the Duallist triple is a serious instrument that just might reshape your thinking about how you play.