bass drum pedal practise?

[kr236rk]

hi,

 

am trying to figure out the bass drum pedal - was really surprised to discover how quickly my right leg fatigued, keeping a constant rhythm: is this just me, or do all would-be drummers, starting out, face this hurdle?

 

are there exercises you can do - besides playing, of course :-o

 

 

thanks,

 

Ric

 

 

 

[SyntheticTubs]

Yep, same thing happened to me, along with sore arches. It's all learning techniques and economy of motion.

 

Often, new drummers play too rigidly, and use too much leg and not enough ankle, much like arm vs wrist.

[irnbru83]

I duno whether it gives me an advantage or not, but I've been a bit of an athlete my whole life. I still run a lot and that appears to help with general leg stamina.

 

I still do simple drills for endurance. Just set the metronome for a certain tempo then play a simple beat with straight double pedal action. I start heel-down until my shins start to ache (never want to stress your shins too much, I've had surgery for that lol... not from drumming, but from rugby), then switch to heel-up and use the quads for most of the motion to give my shins a rest. Can't hurt to be able to play either way.

[kr236rk]

Yep, same thing happened to me, along with sore arches. It's all learning techniques and economy of motion. Often, new drummers play too rigidly, and use too much leg and not enough ankle, much like arm vs wrist. __________________ www.synthetictubs.com

 

I duno whether it gives me an advantage or not, but I've been a bit of an athlete my whole life. I still run a lot and that appears to help with general leg stamina. I still do simple drills for endurance. Just set the metronome for a certain tempo then play a simple beat with straight double pedal action. I start heel-down until my shins start to ache (never want to stress your shins too much, I've had surgery for that lol... not from drumming, but from rugby), then switch to heel-up and use the quads for most of the motion to give my shins a rest. Can't hurt to be able to play either way.

 

thanks guys,

 

relieved to hear i am not out on a limb here - [no pun]

 

'heel up' - does this mean switching the whole pedal round and playing with the heel, please?

 

am using a virtual drum set up (Yamaha DD-65) but the electronic peddle-stomps which come with it - i cannot get along with - have rigged the bass stomp vertically, where a real bass pedal (second hand) can strike it, and that works like a dream

 

may look at the other peddle, if the first one continues to give good results -

 

thanks again,

 

Ric

 

(mono virtual band)

[irnbru83]

Heel-down means (to me) keeping your foot on the pedal during the entire striking motion. So you keep your heel on the floor the whole time you strike the pedal. This is all ankle work, you shouldn't feel any pain in your quads at all.

 

 

Heel-up means that you keep your toes on the pedal (about halfway up for me) and keep your heels floating in the air. You strike the pedal by either moving your entire leg up and down, OR keeping you heel up and pushing the pedal down just with the front part of your foot on the pedal. Your quads will start to hurt after a while of doing this.

 

 

 

If someone has better definitions, feel free to throw those in here.

[slap happy drums]

The problem w/ heel down , is the muscle in front of your shin , it's the only major muscle that'll lift your foot back up when your heel is planted , after awhile this'll feel like a major shin splint. Heel up has many more muscles working together to make the return motion happen.

 

I use heel up w/ the tap slide return method (Bonzo) , as for endurance try to practice along w/ "I don't live today" by Hendrix off of Are you Experienced

 

[YOUTUBE]nix48bZi-9I[/YOUTUBE]

[irnbru83]

Practicing the heel-down method will help with your heel-up technique because the heel-down will build up many of the muscles you use in the heel-up.

[kr236rk]

thanks guys

 

that has given me something to work on must print it out

 

the DD-65 is a wheeze but the peddle stomps don't cut it ~ using a real bass peddle makes all the difference

 

wow - and Hendrix thrown in for good (very good) measure! - gosh: the longer the man is gone, the more unique he always was/is: incredible :-o

 

bests

 

R

[Bitter Dawn]

This brings up a good oppurtunity to ask a question about playiing double bass. I've been practicing the heel-toe method since it seems the most effecient, but the other day I did an audio recording on my phone (not the best tool to use of course) but it kind of sounded like a horse galloping quickly.

 

I think the problem is that I am using too much force with my heel and not enough with the ball of my foot upfront. It should be pretty smooth shouldn't it? I can do heel down and do a fast and smooth pace but it's fairly short lived, whereas the heel-toe seems easier to do for longer.

 

Any pointers? I intend to keep practicing until it sounds good, and going really fast isn't a priority, I just want it to sound consistant and smooth.

[irnbru83]

If I am getting uneven (the gallop), I slow down. That seems to be the best way to get it right with most stuff. Play it slow until it's second nature. I still have issues with triplets getting out of wack, so I go really REALLY slow to warm up haha

[Bitter Dawn]

 

If I am getting uneven (the gallop), I slow down. That seems to be the best way to get it right with most stuff. Play it slow until it's second nature. I still have issues with triplets getting out of wack, so I go really REALLY slow to warm up haha

 

 

I've tried slowing down, but I'm not even going that fast to begin with. Sometimes I think it just sounds like two sets of triple hits from each foot.

 

My right mallet seems to be looser than the left, and I've tried adjusting the springs and the chain position.

[1001gear]

 

 

 

It's mostly an endurance thing. Lactic acid is the cause as I remember. Shake it out and keep trying. Heel down is pretty useful when balance is an issue.