My foot has a mind of its own.

[Stoned_Goldfish]

I'm learning to play sixteenth notes and I can play it slowly, but I can't seem to speed up. My foot always seems to hit the drum too many times or too few times and without any force the second time I hit my kick. I had the notation typed out, but it didn't work; there are two kick beats in a row and that's where I'm having trouble(does that make sense? I'm actually losing sleep over this, so please help). I play heel down and usually keep the beater on or close to the head. How could I fix this? Tightening the spring? Any advice is greatly appreciated.




Peace,
Jacob

[lochday]

..........Tightening the spring? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Peace,
Jacob

Might help playing with the spring.
You perhaps "hit the drum too many times" because the spring is not tight enough. Conversely you may also hit " too few times and without any force the second time" because the spring is too tight and there's to much effort to make.
You should find the right spring tension and find where your sweet spot is, that is where you are able to play without applying too much strength on the pedal, and where a reasonable force has to be applied.
Not too loose and not too tight!
Another issue is technique and practicing. Right things only happen after a while (hours, days or months) So don't think about changing your "heel down" for something else. A quiet bossa nova on the BD can easily be played heel down. Try playing along a quiet Bossa ostinato with your feet only (hihat and BD): boom chi boomboom chi boomboom and see what happens. Concentrate on the second hit playing it a bit louder than the first. Do it until it grooves naturally, and you do not have to think about it anymore. Then speed it up progressively and finally add clave, work with accents on the ride, etc.

[komodo]

I used to have that problem and i decided to make it so the pedal had more or less no tension what so ever. This way it is only your foot controlling the stroke and not the spring. i think so anyway :p

[d.c.drummer]

I used to have that problem and i decided to make it so the pedal had more or less no tension what so ever. This way it is only your foot controlling the stroke and not the spring. i think so anyway :p

but with this method make sure your batter head is tight enough to get you enough rebound. otherwise you get one base hit per song =P

[h3r3tic]

LOL
And I thought that by one of my guitar players's hand having it's own mind was an issue! :P lololol

[da cheese walks]

but with this method make sure your batter head is tight enough to get you enough rebound. otherwise you get one base hit per song =P

haha god i remember doing that once at a gig....eep!!!yeah i have like no tension on my pedals an it works well for me....i used to do lots of little hits in one beat....which was crap!!haha!

[Drummer30]

Well a good idea would be to first slow everything down, by the sounds of it you are out of the speed that your foot can play these notes. I like my pedal to be loose enough that after one stroke and taking the foot off, the pedal will swing back and forth a bit, the pedal will always come back if the spring attached, just make it so that the beater doesn't go down and not come back (good call d-c drummer). Play every combination possible. Take the break down of "1 e + a" and play every combo within those four positions. Then work in 4/4 time and put together full bars of the same one beat pattern, and then mix it up a bit. To make it easier, start with nothing more than a group of two sixteenths in a row, and then progress to groups of three, four, etc. This will also help you find what combinations and rhythms fit your drum voice too. The key though is to start slow, if you practice mistakes, you'll play mistakes when it counts. Hope this approach works for you

[aceman]

Or try bringing your heel off the pedal and your toe closer to the bottom of the pedal. This way, the beater does more work instead of your foot. The beater swings more freely and after a short time you should be able to control that swing and easily put it into 16th notes.