George Kollias Double Kick Technique

[inflames]

I was wondering what technique George Kollias used to play his double bass becuase he seems to not use heel toe and waves his feet from side to side.

Cheers

[Hissig Gompen]

Swivel technique. Or I guess he plays straight heel up with the left foot and swivels with the left foot. He explains his approach to it in this vid, after a short rant about triggers and tapping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMGqhYVwOJA

[Tutin]

I'm quoting Tim Waterson here, but I remember George told him that he plays mainly with his ankle on his right foot and uses the ankle on the left but also swivels on every second beat. So it's like R L(swing in) R L R L(swing out) R L. By "in" I mean toward you. George's technique is insane though, I wouldn't recommend trying to learn it till you've done his 16 week program thing.

Try learning swivel like most people, R(swing in) L (swing in) R(swing out) L(swing out). Tim Yeung plays like this, and he's a monster.

The best way to get the hang of the swivel technique is to play slowly, and try taking the right foot part out (because the left foot is the hardest to get swiveling properly), playing your left foot parts on the off beats of the click. That's what I do and it sure helps. Like

R L(swing in) rest L(swing out) rest L(swing in) rest L(swing out)

Then repeat. Another is to play 16th note double bass patterns and then take your right foot out of them.


Also note that swivel isn't just swiveling your feet, you need to play the note too. I find it's more useful simply for making sure you're in the right place in the bar.

[JPW]

That 'trigger tapping' term always gets me see red. Why are low strokes on the bass drum cheating but not on the snare? And I have had the feeling that everytime someone plays double bass with e-drums he is accused of tapping. I guess some people's egos just can't handle that they (or their idol) aren't the only ones capable of certain speeds. I mean if you have triggers why on earth would you want to waste energy like that? Just to be cool in front of teenagers? ok, fine... I like dynamics.

[inflames]

Thanks for the answers guys :D

And is his 16 week program on his DVD?

[Tim Waterson]

That 'trigger tapping' term always gets me see red. Why are low strokes on the bass drum cheating but not on the snare? And I have had the feeling that everytime someone plays double bass with e-drums he is accused of tapping. I guess some people's egos just can't handle that they (or their idol) aren't the only ones capable of certain speeds. I mean if you have triggers why on earth would you want to waste energy like that? Just to be cool in front of teenagers? ok, fine... I like dynamics.

IMHO LOW notes are not cheating but you NEED to be able to hear the notes in order to stay in time.
I can go stupid fast if i just rebound lightly off the head much faster than the WFD stuff but no practicle use for it YET if I cant hear it over the other drums its just not very usefull.
Yes triggers can help BUT I also want to HEAr my bass drum and Not just the trigger feels better that way.

The faster you go the shoter the distance of travel will be in just physics.
Your right dynamics are created when you increase or decrease your distance from the drumhead.
One of the things i really admire about GEORGE is you can hear his feet and hands cleanly at just about any speed.
Tim

[JPW]

IMHO LOW notes are not cheating but you NEED to be able to hear the notes in order to stay in time.
I can go stupid fast if i just rebound lightly off the head much faster than the WFD stuff but no practicle use for it YET if I cant hear it over the other drums its just not very usefull.
Yes triggers can help BUT I also want to HEAr my bass drum and Not just the trigger feels better that way.

The faster you go the shoter the distance of travel will be in just physics.
Your right dynamics are created when you increase or decrease your distance from the drumhead.
One of the things i really admire about GEORGE is you can hear his feet and hands cleanly at just about any speed.
Tim

Yes, of course, speed is nothing without accuracy and timing. My point was just that I always respect the drummer with more technical vocabulary that the one with less. So if you ONLY can do full strokes or ONLY low strokes on any instrument you are inferior to the one that can do both. =) Nothing wrong with either of those. I just don't like it when a viable technique (in a certain situation) is bashed as cheating and other type of playing is praised as the only 'TRUE' one. And I'm fairly certain George CAN do both. So I'm not bashing him about his skills, only about bad wording. =) Since now there are all these 'not so great young drummers' floating on the internet bashing everyone who plays it lower. >(