Can a better pedal improve my technique?

Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

I had an old set of Tama double Iron Cobras. Due to a lot of transportation and setting up/tearing down, the middle connecting bar started to wear, at the place the screws held in the middle.

Dude... you need to stop over-tightening all the screws on your kit. They just need to be firm, not torqued to insanity. That connecting rod never needs to have those screws loosened/tightened once you've set it for the proper size/width. You just need to fasten the bolts where it attaches to each pedal.

I bet you crank the $hit out of your cymbal stands and tom mounts too. Your poor drums...
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

Dude... you need to stop over-tightening all the screws on your kit. They just need to be firm, not torqued to insanity. That connecting rod never needs to have those screws loosened/tightened once you've set it for the proper size/width. You just need to fasten the bolts where it attaches to each pedal.

I bet you crank the $hit out of your cymbal stands and tom mounts too. Your poor drums...

I do. But I blame Slingerland for this. My very first kit was about 25 years old when I got it 30 years ago. Nothing stayed where it needed to, and I started adjusting tighter, and tighter, until it just fell (ball joints, extension arms, everything...).

And when I've broken screws, it's because I'm using some new wrench or gizmo that supposedly makes things easier... I've found that nothing replaces the old T-key. Definitely a lot more sensitive for tuning and tightening.

It's the little things...

*edit: But now that I recall - the connecting bar had to be collapsed, because it didn't fit into the case. So I had to remove the bar from both pedals, and then again loosen (or remove) the screws to collapse the connecting bar so it fit inside the case.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

Kind of a tricky question. I'd say a qualified yes, to a small degree. But practice and technique is far more important.

The qualifier is defining 'better'. I had a very inexpensive, beginner's pedal, that I could really wail with. Not sure exactly why - probably a combination of size, spring tension, beater length/weight, and so on.

Anyways, the point is that most drummers would probably laugh at that pedal if you called it 'better'. But still, I could play faster, and it felt more natural, than some much more expensive pedals I've tried.

Maybe it's better to respond to the OP's question with a question:

What, exactly, are you doing to improve your foot technique? If the answer is shopping for pedals, well...

A good teacher would be able to look at your current ability, and write down at least 5 exercises to practice in order to improve your technique and speed. If you practice those 5 things for 2 minutes each day (10 minutes a day total), you should see significant improvement in 2 weeks, and serious improvement in 6 weeks.

And you should buy a decent pedal as a reward for your hard work. Before you buy, try out all those exercises on a bunch of pedals at your local shop. Because of your practice, you will be much more aware of what makes a particular pedal feel good. Without that practice under your belt, you'll just buy the pedal that looks cool, or that someone else said is very good.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

What, exactly, are you doing to improve your foot technique? If the answer is shopping for pedals, well...

Well put, Brent.

It's never an easy question to answer. There's no doubt a quality pedal can free you up from limitations......but it's no guarantee that it's actually the pedal that is the problem in the first place.

Now grant it, I haven't put in the hours of learning how to get complicated mult-strokes out of the pedal but when I do practice on it, it feels really awkward and cumbersome. Am I feeling this solely because I'm a noob drummer or can a crappy pedal contribute to this? In other words if I upgrade my pedal will it help improvement of my technique?

To me this^^^ speaks volumes mate.....especially the bold sections. It's not uncommon for younger or inexperienced players to blame the "crappy" gear when more often than not it's the Indian, not the arrow. I don't mean to lecture you, but I've been there myself. I used to complain about my "crappy drum kit" and how I'd be better if I had a new one.......right up until my old man sat down and smoked it on the kit I had. He handed me back my sticks and said nothing more than "sounds alright to me". It was a valuable lesson to learn.

Yes, quality gear can assist you in improving your technique.....but it's not a guarantee. Especially if it's not the real problem to begin with. The pedal can't play for you. You still need to put in the work. If you're not putting in the time and effort then it won't matter what pedal you have. Something to think about.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

What I love about new gear is that it can really motivate you to play. Often, this incentive alone makes it worth buying a nice new doohickey every now and then. :)
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

What I love about new gear is that it can really motivate you to play. Often, this incentive alone makes it worth buying a nice new doohickey every now and then. :)

When I was younger, new shoes made me run faster...

New bike...
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

Better pedals will improve the speed of your technique, and make it easier to do what you are doing with less fatigue, but will not better your technique unless it is a technique that is being hindered by slow heavy pedals.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

When I was younger, new shoes made me run faster...

New bike...

What I meant was more in the way of shiney new toys will make you sit on your drums more, lifting your game in the long run through practice, rather than voodoo :)

We all try to get the maximum out of our new pedals when we get them home from the store. If you just channel that initial enthusiasm and refuse to get off those pedals for a few months, guaranteed you will improve. It won't be just the pedal, but it might just be pedal, if you get my drift!
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

What I meant was more in the way of shiney new toys will make you sit on your drums more, lifting your game in the long run through practice, rather than voodoo :)

We all try to get the maximum out of our new pedals when we get them home from the store. If you just channel that initial enthusiasm and refuse to get off those pedals for a few months, guaranteed you will improve. It won't be just the pedal, but it might just be pedal, if you get my drift!

Oh, no, no, no... I was agreeing with you. New shoes = new pedals. It gets me outside running around = playing drums.

I'm the same way with cymbals... When shiny and new, I tend to practice different styles.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

As a relative noob drummer and a picky gear hound, I'll take a swing at this.

To answer the question in your thread title, I'd have to say, no, a better pedal cannot improve your technique.

Perhaps what you really wanted to know is whether a poor pedal can hinder your technique, and in my experience (including 35 years of playing guitar, bass, and keyboards, woodworking, electronics, computers, etc.), unequivocally, YES, crappy gear can hold you back.

gish mentioned it in passing, but the first thing I would do in you situation is make sure I had adjusted my existing pedal properly.

When I first started playing a year ago, I borrowed a low end Tama from a friend and struggled with it. Then I picked up a low end Pearl on CL and suddenly I could play a lot of stuff more easily that I couldn't with the Tama.

Eventually, I examined how the pedals were adjusted, and the spring was cranked way tight on the Tama, and the beater angle was way back. After I changed those things, the pedal became much friendlier (although I still preferred the Pearl).

Also, check your throne height. May seem odd, but I find that throne height affects my bass pedal technique.

Bottom line: learn how to set up and adjust your hardware. This will serve you well when you eventually get a better pedal with half a dozen adjustments on it.

(All I have said goes for the hi hat stand as well. When I tuned the spring tension, etc. I could do a lot more subtle stuff.)

Anyway, Guitar Center sent out a card showing a brand new Tama pedal for $40 on their Labor Day sale. Might be a good bet.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

I would say: brands aside, chain, direct drive or strap makes a big difference to the feel of a pedal.

Because I am an old fart, in the old days you chose between direct drive and a strap. The strap tended to be favoured by jazzers because of its lighter feel. I have noticed some classic drummers still play with a strap - probably because that is what they used from youth.

Chain drives appeared (I think) in the 80s. Personally I am not sure why they became standard but I suppose they must be more robust than the other styles.

I think direct drives are better because a movement mismatch between the plate and the beater is impossible. But if you are a metalhead then a chain might be better for robustness.

It is an important choice because I think your foot and movements will get used to the type of pedal. For a period of time I changed to a chain drive (because of peer pressure and a lack of choice at the time) and my technique suffered.

And I have to say - drum shops tend to be pretty useless in this area, because from my experience they are more worried about brands rather than this important choice. I have found some drum shops don't even stock the three choices .... but this could be the fault of the brands themselves. If I was manufacturing pedals I would have models with each type. As far as I know only Gibraltar do this with their Intruder pedals.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/?fa=detail&mid=1145&sid=689&cid=26
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

I can play just as fast with my $50 pedal as I can on my $180 pedal. A beginner pedal not so much but I can play the same with any pedal that is $50 or over range with a few small adjustments. With more expensive pedals it helps slightly more so with feel vs. my actual performance. Don't fool yourself into thinking better gear will make you a better player. I used the same old Camco pedal for years and it was great! The re-issue Camco pedals are also great.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

now that I recall - the connecting bar had to be collapsed, because it didn't fit into the case. So I had to remove the bar from both pedals, and then again loosen (or remove) the screws to collapse the connecting bar so it fit inside the case.

Just place the connecting bar as is into your stick bag. Then again, maybe you have it set up really wide?
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

Interesting how much discussion this thread has generated. It's pretty straight forward in my eyes.. Some pedals do hold you back, and you can really shine on others. On the other side - I play on several different kits and think each pedal has taught me something different about technique, but also made me more aware of how much input my feet actually have in the scheme of things (its not all about the pedals). I can pretty much do everything that I do on all pedals, save for slight differences in speed and of course power. Even a worn out joint on a slave pedal isnt such a big deal to me anymore, I can play around it, but then I have been doing it for a while now. So I would agree that drummers too often blame their pedals.
 
Re: can a better pedal improve my technique?

Just place the connecting bar as is into your stick bag. Then again, maybe you have it set up really wide?
I'm glad I saw this. Thanks! I think I do have it extended a little bit too much. But I do this because I set up 3-up/1or2down. My hihat is always slightly to the left of my highest tom (1 of 3), so it is offset to the left a little more than average, and I set up my left pedal to be adjacent to it... So because my hihat is over so far, the left pedal is a little further than normal as well.

I find this setup good, because when I go home, I have 2 actual bass drums, and the pedal layout is identical.
 
The brutal truth?

It's not the pedal.

It's never the pedal, or the stick, or the drumhead, or anything else except you.
 
The brutal truth?

It's not the pedal.

It's never the pedal, or the stick, or the drumhead, or anything else except you.


Ya - if you consider the question "Can a better pedal improve my technique?" literally, then the answer has to be "No - it can't".

What it might be able to do is make your current technique a little easier, smoother, quicker, or less fatiguing.

The only way to actually improve your technique is to practice. Technique is not supplied when you buy a pedal - LOL.
 
Hmm. I've played on pedals at jams that were old, stiff, and generally very unpleasant, very much like the pedal from my first kit. I certainly could make them work, but I didn't enjoy the experience- and as a result I always take my own pedal now.

And in that, there is a grain of truth. An old instructor of mine once said "Practice makes perfect, but only if you practice perfectly". You will play the way you practice. And if a pedal is so nasty stiff/sloppy/gnarly that you have to adapt your technique to it, and you practice extensively with it, then it can and very definitely will *influence* your technique. Improve or harm is in the eye of the beholder at that point.

I know that it took me a long time to recover from the bad habits I learned to make my first crappy pedal work: when I got my first Speed King with nice smooth non-gummy bearings, it was quite a revelation, and my playing did improve in ways that simply would not have been possible with the original. So I would counsel caution in making blanket statements like "It's not the pedal". Fact is, there really *are* some out no-name/budget/old/abused pedals out there that are mechanically bad enough to screw a young player up- especially if they aren't taking lessons from a good instructor...

Dropping cash on gear certainly isn't a cure-all, but there are some specific issues that improved gear can help cure sometimes. Maybe it isn't common, but it does happen.
 
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...I always take my own pedal now.

... if a pedal is so nasty stiff/sloppy/gnarly that you have to adapt your technique to it, and you practice extensively with it, then it can and very definitely will *influence* your technique. Improve or harm is in the eye of the beholder at that point.

I know that it took me a long time to recover from the bad habits I learned to make my first crappy pedal work: when I got my first Speed King with nice smooth non-gummy bearings, it was quite a revelation, and my playing did improve in ways that simply would not have been possible with the original. So I would counsel caution in making blanket statements like "It's not the pedal". Fact is, there really *are* some out no-name/budget/old/abused pedals out there that are mechanically bad enough to screw a young player up- especially if they aren't taking lessons from a good instructor...

Dropping cash on gear certainly isn't a cure-all, but there are some specific issues that improved gear can help cure sometimes. Maybe it isn't common, but it does happen.
I went through a multi-year process to learn this myself. I had to get rid of my cheap Ludwig pedals. But I think I knew this because of how my Ludwig pedals didn't do what I kept asking them to do.

Same with drum head (tension). I don't place emphasis on the drum head (regarding technique) as much as I do the tension (for rebound, etc...). I do think the stick is the glue that makes all things possible. The pedals and the sticks. Those are your only inputs. Sticks are easier, but the pedals rely on so much other stuff.

I'd make them count. It just so happens that sticks cost $10/pr, and pedals can run around $200+/- for a single. But the differences between them is astronomical when processed by your toes/ball of your foot, legs, balance, brain, etc...
 
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