the spring is exerting a certain amount of force on the pedal at all times. This, in turn, is holding the pedal against the foot. If the spring tension is decreased, it seems that the pedal will not be held as firmly against the foot. Does that mean the pedal will be somewhat less responsive to the subtle movements of the foot?
WOW....We really are GEEKS!
Drummist, When you said this, "This seems to imply that the faster the double stroke, the more important the rebound is and the less important the spring is." Does this mean I'm correct. Thanks for you're input. T
I get that a lot.
Essentially, yes. Keep in mind that I'm making some assumptions here that may not be borne out by the facts, but my reasoning indicates that in a fast double stroke the spring doesn't have time to significantly accelerate the pedal. You can try to test this by attempting double strokes with no drum head, just the pedal sitting by itself. I just tried this and it doesn't seem like the pedal gets back fast enough for those really really fast doubles I hear the pros doing, but my tension is pretty loose and I'm certainly no technique guru. It certainly comes back fast enough to allow some decent doubles, though. Let us know if you figure anything out.
Also, let's keep in mind that what happens after the second stroke is finished will be only influenced by the spring. Matt espouses a technique where you return to a relaxed position after a series of doubles, and if the spring were too loose this probably wouldn't work; you'd get extra strokes or something.
To really answer the question, we would need a quantitative analysis of the forces involved and an analysis of the optimal conditions for different techniques. The first would require someone to take apart their pedal and measure the spring constant and then find a way to measure the velocity of the beater just before it hits the head. The second would require someone who knows the techniques much better than I to do a lot of thinking. Sounds like Matt's making some progress, but I'm sure a collective effort would be more efficient. Obviously, the techniques and the spring tension/ head tension will influence each other, probably in a fairly complex manner, and there's never a right answer for everyone, but I'm certainly enjoying the discussion.
wow this thread has become a whole new type of monster lol. Ive been fooling around with it and ive gotten use to the new looser tension and its working better.
the bottom line is the looser you can have your spring and still get the desired response and do what you need to the better because its requires less force.
So we've succeeded in making you sorry for asking? I believe our work here is done gentlemen.
Such a great thread. Now its got me wondering about the beaters throw. I'm going to mess with the springs, but what effect would the beaters throw and/or length adjustment have?
Such a great thread. Now its got me wondering about the beaters throw. I'm going to mess with the springs, but what effect would the beaters throw and/or length adjustment have?
If you check out this clip ( Pause at 0:01) you'll see my set-up for the pedal (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mCUqdPhWz44&feature=channel_page). I like the idea of setting up the pedal beater position to be as close to what a stick feels like in your hand when your fulcrum is in the balance point (sweetspot). I have the beater 1 1/4 inches down the shaft and I put the counterwieght all the way at the end of the beater shaft. This way I am getting the feel of the pedal to feel more like a stick in my hand . At rest my beater sits 90 degrees from the drumhead. Like a full stroke position for the hands, (note; Danmer hard felt beater, DW counterwieght) My spring tension is stated in a previous post on this thread................T