bass pedal swing

jacqui_crack

Junior Member
Hi

i am sure there are a gazillion posts on this but it is driving me insane. i got a pearl kit which came with a 120-p bass pedal. i'm new to drumming so this is my first kit. I am finding that when i want to do a fast syncopated beat with the bass that my pedal swings and i lose power/control because of it and my crisp beat ends up like scramble eggs.
Is it a ME thing or a PEDAL thing?
 
i know what you mean.. the front stays attached to the bass drum, but the heel part swings around and wnt stay straight.

i had this problem with my stock pearl pedal, then i bought a dw7000 double pedal, which has incredible velcro, so problem solved, but i recently upgraded to pearl eliminator pedals, which dont have any velcro, which sucks! and now im having it a bit.

instead of that piece of rubber that keeps the pedal from scratching your hoop, get a small piece of skateboard griptape (the grittier the better) my new custom kit came with this and it helps a lot
 
i'm not good at explaining...

what i meant was the beater head....when i want to do something fast i guess it doesn't return to position fast very well and swings foward and back. It could purely be that i'm not kicking it hard enough, but if i am doing a quick dense sequence i have a powerful initial kick then gradually it just turns to mush even if i kick just as hard.

it's not so much about the actual pedal moving - i blame my terrible explanation/word choice for that. but thanks all the same.
 
You have to control the pedal, don't let it swing out of hand (or foot in this case).
Never let your foot lose contact with the pedal. This might mean not rising your knees as high on the upstrokes and using more ankle to propel the pedal in order to get power.

Your pedal should swing as long as possible when you depress it, the longer it swings, the smoother the action.
 
thanks man
yeaaah i lift my heel/foot off sometimes =X my teacher cannot see that. but that's a habit from piano. now i know it's a me thing i can scratch a new pedal off my wishlist.
 
yeah scratch out the new pedal. I spent the first year of my playing with this crap no brand pedal and it really made me work on my technique to get the best out of it. I've now got a decent pedal and it just makes it so much easier, but that strength/control only came from learning with the other pedal. well thats just my opinion.

As for it being a habit from piano, i can certainly understand that having played piano for over 10 years. However, once you do get used to the motion, having played the piano is actually a benefit i feel and you have a greater sense of coordination/timing/control with your foot than if you hadn't.
 
Now the real trick is not to go too far the other way and "bury the beater." My constant point of focus is playing "off the head"...not muting the bass drum with the beater...while still having full control of the pedal.

Challenging, but worth the time. Good instructional DVDs on the subject are available.
 
Back
Top