What the hell is up with these double hits????

Mostly very useful advice, but I love the people who chime in knowing already with certainty that it is a technique/bury issue.

I play with different BD techniques, depending on the type of music and other factors.
In my current band, for the kind of stuff we do, I usually find myself playing heel up, and burying the beater. It yields tone that you don't otherwise get with heel down. And for certain stuff, it's just a very natural thing to bury the beater.

I guess after 40 years of play, I still don't know what I'm doing.
 
Stop burying the beater and the problem will be solved.
That all that there is to it.

I tend to do this, and I don't have this problem.

Heel up or down, If you bury, you will get multiple hits on the bass.

I don't. See above. (If I did, I would also consider it a problem.)

I agree that playing off the head, much in the same way as with drumsticks, always gives a more full tone, so I'm not trying to spark a technique debate. I work on it occasionally, but I've done it for years after I started playing the kit. I had great hand technique from school band, but didn't play any kit until after high school. I think I have decent BD technique, besides the beater-burying, i.e. I don't stomp my foot, raise my leg much, I use mostly ankle movement, etc. That all said, it doesn't necessarily imply that the tone one gets from burying the beater is always BAD (mine is quite good), nor is it a given that playing this way is a problem, or will always give double hits or "buzzes".
 
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I don't think this has anything to do with head tension as much as the pedals tension. I play my bass drum fairly tight, no port on the reso, and have had this happen to me when using different pedals. I borrowed a neighbor's PDP pedal for a while and this was happening with his all of the time. Then I got an Iron Cobra and the problem went away. I recently have switched to an old Speed King with no problems. Last week I tried out a "New" Speed KIng and the double-hits came back. Took that back and stayed with the old pedal. I did not change my technique at all throughout all of this.
 
Don't bury the beater. Find a pedal that you like and stick with it, I have used the same DW5000 for years now. I had a bit of trouble getting used to it, but it never affected my playing in a negative way. But this sounds like its all technique.
 
I seemed to be having the same problem. This didn't happen in my drum lessons on a acoustic kit but it does now on my Roland kit. Maybe I did bury the beater in my lessons but never heard it??

Would doing anything to my Pearl Eliminator sort this or do I just have to become aware of the way I'm playing? Maybe tighten or slacken the spring?? I've also read on here that tightening it makes it heavier and slow so I thought that would have stopped the double taps.
 
I seemed to be having the same problem. This didn't happen in my drum lessons on a acoustic kit but it does now on my Roland kit. Maybe I did bury the beater in my lessons but never heard it??

Would doing anything to my Pearl Eliminator sort this or do I just have to become aware of the way I'm playing? Maybe tighten or slacken the spring?? I've also read on here that tightening it makes it heavier and slow so I thought that would have stopped the double taps.

For 18 years, I played my old Tama Camco pedal with the spring tightened all the way, and as stated above, have generally "buried the beater" also, with no buzz or double hit. 2 years ago when I finally retired the Camco and got an Iron Cobra, I tightened that spring all the way too, and got LOTS of buzz/double hits. Either the Camco pedal was old & wearing out, or wasn't as strong as the new pedal's spring to start with, but loosening the spring some did the trick for me. It's still pretty tight but not all-the-way tight like when I first got it.
 
For 18 years, I played my old Tama Camco pedal with the spring tightened all the way, and as stated above, have generally "buried the beater" also, with no buzz or double hit. 2 years ago when I finally retired the Camco and got an Iron Cobra, I tightened that spring all the way too, and got LOTS of buzz/double hits. Either the Camco pedal was old & wearing out, or wasn't as strong as the new pedal's spring to start with, but loosening the spring some did the trick for me. It's still pretty tight but not all-the-way tight like when I first got it.

I think I've tried all combos of tightness on mine but still does it :( I've not tightened it the whole way before though....can that be done on an Eliminator?? I keep turning the thing but it never stops! haha I keep thinking it will end up snapping if I carry on. It's just annoying that I have to be aware of this when playing and stop myself but for 4 years I haven't had to, because it never happened!
 
I seemed to be having the same problem. This didn't happen in my drum lessons on a acoustic kit but it does now on my Roland kit. Maybe I did bury the beater in my lessons but never heard it??

Would doing anything to my Pearl Eliminator sort this or do I just have to become aware of the way I'm playing? Maybe tighten or slacken the spring?? I've also read on here that tightening it makes it heavier and slow so I thought that would have stopped the double taps.

That would be head tension against an over-tight pedal. The Roland heads certainly have more rebound than conventional drum heads and that's what's causing the fast snap back and double hit. To compensate, I'd slacken the spring considerably.

I'm of the opinion that once you've played a certain pedal setup for long enough, you get used to it. I play with a medium-low pedal tension and I'm able to get plenty of power if I want. Tighter springs do not in themselves equal more speed or power - they just add extra resistance and rebound to the stroke. If you're pushing down against a very tight pedal, then it will rebound quickly, but your foot will still have a lot of power from overcoming the physics of the downstroke and you end up with a double stoke. With a higher rebound head, this becomes much worse.

I play on a huge variety of kits, including a kit with a 16" bass drum (high head tension) a 22" (with reasonably low tension) and an electronic set - as well as other peoples' kits on occasion. By having a more versatile pedal setup, I've never had the 'double-hit' problem. At least not in the last seven years. Unburying the beater is good advice, but it sometimes depends on the style you're playing as to whether or not it's appropriate.

It will feel very alien to start with when you slack off the pedal and you might not like it. But stick with it for a couple of weeks and you'll find that the problem disappears and you'll get used to the setup. It will help.
 
That would be head tension against an over-tight pedal. The Roland heads certainly have more rebound than conventional drum heads and that's what's causing the fast snap back and double hit. To compensate, I'd slacken the spring considerably.

I'm of the opinion that once you've played a certain pedal setup for long enough, you get used to it. I play with a medium-low pedal tension and I'm able to get plenty of power if I want. Tighter springs do not in themselves equal more speed or power - they just add extra resistance and rebound to the stroke. If you're pushing down against a very tight pedal, then it will rebound quickly, but your foot will still have a lot of power from overcoming the physics of the downstroke and you end up with a double stoke. With a higher rebound head, this becomes much worse.

I play on a huge variety of kits, including a kit with a 16" bass drum (high head tension) a 22" (with reasonably low tension) and an electronic set - as well as other peoples' kits on occasion. By having a more versatile pedal setup, I've never had the 'double-hit' problem. At least not in the last seven years. Unburying the beater is good advice, but it sometimes depends on the style you're playing as to whether or not it's appropriate.

It will feel very alien to start with when you slack off the pedal and you might not like it. But stick with it for a couple of weeks and you'll find that the problem disappears and you'll get used to the setup. It will help.

Yeah I'm thinking the same, if I play this way for a while I'll just get used to it. I tried slackening the spring as far I could but it still does it. It's really slow at the moment. If I want to do a double hit I press the pedal down but by the time I go for the second hit the foot board is still where I left it! Really slow. I don't know maybe I'm a bit out of practise a bit. I'll just play and play untill I've sorted myself out :D haha Thanks for you help
 
No problem.

Try not to go to the extremes. Try and find a comfortable middle point. It's very easy to think that the extreme of either range is going to be a quicker solution, but it's not - variations in the middle ground are probably the most sane place to adjust your pedals to. In my case, it's the lower end of the middle.

Just let your foot get used to it. It could be overcompensating and tense technique, too - so keep an eye on that.
 
No problem.

Try not to go to the extremes. Try and find a comfortable middle point. It's very easy to think that the extreme of either range is going to be a quicker solution, but it's not - variations in the middle ground are probably the most sane place to adjust your pedals to. In my case, it's the lower end of the middle.

Just let your foot get used to it. It could be overcompensating and tense technique, too - so keep an eye on that.

Okay I'll chill out on the whole spring thing haha! Just a tad impatient, want to be able to play the way I used to be able to without any hassle. Thanks again for the tips :)
 
It's a technique issue. Head tension and pedal setup shouldn't matter, neither does burying the beater. If you're playing heel up, concentrate on using the ball of the foot, don't play with the toes. Repetitive practice is the only way to develop a solid stroke.
 
Ok guys I have been drumming awhile now and recently got into a new kit and am having some very frustrating issues with the bounce back double hit thing going on on the bass drum. I have read some advice but cannot figure this out. Here are the details, I'm running a PS3 batter (not sure the age) but seems to be in great condition, I have a ported reso, and the tension on the bass drum pedals does not seem to make a difference. I have the batter head fairly tight, and the reso running pretty tight as well not over the top by any means just tighter, so should I really loosen them off?
I hve never had this problem before so I wouldn't say it's technique, but am finding it quite frustrating.
Should I buy a new head?
Anyways any advice would be really appreciated.

Cheers

Haha! No waaaaay! Ive just got a new kit and went out a purchased new heads - I am getting the double hit on the kick too! Slight difference though - I am using Evans EMADs. I think maybe the heads just need a good kicking to wear them in... Possibly...
 
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