Stool height and double pedal positions

First off, I'm aware that there's no right answer to these questions and it's all about balance, ergonomics and being in a comfortable playing position.

Double bass drum pedals: how do you position them and how do you position yourself behind them? I try and keep my left pedal, (slave), as straight as possible because when then hex joints and linker bar are at sharp angles, the pedal response is stiffer. I've gone back and forth between:
1) sitting with my right foot aligned straight with the right pedal, and my left pedal angled inwards and pulled slightly towards me.
OR
2) sitting evenly between my pedals so my right foot is kinda playing diagonally across the right pedal and my left pedal is only slightly angled.
How do you position your pedals and yourself between your pedals?

Stool/throne height: I've seen it said countless times that your legs should be at an angle no less that 90 degrees. I sit quite low with my legs at 90-95 degrees otherwise I kinda feel like there's nothing under my feet and I'm playing with my toes. How high do you sit and how does that affect any foot technique you might employ, e.g. swivvel, heel-toe, constant release etc

I was totally looking for a thread like this. Thanks!

For my slave pedal, I literally sat in my drum throne, and looked at how I naturally place my feet, putting my right foot on the pedal and then placing the left where the left foot naturally is. I am still fooling around with the tension, but it feels real natural.

As for the throne height. I sit high, really high. Due to the fact that I am 6' 4" and hove long legs it is a given. The bottom of the seat is 21 inches from the ground. I might even move it higher. My knees never go higher than my hips. Knee angle is probably in the 100's of degree's. I play heel up and heel down, and trying to learn that Jojo Mayer foot technique.

I feel really comfortable that way.

topgun2021 said:

I feel really comfortable that way.

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Goreliscious...

That sums it up perfectly. The only draw back is if proper technique is being sacraficed for it. While something might feel comfortable and it's what you are used to it might not be the most beneficial.

Think of it as a child who sucks thier fingers passed pre-teen years. Sure, it might feel good... it might help to keep them calm and comfortable. But what happens? They buck thier teeth and could possibly end up with with a larger problem than anticipated.

The same goes with drumming. What we percieve as comfortable might not always be healthy for what we are moving towards. If we develop bad habits it can take years and much hard work to break if we were just taught properly from the beginning.

Do you have an instructor?

I have my main pedal positioned straight in front and the slave pedal is curved inward to the right, it sounds weird but it feels the best for me(other than two bass, both turning inwards)

That Guy said:

Goreliscious...

That sums it up perfectly. The only draw back is if proper technique is being sacraficed for it. While something might feel comfortable and it's what you are used to it might not be the most beneficial.

Think of it as a child who sucks thier fingers passed pre-teen years. Sure, it might feel good... it might help to keep them calm and comfortable. But what happens? They buck thier teeth and could possibly end up with with a larger problem than anticipated.

The same goes with drumming. What we percieve as comfortable might not always be healthy for what we are moving towards. If we develop bad habits it can take years and much hard work to break if we were just taught properly from the beginning.

Do you have an instructor?

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Yes I do, but we rarely ever do any drum set. Only snare and mallets.

However you might think it is bad, but look at Thomas Lang, Even though he is shorter I think the throne height to body height ratio is even smaller than mine and he is freaking godly on foot pedals.
This is pretty good view of Thomas Lang's sitting style
Another, I think he slightly changes his style
He used to sit this low

Here is his explanation.
I am getting into the multi-pedal scene. I find it helps foot movement between pedals. Actually I think my knees are almost even with my hips if that helps. It's not like I am sitting on a timpani stool.

I would also like to know what is wrong. You never pointed out any reason why I can't sit as high as I do. I got sore faster before I changed, maybe two years ago or less. I've been playing 9 years total. There is only one thing that bothers me is my left hip, although it was a non drum related injury. Basketball to be exact. So I don't think I am hurting myself.

Honestly though, whenever I sit down on a set at guitar center I my knees are sometimes so high It takes massive effort to play. I also find it hard to play heel down with my knees higher than my hips.

What happened to preference? The range of possibilities for set ups is almost endless.

The only thing I have a problem with is speed. I never really had fast feet but I am practicing. However, I was just recently trying a new angle for the pedals. I changed back to what I did before but the tension springs are in need of fine tuning.

also when I meant 100's of degrees, not like 200 degrees, that would be impossible. more like 100-105 degrees.

I didn't say you were doing anything wrong. I was agreeing with your comfortability statement. The only reason that being comfortable could have a draw back was if you weren't able to perform properly.

Maybe I'm just reading what your asking wrong. Who knows.

That Guy said:

I didn't say you were doing anything wrong. I was agreeing with your comfortability statement. The only reason that being comfortable could have a draw back was if you weren't able to perform properly.

Maybe I'm just reading what your asking wrong. Who knows.

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Quote him then not me. You're confusing people here.


Also I guess as long as you don't when you play you are playing the right way with your feet.

I generally think if your comfortable when you play you play better.

Sometimes this can help:

Move your kit out of the way and just set up your drum throne.

Sit down and close you eyes.

Position your feet about as wide as you think they should be. Be sure they are wide enough to position a snare in front of you.

Now raise both legs at the same time a few inches off the floor. If you are not balanced, you will know right away. ;-)

Now adjust the seat higher or lower and repeat. Try to find the best balance for YOU. Everyone is different. Even if you are the same height your bodies are different.

A lot of this balance thing depends on if you sit on the edge of your seat or in the middle. Recheck your posture. Keep your eyes closed and try air drumming with both feet raised. Keep adjusting until you are comfortable.

Try leaning a little forward and backward as you do this with your eyes closed and see how that feels.

Get a full length mirror if you can. Set it up so you can see yourself while seated - so you can check your posture.

Once you get comfortable, put your shoes in the spot your feet were to mark you place.

Now bring in the snare drum and put it in place. Check that your legs still have clearance. Pay attention to how close or far the snare is from your body. Are you comfortable? Once you are, then add the bass drum pedals.

Repeat the exercise. Adjust as needed.

Add the hi hat and repeat.

I like my throne highth to be were my legs are sloping downwards when my heals are in the up position, with the balls of my feet still on the pedals. I sit on the front half of the throne. When my feet are down and relaxed, I can see my toes over my knees. I also set up so my feet rest in the position to take advantage of the sweet spot on the pedal. Both feet are on each pedal the same way. Check out this vid to see what I mean (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UNzyCeJ8nzA&feature=channel_page). Good luck.....T

Rezn8 said:

Now raise both legs at the same time a few inches off the floor. If you are not balanced, you will know right away. ;-)

Now adjust the seat higher or lower and repeat. Try to find the best balance for YOU.

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I don't understand, Rezn8. As both legs are in front of the torso, you can't keep the balance with both legs up unless you lean the body backwards to counter the gravity. (And leaning back isn't a good posture for drumming, right?) I can't see why seat height is part of the equation...What do I miss?

sciomako said:

I don't understand, Rezn8. As both legs are in front of the torso, you can't keep the balance with both legs up unless you lean the body backwards to counter the gravity. (And leaning back isn't a good posture for drumming, right?) I can't see why seat height is part of the equation...What do I miss?

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When you sit to low a couple of bad things happen. 1- You start having to lift your legs more with your upper leg muscles and your hip. This means more work than you need to. 2- You also have to lean back further to compensate for your leg weight. This can lead to back problems (take my word for it, I happened to me). It took me a long time to get used to sitting where I do now, and be completely comfortable. Now when I sit low I don't no how I played like that for so long.(20 years or so, Ive been playing for 36 years). Sitting higher has freed up my leg movements and given me much more endurance and control with my feet. I play almost all heal-up. Do this: set your throne up to low, as in when your legs are at rest, your knees are higher than your hip. Now raise ONE leg and feel where you are moving it ( muscle groups). Then raise your throne so your legs are angling down and do the same leg raise What is the difference? It also matters where on the throne you sit. To far back and you have to again use to much upper leg. If you sit on the front half of the throne, It frees up you upper leg and you should feel lighter on the balls of your feet. To me, with a proper set-up of height and where on the throne I sit, makes me feel like I'm
dancing on the pedals and springing of the ground. Kind of like jumping and landing. To low feels like I'm lifting my leg to push down the pedal. Very heavy feeling with less results. I hope this helps........T

One of the hardest questions to answer and figure out on your own in my opinion. For me i found the way that works for me. First i am short like 5' 5" but i tend to sit really high so that only my toes can touch the ground. I found that it is very comfortable and i only mainly play heel up. Its all i really can since my stool is so high but for more relaxed playing i lower my seat and play heel down but im mostly playing with my metal band so it is never easy going.

Knowing how high i could sit i could try and figure out pedal positions. My way of doing this was that i sat in a regular old chair on the most comfortable way and actually marked the ground and then brought my pedals out and sat them on top of the markings. Then i measured between the pedals from heel plate to heel plate and from front to front so i could get the perfect set up.

Which means that i angle my bass drum and my slave pedal which is my left. Yes i know i said my slave is my left which it is i am a lefty drummer. But yes i angle both of them and sit perfectly in the midle of them and sit really close to my snare drum.

So, i hope that helps because it helped me to my perfect drum pedal set up. As for the height of the throne i say just experiment.

What ever configuration you decide upon you should take this into account.
When you sit on your throne and place your feet on your pedals you shouldn't be reaching, your feet should fall comfortable. Contrastly, they shouldn't so close to your body in a way that makes your legs feel like their jammed. This has given me the best results.

sciomako said:

I don't understand, Rezn8. As both legs are in front of the torso, you can't keep the balance with both legs up unless you lean the body backwards to counter the gravity. (And leaning back isn't a good posture for drumming, right?) I can't see why seat height is part of the equation...What do I miss?

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Seat height is a HUGE part of the equation! That's why I'm trying to get the point across to experiment. You'll be amazed what you can or can't do depending on the seat height as well as the distance you are from the pedals.

My point about raising both legs is simply to help you find a better balance point. With most double bass drumming -especially the really fast stuff - both feet will be in the air and being off balance will only hinder your abilities.

So just to be more clear - just raise your feet a few inches off the floor. If you have stronger stomach muscles you won't need to lean back. But the point is ultimately to redefine your center and find a better balance.

For the original poster's question - I think many drummers find themselves with the pedals angled in a V. Think of a tripod stand - (your butt being the third leg) and you end up sitting in a near perfect triangle.

Rezn8 said:

If you have stronger stomach muscles you won't need to lean back. But the point is ultimately to redefine your center and find a better balance.

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Hi Rezn8,

I'm still a beginner, please bear with me.

I actually tried it last night. If I lifted both feet off ground, I would be off balance unless I leaned backwards. I tried adjust the seat higher but it didn't make a difference. (With all due respect, I really can't see how not to lean backwards, as with the centre of gravity in front of the body it's defying physics.) It seems to me the only way to avoid leaning backwards is to sit further back so my thighs are partially supported by the throne. But I suppose it's not recommended, is it?

Having said this, I did be able to lift both feet off the ground within leaning my upper body in any direction IF I let my toes lightly touching the pedals. i.e. the spring of the pedals are supporting the weight of my legs. Is this what we are aiming?

I am not sure what these experiments leave me....

Sorry this isn't much help to you. I was shown this technique of "finding your center of gravity" and it helped me find a better balance, so I'm trying to pass it along.

Many of us drummers tend put all our weight (or lean) on our hi hat or second BD pedals. This experiment helped me and others get away from that. I tried it last night again and realized two things:
-helps to sit more in the middle of the throne
-easier on round thrones than bicycle seat style

I guess different body styles as well as different set ups will give you different results.

Well in my opinion you should first sit confortably on your stool making your legs to make more than 90 degree. In my case like if you look to a clock and my legs are the pointers, then it would be like a 6:12 position. And after you're confortable with the sitting position and your pedals according to the position of your feet.

Hope this helps!

Thanks h3r3tic and Rezn8.

I'm keen to get my sitting position and gesture sorted out.

Is it fair to say, in general, we need to sit a bit higher than we will sit on a chair at a desk, so that the thighs are slightly sloppy down?

a year ago i ajusted my throne really high to force me to use my ankles more when playing. ive gotten so much faster because of it, havent lost any power,and considering im a short guy ,only 5'6", its also helps with my hands cause i sit much higher over my snare and toms and can easily reach everything. also sitting too low ate up so much energy and speed and contributed to me playing through the pedal so to speak,stomping way harder than i needed to.

"Is it fair to say, in general, we need to sit a bit higher than we will sit on a chair at a desk, so that the thighs are slightly sloppy down?"


You know, that's been a good rule of thumb but the truth is everybody is different. I mean everyone's BODY is different. Shorter legs longer arms, small thin frames large thin frames, etc. etc. etc.

You may be the same height as someone, but your legs maybe longer with a shorter torso.

Regardless of whether my suggestions above have helped or not -- and regardless of the general rules, it is imperative to experiment. Especially now when you're just starting out.

So try a bunch of different heights. Try a bunch of different positions. Try moving your seat back away from the kit a bit. Try sitting on the edge of the stool vs the center...

Change the tension of your beaters. Try playing the pedals in the center, the back, the front. But always try to keep your posture in mind. Try to be seated comfortably above all else. You're spine will thank you in the end.