DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

Hey all,

Above all the things I know and have read here, BD technique is still a problem of mine, and I have resolved to solve it.

SO! My foot tends to be kind of "twitchy" and uncoordinated. Endurance just isnt there anymore. It seems as if my foot has forgot how to do the simplest single stroke somehow.  It hasn't always been this way, it just seems in the last several months it has lost its memory.

Would anybody suggest any excercises to build up the muscles and get control back in my feet?
Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
Z

BTW Bart, I may have to have a Video Correspondance lessons with you about this.

I had that problem once for about a week until I realized that the chain on my pedal was messed up--it was slightly off the cam, and therefore not as responsive as it should have been.  For that whole week I thought it was my foot getting dumb, but it turned out to be a hardware problem.

If this has been happening to you for quite some time, it's probably not that, but it couldn't hurt to double check, if you haven't already.  I've had similar issues with mysterious "seat height" changes that throw me off until I realize what the problem is. 

Good luck, in any case.

I spend a lot of time playing mid-tempo 8's on hi-hat, 2 & 4 on snare and various simple bass drum patterns (start with 1 & 3).
The hi-hat and snare parts allow you to switch your attention away from them and concentrate on what your bass drum foot is doing.
Try to make all the bass drum strokes even in volume and evenly spaced. Note whether you are more comfortable leaving the bass drum beater resting against the head between strokes ('burying the beater') or not.
You can play 1 & 3 on BD, or 1 and two 8th notes on 3, or 1 and 3 with an 8th note just before 3. These are all basic rock beats and they crop up on a zillion records, so they are worth practising.
Steady and consistent bass drum playing is very often neglected by drummers, especially since the craze for double pedals and 'blast beats'.
There's no substitute for basic and simple ground work though.
 :)

Besides a possible hardware thing, twitchy may indicate a very high tension on the pedal.  I agree with the previous post in making sure the pedal itself is fine.  Beyond that experiment with tension settings to see if notice any difference in your playing.

Wrong throne height can really be the reason. Don't forget to check that.

I'm going to second Chris here - slow, steady practice putting ALL of your available attention on your right leg/foot is the way to go. The "twitching" is more than likely muscle tension (and I'll be it's in your solaris and calf muscles...) The only way to get rid of said tension is to slow WAAAAAY down and focus on playing the pedal with as little tension as possible in the entire leg from the hip down. I would recommend some work playing heel down and moving to heel up when you've corrected some of the problem. You may even try isolating the BD foot and playing simple combinations of 1/4s and 1/8s at a slow tempo and working on keeping any and all tension from building up in the foot. If you have tension/twitching STOP!. Take a moment, breathe and consciously release the tension in your whole body and start again at a slower tempo. 

I think i might have this problem... how should i determine the right height?

A lot of players sit with their thighs parallel to the floor, or slightly higher.  That's the height suggested to me by my chiropractor.

Yeah, start with the top of the stool set to the top of your knee cap and adjust (in small increments) from there.

I have to admit that some double bass players also sit a bit lower than thighs parallel to the floor. I saw a part of Dave Lombardo's clinic where he said that once he had problems because he was sitting too high.

I don't say it is wrong sitting a bit higher than "thighs parallel" position, but I would recommend to start from this position and try to adjust both ways (up and down) in small increments.

alrighty, i appreciate the input once again :D. ill be testing around with all that.

I think it's hard to determine an ideal stool height.
Although I think some of the suggestions above seem very sensible.
Without being too scientific about it, I think I originally set my stool height so that I felt completely relaxed and comfortable, in a seated position, with my feet flat on the floor, not on the pedals. Once that is determined, that I also felt equally comfortable with my foot on the pedals.
To be honest, I set my toms at a sensible height, my snare drum likewise - positioned between the bass drum and mounted toms, then I set my stool height so I can comfortably rimshot the snare.

Wow, sounds upside down to me :). I set my stool height so I can comfortably play the BD while staying relaxed, and then I position my snare so I can comfortably rimshot it. But my philosophy is -- always use your way as far as it works for you. Something you feel comfortable cannot be wrong :)

As I said, I think you start with the "rule of thumb" and then make your adjustments from there. Chances are, if you set your stool to about the height of the top of your knee cap, when you sit, your feet will sit nicely flat on the floor. We're just built that way.  ;) Lots of great players sit lower or higher. But I would caution against being too committed to this:


Not entirely true. Our bodies and nervous systems can easily adapt to postures and movements which are inefficient and causing longer term problems. Otherwise we wouldn't see repetitive strain injuries in wrists, or lower back problems from sitting too low, etc. Age has a part to play in this as well, as we tend to lose some of our ability to recover from bad, and adapt to new, postures. Things that don't hurt you at 20, will definitely hurt you at 30-something.

Not true at all - if we talk about the posture. I was talking about the way of setting up drums (being comfortable about the way) - sorry if I was not clear.

As to the posture, I believe you don't really feel it is comfortable if your body has to adapt. However, I totally agree that it is a good idea to start from a known efficient and ergonomic posture which hardly results in injury, because often you are not sure if discomfort comes from lack of skill or just from wrong posture.

You kinda bypassed my opening statement:


Essentially after many years of setting up different kits, different configurations, I don't think about my set-up too much anymore. Hence, I know what a sensible tom and snare height are going to be instinctively,
I can feel comfortable playing my bass drum with a few inches latitude up or down on the stool. But I find the relationship between my legs and snare drum rim is much more critical, especially if I want to retain a reasonably straight and relaxed back.