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norenbt
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« on: November 11, 2002, 07:54 PM » |
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I've been playing my kick drum with heal down for most of my life. I have plenty of speed, but fatigue gets me in sustained fast grooves, like a fast samba.
I'm now trying to transition to the heal up approach on the kick drum pedal. However, I'm having trouble with body balance when my heal comes off the floor. It feels like I need to lean back away from the kit to maintain balance.
I'm looking for tips on how to keep my center of gravity while playing with my kick drum heal off the pedal.
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BlackEvovii
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« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2002, 08:39 PM » |
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Alot of people have that problem with switching to heel up. When you are playing heel up, analyze which is balancing you, your feet or your throne. If its your feet, focus on the throne doing the balance and work with a straight back approach. From there it takes time and practice.
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MVanDoren1
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« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2002, 08:50 AM » |
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This may not have any real correlation but I notice some heel down players sit very high on their thrones. Is this a self asserting opinion of their "highness" over the heel down players? Obviously not BUT some who sit high have to plant their heels on the floor because they are mostly leaning back on the throne rather than sitting on it. This may not describe every heel down player as I've said but I've sat at one friends set even where no way could I use his throne, it felt to me like coming to a standstill on a bicycle, sitting on the seat with feet firmly on the ground- what happens when you pich up your feet on a bike at rest???- YOU hit the ground.
So you might try dropping your seat a bit if you want to experiment around a little. I started off sitting low heel up, now to play heel down I just do it, sometimes without realizing it even. My center of gravity places me ON the throne not in front of it.
But thats just me
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Carn
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« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2002, 10:41 AM » |
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Well, i sit pretty much up in front of the throne, somehow it makes me sit "straighter", a little trick my teacher showed me. I play everything heel down, and if I have to play something like a Samba, I use a some sort of varition on the heel-toe technique (first hit heel down, second heel up, sort of double stroke, down-up), so its actually 1 motion. For the rest, I just practice until i can play it comfortably
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marker
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« Reply #4 on: November 14, 2002, 04:53 PM » |
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I mix the two techniques, so I understand what you're saying. I sit in a "normal" seated position, with my legs angled just a little downward.
With heel up, it's important to maintain a balanced position on the throne.
So, postition your throne so you can sit comfortably with your heels off the floor. Then, position your drums so you can reach them easily, without much leaning, with your heels off the floor.
It's going to be harder to do fills and such heel up. But you can't quite get the oomph you need for some things if you never go this way. Also, certain feels lend themselves to heel up, just as some lend themselves to heel down.
My personal approach at this point is to mix the two. I don't know for sure if that's the right approach, but that's the way I'm doing it.
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rlhubley
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« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2002, 12:22 PM » |
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It seems to me that many, MANY drummers overlook the entire balance concept. I had a teacher that talked to me about this and he gave me some great exercises to help remedy this problem. Here is a great exercise:
Four/Four time
Steady 16ths on the ride with the rh at a pp level (in other words, very soft)
Backbeat with the lh at full volume(rimshots!!)
Steady Eighth notes with the left foot on the hat
For the bass drum there are many options. You can play different 1 beat patterns repeated for the whole exercise(i.e. 1e&, or 1e a, or 1 &a, etc.), or you can read rhythmic patterns. However my favorite is a to play a 4:3 pattern. This will take 3 full measures to comeback around to 1. Basically you will play dotted eighth notes on the bass. This is really effective(and that 4:3 pattern has many practical uses).
The key to this exercise is to keep the ride at a very soft dynamic level. Once you have mastered this exercise in the described way, get creative, this one has a lot of possible variations to work on balance, groove, time, control, etc.
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Bart Elliott
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« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2002, 12:39 PM » |
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rlhubley makes some good suggestions here. I talk about balance more than anything else at my clinics ... and with students. It's one of the key ingredients that makes someone sound like a seasoned pro; separating the boys from the men (so to speak). I'm constantly trying to take my kit balance to a new level; more and more complex grooves, texturing, etc. Having the independence to play any instrument on the kit, using any one limb or combination. Getting to the point that you can play a solo with one limb, while the other limb provide an accompaniment (ie. ostinato, etc). When playing jazz sambas on the drumkit, I'll often keep the ostinato happening between the right-hand and the feet, while the left hand is free to improvise; rhythmically and dynamically. Crescendos and decrescendos with the solo limb; playing triplets against a sixteenth-note ostinato. Cool stuff.  I better settle down; I'm starting to talk like Felix!  |
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My doctor says it's bad for my blood pressure if my mind is blown for more than five minutes at a time.
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Mister Acrolite
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« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2002, 12:53 PM » |
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I talk about balance more than anything else at my clinics ... and with students. It's one of the key ingredients that makes someone sound like a seasoned pro; separating the boys from the men (so to speak).
I'm constantly trying to take my kit balance to a new level; more and more complex grooves, texturing, etc.
Having the independence to play any instrument on the kit, using any one limb or combination. Getting to the point that you can play a solo with one limb, while the other limb provide an accompaniment (ie. ostinato, etc).
Excellent thread! Independence can be far more than simply the ability to get different limbs to hit at different times. Try treating your limbs like volume faders on a recording console - can you bring up the snare, while turning your volume on the hihat down, without affecting the groove? This sort of independence is VERY helpful in the studio. A producer may say "give me a little more kick drum," but not want you to play any other part of your kit harder. The more control you have, the more sonic options you have! |
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felix
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« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2002, 05:47 PM » |
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I'm totally taking a minimalistic approach to drumming these days.
no more backwards fills, ostinatos, multifoot technique...none of that for awhile
I'm back at the beginning...eighth note rock...heel up...4 subdivisions with a little dbl kick for flash...nothing fancy, nothing new
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Yaay!
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