DRUMMER CAFE

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Interesting question and very recognizable. As CW mentioned BD playing is a overlooked part of drumming. I'm practising with a DB pedal for some time now. The control over my right leading feet is not as good as my left HH foot. But on the other hand I have more power in my right foot. The explanation was quite simple, but important to take care of the problem: I'm left footed and right handed.

Normally, in a basic groove and most of the time you don't play multiple (I.e. more than 2 notes) bassdrum strokes in a groove. I want to learn to play DB, (not for the blastspeeds, just for creativity and to use it musically), so control is in MHO the focal point. To get a good control of both feet, I started to practise the same technical exercises with my feet as I do with the hands. This is nothing new, but not everybody does it. I practice the infamous Stone killer to overcome this problem: one hundred strokes left and right (heel up and heel down). I started at a slow tempo: say 50 - 60 bpm: 8th-notes, triplets. 16th's. Very important is to make use of the bounce, produced by the pedal's string. And because the control over my right foot is sloppy, I tend to rush the notes due to the tendicy in my leg. For me the third important aspect is, altough this is a technical exercise, a try to make the exercise sound good at all volumes.

I'm practising this boring exercise for some time now and incorporated it in my practise routine. By isolating the foot and to go for control my overall bassdrum playing has improved: samba ostinato, linear playing, playing 32th's double bassdrum notes at higher tempo's. I'm not advocating this specific exercise. Find a exercise that works for you. Joe Morello's book contains some excellent control exercises, that you can use to deal with your problem. 
Rene van der Stel - the Netherlands

There are practice pedals out there to use for strengthening and building stamina and that is very important.  Doing just lifts with your feet flat on the ground then raising up on the balls of your feet lifting your body weight is also a good calf strenghtening exercise.  I have always been a firm believer in staying in shape, seems to get a little more difficult with age and time constraints though.  Checking your equipment should be the first and easiest place to start.  You are still doing the jazz thing so what type of beater are you using, should be the felt and cork beater, very light.  And are you just trying to get a softer sound out of your bass, I have always found it more difficult too play softer than harder and it takes alot of time and alot more control to master that.  Is your beater centered on your head leaving the beater stem longer, try shortening the beater stem bringing it down some, just a little, as to not sacrifice good sound.  You will get it back just do not get discouraged.  I pride myself on not being a power drummer but being a drummer who keeps great time, I do not want to be known as a great drummer, but I do want to be known as that drummer in a great band.  I know my place in a band and I am the foundation, so I have to be strong..