Good way to train feet on double pedal playing...?

[MAGUS]

I got double pedal in christamas, and I find it very hard to keep feet in rhythm. If I warm up enough, I can produce a pretty tight bass sound, but after making a fill it's difficult to get feet back on the same rhythm. I can do short bursts with my feet and I practice like hell, I know, that's the key, but I see it hard to find a good technique.

Anyone knows a good way to train my feet?

 

[Malaclypse]

first off, you more or less have to decide which technique you will use. i started out with one pedal and played it with the weight of the whole leg, thus getting powerful shots. the drawback is that if you try to play like this faster you have to build a lot of muscle because it's a very strenghtening technique.
there are other techniques which require less strength, but are more difficult to learn, such as: to stab the pedal with the middle of the foot, quickly let it spring back and kick it down again with the peak of your foot. combined with 2 feet this can be really fast. there are several other different techniques.
but back to the point. i found out that you do not need to train your feet that much, it's the brain which needs most of the training. so you can do exercises without a drum pedal, for example while on a train or watching tv. just make this exercises part of your everyday life, and allow yourself some rest in between "real" drum sessions. after having played no drums for 3 months, i actually got better when i sat behind the kit again. i believe i just played more "in my brain".

hope that helps a bit

 

[FailingAcension]

Do LOTS of sit-ups.

 

[Demonic Rapture]

I guess that would depend if you're jogging the pedal or not. If not, I suggest doing some exercises that concentrated on developing the muscles on the bottom of your legs. (ankles, shins) Pretty much the same exercises that skiers do.


http://www.tigerbill.com/features/da001121a.htm
http://www.terrybozzio.com/techs.html

 

[scarr3d]

Originally posted by FailingAcension
Do LOTS of sit-ups.

you're kidding right? look at the drummer of your avatar.

(i'm not talking shit, that guy is fucking amazing.)

 

[Malaclypse]

actually i am currently writing a paper concerning different doublebass-techniques, how to use and train them, advantages, drawbacks etc. once it's done i'll post a link here, would be good if some of you could cross-read it and give additions/comments/flames whatsoever.

 

[FailingAcension]

Originally posted by scarr3d
you're kidding right? look at the drummer of your avatar.

(i'm not talking shit, that guy is fucking amazing.)

Very true. But like you said, hes fuckin amazing. Besides not doing situps, he is freakin' huge! His arms are the size of my legs.
But really, to build stregth, I pracice alot and try to go as fast as I can keep it consistant, for as long as I can. But if it starts getting sloppy, I'll rest a bit.

 

[morbid obsession]

learning to play paradidles with your feet is a good thing and playing trips on each foot will make you a monster as for sit ups they will probally help get you laid

 

[Death's Shadow]

to become good at the double-bass, try training your left foot by doing slow sixteenth notes with only that pedal until it gets as fast as your right foot (this is assuming ur right-footed, if ur left-footed, just do the opposite).

 

[Opus(sy)2]

i find masturbating helps......

 

[The December Flower]

another great way is the Daniel Erlandsson way:
use a metronome (around 150-170bpm) and play a double bassdrum beat constantly for 15-20 minutes. if you get bored, just improvise on the rest of the kit.

 

[DisTortorous]

He's right. AE had a read up on developing a way to play fast. A metronome and pushing yourself is the key along with practicing when you're not actually at your set which I find myself doing a lot. As I listen to music for probably a quarter of the day I usually tap my feet to it, it helps.

 

[Cimmerian]

This thread is quite interesting, and there are a few things that I would add. First off, The metronomic workout approach is a good one, but far from a be all end all of the practice needed to develop good double bass drumming skills. Albeit an excellent excercise for endurance, i find that one of the more helpful things to do is to push myself very hard in the context of a band rehearsal, where I cannot stop at my usual breaking point. This is the equivalent of playing faster for a shorter amount of time than one would do with metronome work.
As a bit of a non sequitur: One things that has always troubled me is positioning of the drum throne. On some days I feel much speedier and in control sitting quite low, and thus letting my legs do the bulk of the work, whereas at other times I prefer to sit higher and thus transfer more control to the ankles. I would wonder how most of the guys in this forum who have reasonably good double bass chops position themselves, and also how tight they keep perdals, heads etc...