Bass drum technique question

chrishitsthings
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:07 am

Bass drum technique question

Postby chrishitsthings » Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:48 am

Hi all! Hope this finds you well... First thing, thanks Steve for the mp3 archive of clinics, greatly appreciated and brings back fond memories of having a lot of that stuff on my iPod back in the day.

The main thing I was posting about was that I've been working from Dave Elitch's course and JoJo's second DVD and the main issue I've had was stamina with mainly heel up, especially the samba doubles from the JoJo video. I've been pushing the metronome 5 bpms a day and working from a slow tempo to start off with, but I'm finding my thigh muscles need a break and I have to do the doubles particularly in 1 or two minute bursts to get five minutes in. Would it be worth sticking with a tempo until this goes away or just carry on getting used to all different tempos? Everything is sounding great even on a prologix thunderkick, but the concern is although theoretically I wouldn't be playing this stuff most likely in a real musical setting that the stamina may not be there for higher tempos if I don't stick with the slower stuff.


Hope this enquiry isn't too boring!! Thanks!
chris perra
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Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:00 pm

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby chris perra » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:08 am

In general. with heel up. the motion should come from your ankle, not your thigh.. Think of lifting up your heel, and tensing it a bit kind of a nervous twitch thing so your whole leg is moving up and down in a then push off from the ball of your foot.

The motion should start from the foot not the thigh. For doubles are you hell toeing or stroke sliding or ankle pivoting? Or just playing 2 strokes in a row the same?
chrishitsthings
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:07 am

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby chrishitsthings » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:49 am

Definitely a slide with the doubles
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GoAndPractice
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Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby GoAndPractice » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:20 pm

For me, any time I'm trying to build chops of any kind I go for endurance rather than short bursts. Sit at 80% of my max speed and then try to keep it going for a few minutes (length of a song).
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Paul Marangoni
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Location: Indio, CA

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby Paul Marangoni » Fri Dec 04, 2020 11:40 am

GoAndPractice wrote:For me, any time I'm trying to build chops of any kind I go for endurance rather than short bursts. Sit at 80% of my max speed and then try to keep it going for a few minutes (length of a song).

Same here. Sometimes you can get things together fairly quickly. Other times it may take a few months. Patience grasshopper.
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langmick
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Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby langmick » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:37 pm

300 calf raises every morning.
piccupstix
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:43 pm
Location: SoCal

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby piccupstix » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:49 pm

Wow, and I was doing 35 every other day :oops:
chris perra
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:00 pm

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby chris perra » Sat Dec 05, 2020 8:42 am

chrishitsthings wrote:Definitely a slide with the doubles


Personally I do heel toe for doubles so my experience is probably different regarding how much thigh tension in a double.

I'd try going slower with the intention of being relaxed. Once you're super comfortable and relaxed, increase the tempo by 1 bpm. Repeat untill you get to the desired tempo. It might seem like it will take forever to get there but at least you'll have control and be relaxed when you do.

Also seat height can have an effect on how much thigh is engaged. Sitting very low can increase how much hip flexor and thigh you have to use.
chrishitsthings
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:07 am

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby chrishitsthings » Sat Dec 05, 2020 9:28 am

Thanks for all the replies everyone was worried it’d be too mundane a question! I only ever learned how to pivot from the ankle and a bit of toe/ ball from a teacher years ago and got a fair bit of speed going back in the day but since then developed bad habits like burying the beater which another teacher recommended I do cos of beater flutter so it’s a long process and yes more patience.

In answer to what you said Chris I sit pretty high I’m a bigger dude and about 5’11 so I’m sitting with my hips above my knees so it’s easier to just drop the weight from my leg. I think I’m gonna take the samba doubles back to the beginning tempo and stay on a tempo for a week before upping the BPMs.

Aside from that once COVID calms down and I can find some kind of foot guru in the UK I think I could do with a few lessons with someone I think
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Paul Marangoni
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Location: Indio, CA

Re: Bass drum technique question

Postby Paul Marangoni » Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:48 pm

chrishitsthings wrote: developed bad habits like burying the beater which another teacher recommended I do cos of beater flutter


I find it very hard (if not impossible) to control the flutter when playing multiple sequential strokes if my front bass drum head has no hole in it. I think it's even more problematic with smaller bass drums. If you listen closely, you can actually hear Tony Williams' beater fluttering too. For me, the remedy is a very small (4") hole in the resonant bass drum head. I may switch to a larger bass drum one day (24" or even a 26").

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