Hey, great video! I am kinda glad you mentioned that eheryone struggled with the twitching-motion, a lot of other videos made it seem like I wasn’t even starting to understand the technique when twitching, you confirmed to me that we all shared this struggle :D! Do you have any advice on how to quickly jump into ankle-motion regarding foot position? I normally play with my foot way further up the pedal, but for ankle I noticed playing further down feels better/right. Should I just instantly pull my feet downwards if I want to start playing ankle, or should I go full-leg and work my way down the pedal meanwhile?
This is great advice! Can you tell how to control alternating left/right? I've been practicing each foot separate and can go fast, but when trying to sync both feet it's a disaster... Can't find a video about this, so maybe it's a good suggestion for a next video? 😊
Sorry I forgot to reply! That could be a issues with balance on the throne. Make sure you are "balanced" on the throne you are sitting on. Can you play with one foot and lift the other one in the air at the same time?
This is a great break down. I do have a question about why you decided to go to the direct drive ACD for the speed cobra. I'm currently using both iron cobras and Axis AL-2 and I am having a hard time determining which I want to really hammer down this motion with. It seems like you have combined the pedals with the Darwin accessories, I suppose I am looking for some perspective on it. On one hand I am used to the 'throw' of the heavier cobra but on the other hand I feel like my ceiling is limited unless I go direct drive.
Hi! Yeah I’ve bought a few upgrades from ACD. The upgrades made the pedals lighter and faster. But I still feel like I have the actual ”punch/power” I had when I used the doublechains on my speedcobras. The ACD spring geometry was a interesting upgrade. When I installed it I noticed that I got more power but my speed/control didnt decrease at all. Its kind of hard to explain since I actually didnt feel a big difference in the feel of the pedals when I installed the Spring geometry upgrade.
I use pearl eliminator redline on my practice pad and my axis a21 on my kit, it works fine for me. I was also thinking that i had to only use the same pedal learning ankle motion, but it works fine. Maybe build foundation on the speedcobras first. 🙂
I’ve got speed cobras as well and man I’ve been stuck at this for years. Just like you say, I can’t just start fast. And that’s frustrated me so bad. I’ll take any help I can get. This ankle motion makes since but I’m still missing something. I’m almost there but I just can’t get the feel of the pedals when doing this. This has truly been frustrating for years cuz I know I can do it but I’m just missing something. I can play blast beats with my hands no problem but with my feet? No way. I’ve tried for years and I’m just never satisfied with it. I keep a tight spring tension so ima loosen them up and see what that does for me. Any advice you got is much appreciated cuz I should know how to do this by now and it’s the one thing about my playing that holds me back.
Try add a more heavy beater/beaterweights, then you will feel the strokes better. Try having a 45 degree beater angle, and for the spring when resting the weigth of your leg(ball of your foot) on your pedals there should be maybe an inch or so between the beater and the bassdrum head. And not overpractice, good focused practice sessions to build muscle memory👍
Thanks a lot for these precious tips, i've been doing it wrong before as I was using the nervous motion, also I have a small problem, I can move my right foot with only ankles at around 120/130bpm but when I put it on the pedal, my shin muscles start to randomly activate and I can't get past 100bpm?
Hi! If you are trying to move the pedal with ankles only at like 120/130bpm it's gonna be really difficult. I would start with anklemotion at around 140bpm and work with full-leg motion up to like 120-130bpm. Your pedal settings are also important to setup right (Not too tight springtension etc) There are many factors that you have to consider when it comes to setting up the pedal so that you dont work "against it" and fight the tension of the spring.
Hi! Thanks! The beater shifter solved my problems with the acoustic kickdrum. My beaters had to over-rotate (past 90 degrees) and that fucked up my control/balance.. So Yeah from my experience I can say that they do help.
@@SamiK1989 Okay, I'm actually on acoustic and I've got my bass tilted for that exact reason. But never measured if it's really 90°, I'll take a look at it.
@@andrums_channel Yeah I would’ve never guessed that the angle of which the beater hits the drumhead is actually important. I also have a video on my channel Thats named ”My current struggles playing with 2 different kickdrums” or something like that. Take a look at that video!
Is the motion produced more by “bouncing your heel” or “bringing your shoe laces towards the drum head”? I feel like when I bounce my heel I don’t get a lot of ankle motion and it feels more like a whole leg movement, despite it coming from my calves. I can get ankle motion when I think about moving my laces forward but I worry that it’s twitching. However, I can start and stop on command so maybe it’s not twitching.
Hello! Sorry for the delayed answer. The motion is produced by bouncing your heel yes. If you have zero tension in your upper legs, and you can start and stop (even at a pretty slow tempo lets say 140-150bmp) only using your ankle, I am 99% sure that you are not twitching. One really important thing when learning the anklemotion is that you have to be concious of your movement. The starting and stoping with full control is a really good "Check-mark" to see if you are on the right path. I hope my answer was clear :)
My problem is i cant find the right seat height, distance tension and everything etc i used to play heaps when i was 21 and could double bass perfectly really fast for hours, almost 8 years later ive forgotten everyuthing and my legs just wont do it anymore :( so im struggling to find my position, height, tenion, etc all again with no memory of any of those things
As someone who took years off and encountered similar problems, I would suggest to build a strict practice schedule and stick to it. Set reasonable goals and don’t assume you should be able to play everything you could years ago because the muscle memory has diminished. You must earn it back with hard work and patience just like the rest of us. There’s no short cuts here.
He's right. I've come from a 10 year hiatus and was so frustrated I almost thought of selling my vdrums. But I stuck with a regular practice schedule from the very basic motions to advanced techniques over time, and in rwo months I was very comfortable to keep practicing the stuff I used to know. It's not perfect yet, but getting there.
That one small linkage on the footboard appears fragile but I know Denis would not have built and sold something that would easily break. I seem to remember one of your vids you has a Kopyto double pedal? Seems like the beater shifters would work well on an Axis pedal where it is needed more. My speed Cobras strike the head fine out of the box,@@SamiK1989
Yes but my point is that you shouldnt do that uncontrolled twitching motion. People think they can play ”doublebass” by twitching fast and every stroke sounds unbalanced etc. If your always just trying to push it and twitch as fast as you can, you will never learn to control your pedals with your ankles.
