Make Drum Work . Com Skill through struggle and sacrifice

2 Things To Radically Increase Comfort Behind Your Kit

Photo credit: dml82

If you really want to feel confident playing your drum set then you're going to have to spend some time getting comfortable sitting at your drum set. Think about when you're hanging out with friends. Everyone scrambles to get a seat on the couch, everyone want to sits shotgun in the car. Why? Its the most comfortable place. So you get to relax fully and really enjoy hanging out.

The same is true when you're playing with your band. If you're thinking about how awkward your set up feels or how uncomfortable your stool is then you're not really focused on what you're playing. To have the best time hanging out with your band you're going to have get comfortable behind your kit. So how do you get comfortable? It all starts with being stable.

Foundations

The tallest structure in the world is Burj Dubai. Its 818 m (2684 ft) high. Even though its so high, its very stable because its foundations are dug into the ground to a depth of 50 m (164 ft) deep. So to get stable your going to have to get your foundations solid.

The most stable structures have 3 legs; 3 points of contact with the ground. Look at your drum stool, cymbal stand, snare stand... they all have 3 legs. 3 points of contact with the ground. The same is true for you sitting at your drum set.

Your 3 points of contact are:

1. Bum on stool
2. Right foot on bass pedal
3. Left foot on hi-hat (or 2nd bass) pedal

We've already covered how to set up your drum stool so that leaves us with 2 things to sort out: Your feet.

Feet First then Fit

A lot of people set their drum kit up then sit down at it. This is the wrong way to go about it. How many people do you know who set the seat of their car while they're standing outside their car, then get in and drive off? You've got to sit in your car in order to know where your seat needs to be. Same on the drum kit. You need to sit down first and only then start to set up your kit. In other words: get your feet comfortable first then fit the kit around you.

Try this:

Move your stool away from your drums, sit down on it and look at where your feet naturally land. This should give you a good idea of where you should be setting up your bass drum pedal and hi-hats. Ideally, the bass drum pedal should be placed where your right foot lands naturally and your hi hats where you left foot lands naturally. A lot of the time you may have to shift this around a bit (to fit in your snare or 2nd bass drum pedal) but its a good starting point.

The width of your hips will determine how far apart your feet should be. Wider hips mean your pedals need to be further apart.

Face Facts

When you apply this set up properly, you'll notice that your feet will be positioned in a "V" shape.

This means that you do not face in the same direction as your bass drum. Your bass drum will be pointing slightly to the right. So when you set up at a gig you've got a choice:

Set up facing your audience and have the bass drum face stage right slightly or set the bass drum facing your audience and sit facing stage left slightly.

If your bass drum is miked up then it won't matter too much what direction its facing. So I recommend you sit facing your audience so you can connect with them... And enjoy having the best view in the place!

Note: When you are sitting on your pedals your feet will be raised higher than when your feet are on the floor. This extra height will raise your knees and change the angle your thighs make with the ground. So you may need to go back and set up your drum stool again. Raising it a little should be enough to compensate. You'll need to do this whether your playing heels up or heels down.

Spend some time getting your foundations and your feet sorted and it'll start paying off very quickly. You'll be glad one day that you did.

Alex,
Feeling comfortable.

Related posts:

1. How To Set Up Your Bass Drum For Maximum Stability And Sound Photo credit: Glen Bowman The most important thing to...
2. Are You Sitting Comfortably? - How and Where to Set Up Your Drum Stool Photo credit: Petteri Sulonen The stool is the single...
3. How to Set Up Your Bass Drum Pedal - 3 Practical Ways You Can Improve Speed, Power and Sound Photo credit: cod_gabriel When you're setting up your bass...
4. How To Set Up Your Hi-Hat Clutch In 7 Simple Steps Photo credit: Alotor A lot of drummers ask me...
5. How To Set Up Your Hi-hat Stand The hi-hat stand and the bass drum pedal are...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

 Print This Post