How to Set Up Your Bass Drum Pedal - 3 Practical Ways You Can Improve Speed, Power and Sound

2Nov/090

How to Set Up Your Bass Drum Pedal - 3 Practical Ways You Can Improve Speed, Power and Sound

When you're setting up your bass drum pedal, the first thing to check is that the spikes on your foot plate are screwed out so the sharp tips just stick out past the footplate. These help achor the bass drum pedal to your mat. Warning: These may rip a normal house carpet and will not work on a smooth floor.

After you're confident that your pedal will not slip away its time to start adjust it to optimize your speed and power.

There are 3 main ways to adjust your bass drum pedal

Spring tension
Beater height/rotation
Distance of beater from bass drum

Spring is in the Air

The tighter the spring, the quicker the beater will rebound off the bass drum. So in theory a tight spring will make you faster but a tight spring is also much tougher to push down. The 2 things balance each other and all you'll end up with is a very quiet bass drum sound and sore feet.

Try this: Start with your spring as loose as possible then tighten it up until the slack is taken up. If you push the pedal and let it go at this stage you'll find that the beater will wobble out of control. So tighten the spring and keep bouncing the pedal until the beater is just fully under control.

This is the slackest that you should ever play your bass drum pedal. This is how I play mine. If it doesn't feel good then you'll need to keep tightening and testing until it feels right.

Beater Height

Set your beater height so that the beater is hitting right in the middle of the bass drum. If you have the option to choose what surface of your beater will hit the bass drum then set that too.

Note: Plastic or wood will punch through your bass drum head unless you are using a pad to protect it.

Beater Distance

The distance of the beater will make a huge difference to the power and the speed you can generate. The closer to the bass drum it is the less time you have to generate power. So you get a quiet sound but you can play it fast. If you're setting it further back then you'll get more power but it will be more difficult to play it fast.

Spend a lot of time trying out different settings on your pedal. Even small adjustments will make gigantic differences in your playing. Think about how many times you hit your bass drum over the course of a gig. If you're putting in only a fraction more power than you need to for each hit, this will soon add up.

Playing is supposed to be fun and effortless. If your equipment is holding you back from feeling that then you're going to need to sort it out and find out what the problem is. If your technique is holding you back... keep practicing.

Alex