KaosCill8r wrote:What kick drum technique do you all use? Heel up or heel down?
I'm a heel down player and can get some good expressive patterns in time and without much fatigue. When I have tried to play heel up, I found I could stomp a lot harder but less expressiveness. And I experienced more fatigue in my right leg.
Mostly heel up with front of foot mid way up the pedal. I find that I can get a bit more power this way. I used to play pretty much heel down exclusively, But I used to not have to try to be heard over hundreds of watts of Gee-Tarz either.
That, and I really like an Accelerator style, or (for Tama, "power cam") over a round style cam. I really notice a difference between the little bit of extra power I can get out of that design. I got a great deal on a very lightly used DW 5000 single "turbo" pedal. This one has the rounded cam. It is very smooth. SO... I didn't notice this when I bought it off some dude on CL. It was in great shape, so I was like, fuck yeah, I'll take it! Then, the first practice throwing it on the kit, I was like... hrrrrrm, something is off. I changed out the traditional round felt beater with a DW standard two-way beater. Still it felt like I was working a bit harder overall to try to get the same power. Then I noticed the "Turbo cam". Haha.. fuck me. You can buy and swap out cams, so not the end of the world, but I feel the difference.
So, I am glad I have a set of 15" Paiste Alpha Rock Hi-Hats that can take over hi-hat duty. I don't feel nearly as bad bashing away on the Alphas. They are overall, a much heavier set than the 2002s. I will also loosen up the hi-hat clutch to give a little shock relief for the top hat. Hopefully this will mitigate breaking hats for a while. I can see why Weedeater's Travis, Big Business's Coady, and The Melvins Dale Crover use Alphas to pound away. They are a bit more stout, and far cheaper than replacing other expensive cymbals.