Questions tagged [bass-drum]

A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch.

Bass drums are percussion instruments and vary in size and are used in several musical genres.

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Should I rest the bass drum beater on the skin or in air when playing a drum kit?

What approaches are there to how the bass drum beater should be placed when in rest when playing a drum kit? Should I let it bounce back freely and rest in air, or should I rest it on the skin?
PetaspeedBeaver
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How quickly can a [skilled, professional] percussionist switch between tam-tam and bass drum?

Can a professional orchestral percussionist play tam-tam and bass drum together? Could he/she position the two instruments near enough that they can played one with each hand? The passage... is loud and I would want the instruments to ring anyways…
nuggethead
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Drums - Having trouble playing bass 16th notes

The title is an understatement. I've been trying for months, and I can't for the life of me play bass drum 16th notes while playing 8th notes on the hi-hat. I can play snare 16th notes and hi-hat 8th notes just fine, but if I try to play the same…
Joel
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Do DJs ever use a third track to keep a third kick going for several songs or even entire sets? Or is the effect of "silkiness" achieved another way?

I listen to a lot of a specific genre, progressive house, but one DJ in particular, Hernan Cattaneo, seems to achieve a "silkiness" in his bass drum during transitions (or maybe it just stands out to me during transitions). For example, the first…
Andrew Cheong
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Is there different bass pedal sizes?

I'm new to drumming. I'm an electric guitar player who likes rock and heavy metal, and after playing drums in school and on my spare time in a "band", I'm planning to buy a Roland TD-11KV kit. I've been searching around a bit for different kits, and…
Daniel Kvist
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Is burying the beater a bad thing?

I've been playing the drums (acoustic set) for almost a year now and I tend to lightly rest my kick foot on the pedal in-between notes. This means that my beater is on my drumhead in these cases. Is this okay or should I focus on keeping the beater…
Nita
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Are kevlar straps on bass drum pedals reliable?

Most bass drum pedals connect to the beater cam via one or two chains, or, in the more expensive models, a moulded arm. Some models, like the Gibraltar Velocity 3311D use a kevlar strap instead of a chain. How reliable are these straps? Do they…
naught101
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What are the attachments used for on this bass drum?

Non-percussionist here. Questlove (The Roots’ drummer on Jimmy Fallon) has this colorful bass drum with some enhancements such as a separate, smaller drum (snare?) attached to the front and a hole with appears to have a microphone shoved in it.…
iMerchant
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Best way to practice bass (drum) technique without a bass drum

A question to all those who have been or are in my current situation of temporarily not having access to a bass drum to practice on. I do have a pair of sticks and carry a pad to practice my hand technique, but I am clueless as to what is the right…
Television
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Need help playing 16th notes on bass drum

This problem has been persistent ever since i began playing them. Whenever I play two 16th notes with the hi hat on the first it's usually completely fine, though when i play the first on the offbeat and the hi hat on the second my foot tends to…
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How fast is the BPM should you start to use double bass pedal?

First I am quite new to drums, like playing frequently for about a year. But I am quite depressed with my own progress and I have many questions in my head, here's one of them: I never learnt / tried to use double bass pedal, so I almost always want…
shole
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Purpose of window in kick drum

I was at a jazz concert tonight and the kick drum was facing the audience. It had a circular "window" on the lower right (from the audience's point of view), with a microphone in front of it. From where I was sitting, I couldn't tell if there was an…
Mark Foskey
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How to get faster and better on bass drum pedal

When I drum I constantly struggle to keep the beat on the bass drum pedal for faster songs. Are there some practice techniques someone could help me with? The song I struggle with is Build Your Kingdom Here By Rend Collective. I drum with tennis…
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In double kick playing, which foot should match with snare?

I’m beginning playing double kick since few months.... my question is; when i play a basic rythme like double kick on every quarter note with hi hat on every single note and snare on second and forth note. Something very basic and simple... which…
user68273
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Heel up technique

I want to know the muscle groups which are used in performing heel-up technique and how they are used. This is to know if I am doing it correct. While striking shall I use my hip muscles to lift my leg up and then use my ankle (which will use shin…
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