For me, depending on what is called for, now it is a mix of both heel up and heel down. For slower things, I find I have more control with heel down. For louder things or parts that require fast 8th or 16th notes i'll use heel up.
My old teacher made me play heel down for everything, and to this day I have no reason why. Bit of a wank, I guess.

More important, how tight you make the pedal's spring?

eliya wrote:More important, how tight you make the pedal's spring?

Yeah! The drummer in our band plays his absolutely cranked to the max. You can't play in bare-feet or Chuck T's because the back of the beater slams the tender part of your foot. So painful!

I first started playing with an old Ludwig Speedking that was pretty loose. Now I'm medium, I'd say, but still looser than most?

Mine is as tight as it can go, but I don't think that it's tight relatively to other pedals/drummers. It's an old tama pedal. I think I'll try to loosen it a little bit.

Heel up, always. The footwear thing...I dunno. I've played in all kinds of shoes and boots. All the same to me.

skatingbasser wrote:
I first started playing with an old Ludwig Speedking that was pretty loose. Now I'm medium, I'd say, but still looser than most?

Oh yeah? How loose are ya

TRIFECTA wrote:

Adam I wrote:I've been playing vaguely seriously for about 8 months and I cannot play heel-up, although I think it might be due to the crappy low stool (throne!) I have and my height (6'2").

I would guess that to play heal-up you'd need your thigh to be at least parallel with the earth, if not hip-to-knee down?

Yeah, I am in the same boat with the height shit. Playing drums with being this tall is a challenge. I have never been able to find an actual drum stool that works. I just started using bar stools and counter stools ya know. Cutting the legs to perfect size. You can put one of those cushion pads they have for stools on them and they work great. I know people who play drums in those retro fiberglass "moon" chairs with no arms, thats weird.

Getting the correct height for yourself and then the correct height for the cymbals and drums will make HUGE difference. It is very important when playing,learning technique. I think if you got a correct seat for our gangly selves you would rather use heel up.

i'm also the same height, heel up - but sit lower than most people and my knees are slightly higher than my butt i think. i think i developed this because i started playing pretty young (10ish?) and my body slowly grew while i kept the same throne height and it never was really an issue for me. up until maybe a handful of years ago i was at the lowest setting on the throne.

trifecta's advice is probably pretty spot on for someone just learning though - i just thought it funny as i'm an exception. i probably look kinda like an adult sitting in a kindergarten chair behind my kit.

stick technique is one thing i'd also focus on if just starting out - a generalization for sure, but many drummers i see that are "struggling" move from the elbows vs wrists.

shoes: whatever i'm wearing. generally sneakers (but not like athletic shoes) of some sort, nothing out of the ordinary. same thing i'd wear any other time of day.

spring tension about 3/4 ish. i do feel there is such a thing as 'too tight' - but that's a feel thing and a relationship btw the tension of the head and spring tension. it can be too loose for me though, and that's a pretty easy and cheap repair to replace your spring if it's super worn out - i've had to do that a few times over the years.

I'm a so-so drummer, and I try to use both. Problem with up (for me) is my foot shifts all over fuck because I can't seem to figure out how to make a kit stationary. When I start with the pow pow pow and my heel leaves the floor I end up driving the kit around. Like I said, I'm a so-so drummer - I'm absolutely sure I'm doing something wrong.

ubercat wrote:I'm a so-so drummer, and I try to use both. Problem with up (for me) is my foot shifts all over fuck because I can't seem to figure out how to make a kit stationary. When I start with the pow pow pow and my heel leaves the floor I end up driving the kit around. Like I said, I'm a so-so drummer - I'm absolutely sure I'm doing something wrong.

Get a large piece of carpet, large enough for your throne and your kick, and put it under your whole kit. Take the rubber nubs off of the legs on your kcik drum and dig them into the carpet.

ubercat wrote:I'm a so-so drummer, and I try to use both. Problem with up (for me) is my foot shifts all over fuck because I can't seem to figure out how to make a kit stationary. When I start with the pow pow pow and my heel leaves the floor I end up driving the kit around. Like I said, I'm a so-so drummer - I'm absolutely sure I'm doing something wrong.

You should have bought "The Brick" when electrical sold it.