One of the most critical factors that can make or break a performance is a quality pedal system. An excellent double bass pedal setup gives you control over your instrument and gives you more freedom when performing. In contrast, a wrong arrangement will inhibit your ability to play correctly and create an uncomfortable playing environment for yourself.
In this article, we will be going over some things to keep in mind when shopping around for pedals, and what kinds of pedals are available on the market today. We’ll also go over some common questions regarding how they work.
The best way to set up a double bass pedal is much the same way as a piano. This can be done by placing your floor pedals in an “X” formation, with the left heel of the right foot firmly placed on one side of the rack-rail and your left foot behind your right, straddling both pedals.
The left pedal will then house a tightly stretched cord that goes around underneath it and attaches to various locations on either end of itself. The other end should be securely fastened to a solid surface, such as a table leg or chair leg for stability’s sake.
You’ll want to set up your base pedal before anything else since it’ll be the foundation for everything else. For this, you will need two of the three screwdriver sizes – small size for screws on feet, medium size for nuts on knobs, and large size for all other screws.
Find a level surface to work with to support your double bass pedal and an empty stand-up chair that will serve as the seat. The process starts by placing the bottom end of one side into its designated ‘tuning hole’ or notch then snugging it with one or two fingers, so it doesn’t wiggle too much.
Double bass pedals are also known as two-way or double-actuated pedals because the cam offers both an up and a downstroke. Having two different kinds of strokes makes for smoother transitions.
Double pedals let you play many more notes with almost no transition between them, saving time. The muscle memory training needed to do this usually takes about one month at practice sessions for five hours daily.
This is not easy if you have large hands because of the fraction sizes of their feet on the pedals.
A beater is a stick that’s added to the base of a drum for more stiffness, even though they are most often used on cymbals. If you’re playing an instrument with strings, then the beaters make the sound louder by slapping them against your headstock, usually in time with your pattern.
Double bass pedals are built up from two boxes tuned apart. One package is tuned to A440Hz., while the other is tuned an octave lower at 220Hz. The double bass pedal sits in front of both boxes and needs to be pushed down to produce sound on any row of notes sounding simultaneous (which row depends on which notice was played last).
If you’re using a double bass pedal, then the footboard “just” translates the lateral motion of your heel to the axis of rotation for both pedals.
There is no reason to rock on one’s toes to change speeds. This will cause pain because it causes unneeded stress and strain on one’s feet. All that is necessary is gently kicking off with your heel or toe as needed for fast changes in dynamics and expression and right after pulling up and down again with your toes for slower changes in tempo.
Double bass pedals can be used for a more satisfactory adjustment in the sound, but they have a smaller “sweet spot.” One way is to set your base pedal so that it makes a light tap when you press your foot on it. That will allow you to play softly with the heel of your foot if needed. If you need more pedal response, then buy a new one or simply useless weight when stepping on it.
If that doesn’t work, then try playing around with the angle at which you step onto the bass pedal and find an angle where there is no resistance going up once your foot touches down, even though they are double pedals since most people feel resistance going up but not down on them before making adjustments.
The double foot pedal techniques were initially developed for bass players who wanted to play a walking bass line and use their hands to play chords. Double pedals work by allowing the guitarist’s feet to control two different.
If you want a feel that is more “classic,” where your hands are playing an accompaniment part while your feet do the heavy lifting, then consider other options such as ‘two hand tapping.’ This can be achieved with one foot on a standard pedal and the other on a second bass pedal or by setting up two guitars. In this case, you would have one guitar dedicated to playing chords and another guitar equipped with a “stomp box” effects unit having different preset sounds assigned for each strum of the chord.
The Double Bass Pedal is a general harmonica tuning technique that can be employed for all scales. One of the most common uses for the Double Bass Pedal is to fine-tune or “tune up” some hand-tuned notes either on different octaves or in regions of the mouthpiece stop that stop between holes one and two.
The advantage of using this technique is it allows you to adjust more than one note at any given time, just like when hand-tuning, double bass pedal adjustments are made with either finger (pinkies) or tongue (usually used by wind style players). Tap your big toe down gently with one foot while playing an F# with your hands; then tap the other foot down.
Now that you know how to set up your double bass pedal, it’s time for the next step. The best way to get good at anything is through practice and repetition.
Start by playing exercises with both feet on the pedals until they become second nature. Then, put one foot on a pedal while practicing an activity or piece of music with your other foot still on its respective pedal before switching them back again.
You may also want to try using different combinations of notes between each foot and incorporating difficult accents into your pieces gradually over time so you can master these skills safely without injury!
Comment below if this article has helped clarify some questions about setting up your new double bass pedals!