Bass Pedal Technique? And more >_<

**swordchucks4life** · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 600 Location: Oregon

Alright, I've played a bit of RB1 drums and was able to pass everything on hard, and never really got around to working through expert, so I have all the basics down, but when it comes to what the "best" way is to do things, I have no idea. I've never played real drums, and have no real background info, so I'm just not sure on a couple things.

First off, think in terms of the WT drum set if it ever makes a difference, that's what I'm using.

1. For the bass pedal, should I keep my heel planted, and use an ankle motion to press it down, or lift my entire leg for each note? And should my resting position be with the pedal down or up?

2. Where should I be holding the sticks? After seeing Chris' most recent drum video of I THINK Panic Attack (I'm unfamiliar with RB2, so the names have yet to stick), the comments were basically one big list of why he should hold the sticks different, so that made me a bit curious :P

3. Drums rolls. I have only just started my WTX career, so these have yet to come up, but in songs like TKAR and RTTH in RB1, these were very big problems. I'm in no way asking for a miracle "do it this way and FC every song ever" tip, just something to get me headed in the right direction so I can practice the right way (same with the above things). Just any tips you can give me here on what muscles to use, how to hold the sticks, etc. etc. etc. would be great.

Obviously even if I knew everything about drums, the key is still going to be practice practice practice, but if I'm practicing wrong, then I'm going to hit a wall down the road, at which point it will be much harder to relearn how to play than if I just played that way from the start.

And this isn't meant to be something similar to a "How should I tap this", or "Should I learn to Alt-strum" thread, I just want to know if there are any agreed upon methods to help me out in the long run
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**zepp3lin526** · Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Posts: 104

It's a lot easier on your leg to lift up the entire leg to play a bass kick. It gives you far more endurance, especially for songs like trapped under ice which is fast straight 8th notes on the pedal the entire song. The heel-planted method is traditionally used in some cases for slower songs (on the real drums that is). It may take getting used to but keeping your toes planted and lifting up your leg is definitely where you want to be in the long run.
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**AdamTL7** · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 430

**swordchucks4life** · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 600 Location: Oregon

Awesome, thanks guys, yeah with the bass pedal I had been keeping my heel planted which worked for the most part, but tired out VERY quickly on anything fast.

And Adam, thanks for the stick advice, that's exactly what I was looking for, I think I have the general idea of what you meant, and I'm guessing the rest is just figuring it out for myself. A video would be very helpful though if it's not too much work, that would be sweet!
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"It's not what you think, I know it looks like we're cleaning dishes but actually we're having sex" -Dr. Gregory House

**tordana** · Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 91

Another thing regarding stick holding technique (coming from a percussion minor in college):

If playing on one drum, the sticks are held so they form a 90 degree angle at the center of the drum. This basic position is moved around from drum to drum, so the angle changes but your hand will be held kind of the same way.

There are three ways of angling your HAND. Hold your hand out, palm down. Extend all your fingers, and look at your thumb -- parallel to the floor. Relaxing your fingers around the drumstick gives French(I think? bad with the names) grip. At the other extreme, rotate your hand so your thumb points straight UP and then relax fingers around the stick, keeping your thumb facing up as you play. This is German (also could be wrong on the name) grip. I tend to use this one for playing cymbal patterns. In between those, with the thumb at a 45 degree angle, is the American (that one is for sure) grip, which is most commonly used and most comfortable for most people.

Also, when hitting the pads make sure the motion is coming from your WRIST, not your ARM. This allows you to go much faster and with much greater endurance.

Hope that helps!

**xredsox1983** · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 36 Location: Haverhill, Mass

dont worry about the drum rolls..hold the sticks loose...it's very strange..i had a very hard time keeping streaks in RB when it came to rolls...but when i play WT. it seems to be easier to do rolls than in RB.
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**Ellemennt75** · Joined: 03 Aug 2008 Posts: 217

When I play songs that are slow, I always rest my foot on the pedal when it's all the way down, which helps me alot. I had to tell my foot to do it the first 3 days, but now it's a habbit, which is a great thing. On songs like TUI or Overkill, I rock my whole body back and forth on accident, which seems to help me, I guess. For the rolls, just think about the rhythm, and try to keep it going. For someone who doesn't play drums, like me, that can be a little hard, but that's what practice mode is for, right?

**sXeSTI** · Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Posts: 8

**PhatTrumpet** · Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 1565 Location: Maine

Honestly, we can tell you this and that, and maybe half of it will make sense and/or sink in, but I think the best way to learn stuff like this is to just watch someone who knows what they're doing. Go to youtube and look up a studio video of Mike Portnoy or something; check out one of Egyokeo's numerous videos; whatever. Even though real drumming technique may not necessarily transfer directly to fake rhythm game drums, it's probably the best place to start.

Regarding the ease of fills in GHWT vs. RB, just another example of how much easier Neversoft's engine is. (Note that I'm not claiming that either one is better than the other.)
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Code:

Rock Band 1 Stats Rock Band 2 Stats Cross-Game Stats
Guitar: 10,411,426 [58 GS, 54 FC] 15,128,028 [83 GS, 68 FC] 25,539,454 [141GS, 120FC]
Bass: 9,226,503 [58 GS, 57 FC] 13,319,824 [83 GS, 83 FC] 22,546,327 [141GS, 140FC]
Drums: 11,105,579 [57 GS, 37 FC] 15,512,780 [76 GS, 36 FC] 26,618,359 [133GS, 73 FC]
Vocals: 11,525,519 [58 GS, 58 FC] 17,302,340 [84 GS, 84 FC] 28,827,859 [142GS, 142FC]
All-Inst: 42,269,027 [231GS, 206FC] 61,262,972 [326GS, 271FC] 103,531,999 [557GS, 477FC]

Rock Band Accomplishments Thread | Guitar Hero Accomplishments Thread

**HellnFire666** · Joined: 15 Dec 2007 Posts: 772

**tordana** · Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 91

It's definitely something with the engine, I NEVER miss 16th notes on the red pad in WT (using RB1 drums!) when I would ALWAYS drop notes in rock band.