ULTIMATE Bass Drum Control!

I’m so glad when I was little and First learning drums, I was taught to play, heal down and not to bury the beater in the head. Obviously it works great for lighter music and things like jazz, but it also works just as well for hard rock and heavy metal stuff.

big fan of heel down and not burying the beater

From my perspective heel down is the foundational technique that gives you the muscle and neuron connectivity to actually play in time. Also the foundational technique that all further techniques are built from.

Nice lesson Tim! My personal rule for bass drum technique is heel up for everything except feathering. But I appreciate this perspective. Cheers!

I always use Heel down, i have always used that

I have played for a long time heel up and I'm using the slide double stroke technique, but now I'm starting to use heel down also because I find it better playing quietly and relaxed with good control. So I find myself using some sort of hybrid technique when playing jazz

Grew up as a heel up rock drummer but spending all my free time now working on jazz chops. That includes reducing my Slingerland 7-piece down to a 4 piece and breaking out the old Ludwig Speed king to work heel down technique. So a timely video. Thanks for posting!

Great lesson and demo. Thanks Tim! I'm always going back and forth on this. Great to see how much speed and control you can get to with heel down.

Nice lesson Tim! I agree that the technique is often dictated by the setup. Most of my life, I’ve played heel down. In recent years, I started trying to focus more on heel up (playing different music, wanting to try something different etc), and I definitely have to at up slightly differently. Being 6’ 1”, a lot of it is in the seat height. Mechanics aside, I’ve never understood why there is so much debate on it. What works for one is deeply personal. I can feather both ways, although it’s a little more muscle memory heel down. Whatever works best for someone!

Always heel down...far better balance and control 😊...feels like reso snare must always be table top tight. Not true. Easy there is no right or wrong. Always learned from my parents R. I. P stay with your feed on the ground so feet on the pedal 😊65 years old now and still learning 😀👍

I mostly use heel down when I want to be talking volume quiet. I use this and cross-stick to give time to the band if we’re songwriting and they are quietly figuring chords out. For louder playing I do like to use the leg weight. Saying that, I also experimented with heel down and removing the pedal spring , that was a very loud and nice sound I must say. You are then completely relying on bounce of course and cannot bury the beater.

treasure.. thank you so much master!

A very cool exercise I do for dynamics is to play like a brazilian surdo. First note open (not burying the beater), second note muffled (burying the beater)

I haven't played heel up since I was a rock drummer in the 60's. In the 70's, I learned jazz and how to play musically. I've played heel down, ever since. Likewise, my hi hat foot is heel down for soft playing. However, for louder jazz, my heel is down on the "1" and "3" in 4/4 time, but this is primarily for keeping my inner metronome steady. .

I'm more of the "classic" heel down, dynamics and control guy. Don't even care about the "extreme" speed thing.

I always practice heel down but for some reason, when I play I do heel up… I’ve discovered myself doing that and I don’t know why

Heel down player because i loose balance when my two heels are "in the air".

Let's Go

Great explanation of seat position and relaxed movements. Maybe u should mention that u r using a direct drive pedal and a pretty tense batter head. This way it works quite well

Nice clip Tim. I grew up listening to Bonham, Baker, Moon, etc...all the guys who were adapting to having to compete with electric guitar volume. In fact, just to hear the bass drum over the snare and cymbals, many drummers instinctively raised the leg and slammed the beater (buried) it into the head. Heel down is ergonomically superior for balance, no doubt and probably a better way to play if volume can be achieved. What about the natural quick fatigue of those anterior shin muscles when relying solely on the ankle with heel down? Any suggestions on that? Do you find that they can be strengthened/conditioned? Thanks for the clip!