Hello, and pedal question

Hey Peter,
I am playing heel-up and then heel down when I start my exercises. I start slow, and like it says in the Stone introduction, I take each exercise 20 times before going to the next. I try to set a goal by playing as many numbered exercises as I can within a time period set for practice(1-10), playing all 20x each. Then I try to find a tempo to play all together without stop afterwards.
I bought a cheap drum machine for this purpose, nothing fancy. I set it to about 75 or so and if it?s too fast, I slow it down until I can make it through all (1-10) without stop, focusing on accuracy of each note played. I try to go more heel-up as I get faster. I have a difficult time staying balanced with heel-up at slower tempos.
I am going to get some type of recording device, maybe a mini-disc player to hear what I actually sound like, or what someone else would hear. I also try to play familiar exercises with different dynamics--hitting hard of soft, accenting every fourth note (not sure if that's how you say it). I will put a CD on and try to just keep time, playing a basic beat. This is so fun for me. I pretend I am playing in the band. I really feel like a kid and even if I never actually play in a jazz combo, I am satisfied to do what I am doing at this stage of my development. I am having so much fun with this. My wife thinks I am having some type of change. I tell her the drums are better than a younger woman! She laughs.

Duffy?s work with Basie, Artie Shaw and Stan Getz come to mind. He reminded me of a John Candy type fellow?large and jolly. His personality seemed to transcend into his playing. I love all that stuff, though not real popular today, it always will remain meaningful to me. On almost all long drives, I have big band music blaring loud.

That's great, IP.

Tell me, now, a little bit more
about that 'problem' you have with
your pedal.

Which Axis was it that you have?

What exactly do you want from your
pedal?

What does the teacher say about the
pedal that is a detriment?

I'll do my best to help.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

Thanks for all this input, folks! I have an old Axis pedal, probably fron the 80's, but I'm not sure. I have a problem with the angle of the footboard, it is too steep for me. The Pearl 101 is ok except for the very small footplate, I have large feet and prefer to play shoeless so it feels a bit odd. The Iron Cobra is a good, strong pedal with a nice big footplate and is the best of the three, for me anyway. I am into swing and mainstream jazz but I am prepared to have a go at anything except real heavy rock stuff. My teacher has pointed out my natural propensity towards swing, and he says he hears pretty strong blues and funk (that was a surprise!) in my playing. I will have a need to play pretty fast and intricate bass drum at varying dynamics to be able to play the sort of music I hear in my head so I will need a responsive pedal. I play mainly heel down but that is changing. The idea of a longboard comes from a statement I read somewhere that Joe Morello recomends longboards to his students, and he is about the fastest foot in the business. I know a longboard kit is available for the Axis, but I'm not prepared to risk the money on something I feel uncomfortable with anyway because of the footplate angle. I have never even seen a longboard, and the best stocked shop in my area has never ever sold one, so I can't find out for myself. Hence my post to you good people. Perhaps it's like everything else, personal taste.
My teachers recommendation for a different pedal came after him spending time on his hands and knees observing my foot action, and he is very experienced in this field. However, I am using the Pearl right now because it is harder to control than the IC, in an attempt to train my foot, but I do rotate the pedals so as not to get too used to any one of them. Who knows, I might even get to like one of them! A long time jazz player friend of mine has just bought a Pearl eliminater and claims it's the best he has ever used, and that's a lot of pedals over a lot of years. When I buy I new one, if I ever need to, it will be with the next thirty years in mind, so I will not choose lightly. Please keep the info coming!

A bit off topic, but here is an idea of what my teacher is doing to me.
He has put me on doubles, which is killing my hands but after only one week at about an hour a day has made a big difference. What I do is set the 'gnome for around 60 and warm up by doing quarters, thats two per hand, of course. Real slow but make me aware of the time. Then after a few minutes I play eighths, whizzing along at 60 with the click still at 60. Then I drop back to quarters, back to eighths, then sixteenths. I repeat this pattern for around 15 mins, then up the click a couple of notches and do it all again. Using this method, in less than a week I have improved my speed to 230 or so on a good day, that's with the clock set at 115 and going from quarters to eighths to sixteenths. A side benefit is that I am able to go double and half time without losing tempo.
The other exercises he has me doing is the first two pages of LH comp figures from the John Riley Art of Bop book on the bass drum. AAAAHR! But, after a few days I can do heel up, which I just couldn't do before. Also my foot has freed up enormously in this few days. I do up to an hour of this a day, until my foot won't go anymore. Doing a cross stick on the four on the snare is a real challenge with this. Of course swing ride and 2 & 4 on the hats goes with this. The third challenge, which I haven't done a lot of yet, is to do a simple funk ostinato for three bars and then do a series of doubles around the kits including the cymbals and with the bass foot joining in the doubles only on the cymbals. Quite challenging. The improvement in my playing after only three days of this was unbelievable, BUT it is hard work. I do the hands only stuff on a pad.

In Process, there is hope for us OP (old phart) beginners, it just takes a bit longer! And yes, this is a good forum. Have you tried Cymbalholics? http://www.chadanderson.com It's down at present but it's good.

Thanks all, RoH

The newer Axis-A Longboards have
what is called a VDL (Variable
Drive Lever). This is a kind of
Universal Cam design. They are
also low to the ground. These
are high-end, starting at $200,
unless you get them used.

The new DW9K has something like
it, though I do not think it as
radical as it needs to be. Still,
it is a pedal that you have to
check out. These are high-end.

The DW5K is a fine pedal but its
radical cam may not be what you
wnat. You have to try it before
you discard the idea. Many play-
ers swear by it. I like it. I
just like other pedals more. This
pedal can be found on the used
market for not too much.

The Eliminators have multiple
cams and now, with the purple
and yellow, the widest range of
the least expensive pedals. The
footboard may not be long enougn
for you, though Pearl is consid-
ering a longboard design. Expect
to pay around $130 for this and
get the purple and yellow cams.

The Iron Cobra is a sturdy ped-
al and with a decent cam but not
the most versatile.

The Gatzen Pedal is due out at
the end of this or next year. If
you can wait, you might want to
try this pedal. It looks great.
This pedal is a DW innovation.
It works on the principle of
bow-flex. Like I said - radical!

[img]eek.gif[/img]

Check out the related threads on
these, if you can. Move slow on
your decision. However, if $200
is too much to spend for a pedal,
you have little choice but to go
with the Eliminator, in my opin
ion. For the money, I think it
the best.

Hope the best,

[img]cool.gif[/img]

Quote:

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Originally posted by RoH:
I have never even seen a longboard

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Did you saw the pic of a longboard compare to non longboard in my post above ? [img]eek.gif[/img]

Peter C, Thanks very much for your input, very valuable. I intend to really take my time over this, I have so much to learn!

Donu, I do know what a longboard is, I've seen plenty of pictures.

I am being picky, I am a beginner, and you should see how I drive the local music shop up the wall! I have troubles accepting second best. Perhaps I'm a snob, maybe I want what's best for me. Who cares [img]wink.gif[/img]

It all comes down to personal preferance in the end, although quality is quality, what good is a nice feeling pedal today if it falls apart in a year? Erskoman wrote in one of his books that at the time he was usinge a cheap Yamaha pedal and it was wonderful, and I too was impressed with one I tried. Next week I get to try a Premier, not sure which one, but probably the latest and greatest. It's built like a tank, I know that much!

Thanks again everyone, good stuff!