Stool and pedal position. If you want to know more, this blog is dedicated to music instruments.
First of all, it is good to talk about posture: it is the battery that must be adapted to our body, and not vice versa. It is good that the stool is firmly fixed to the floor, free of oscillations and placed at such a height that your thigh is slightly tilted downwards and forms an obtuse angle (tending to 90° with the rest of the leg; here the subjectivity of the drummer plays a lot. In doing so the heel will be in front, or at most in line, with the knee and there will be fewer tense muscles; therefore less effort during the execution. Make sure that the thigh is as free as possible from the seat and not resting on it; this will favor the movement of the thigh allowing a greater timbre on the case in the techniques used for low speeds. Keeping your back straight will encourage the use of abdominal and glottal muscles.
Regarding the opening of the legs, the best thing is that they are in a natural position. Sit on the stool without thinking about where you will put your feet: those will be the points where the hi-hat pedal and the bass drum will be positioned or the platforms of the double pedal (the distance can be adjusted using the special Cardan shaft). Here too it is important that the body is in a relaxed position with respect to the battery, so do not think it is strange to tilt the case a few degrees so that the plate is in line with your foot. Indeed, once the pedals are in place, you need to know how to put the foot on the plate: the “starting position” requires that the entire plant rests on the pedal to have total control; then, based on the techniques used, different positions will be assumed (hill up and hill down, heel-toe technique, cash game, swivel technique, etc …). A brief note on the type of shoes to use: the pedal can be played with any type of shoe. Some play barefoot, others prefer sneakers to drummers who play with amphibians. The only advice is that whatever you use is as close as possible to the foot, to avoid control losses on the pedal.
THE PLATE (or platform): Position and adjustment. Depending on the pedal we are using, it will be possible to adjust the inclination of the plate by more or fewer degrees (the new models allow the inclination of the same regardless of the position of the leaf rods, thus allowing greater customization of the pedal). Even here there are no precise rules: trying different combinations is the only way to define the most suitable setting for your needs. It is important, however, that the inclination of the platforms in the double pedal is the same, otherwise, the feeling between one foot and the other will be different, thus compromising the execution. There are two types of platforms: shortboards and longboards. The difference consists in the fact that the first model has a plate at the base of the pedal where the heel is placed; this is fixed (some models have the possibility to make it slip a few centimeters) and independent of the inclination of the plate itself. The longboard pedals, on the other hand, are larger and “playable” from the base to the end of the plate, thus allowing for a wider surface of the support and therefore a better definition of sound, thanks to a greater thrust impressed on the sash auction (principle of Strength). The latter is preferred in extreme genres, thanks precisely to the possibility of exploiting, in some techniques, the greater length of the pedal and also being able to have the more defined sound. Recently, pedals have come into production that can be converted from short to long board and vice versa, thus favoring versatility.
There are pedal models on the market that have a rough friction high part on the plate, called grip. Its function is to keep the foot more firmly on the platform, preventing it from slipping and thus inadvertently losing control of the pedal; the same principle as stick grips.
AUCTIONS AND LEAVES: Choices and configurations.
The doors are generally divided into three types, categorized according to their hardness: soft, medium and hard. The type of door leaf used is often relative to the genre that is being played: softer genres such as jazz, blues and fusion prefer swinging in felt or similar materials to wool, while plastic and wood are used in rock and metal as they provide greater sound compression and attack. These factors influence the definition of sound, which is indispensable during rapidly executed patterns.