Getting ready for this Friday’s Spark in the
Dark I’ve modified my
rhythm stage
setup to support a new way of doing more things at once. I have
four velocity-sensitive pedals, which I initially used for drums.
Then I added
bass
as an option, and then year ago I got them set up for
drums
and bass at the same time. I’ve ended up using this a lot to
accompany mandolin playing: I really like adding bass, especially
rocking octaves, but I almost always still want the kick drum.
The biggest problem was that I wanted more chords: choosing between I
IV V for major tunes, i bVII vVI for minor, and I bVII V for
mixolydian was very limiting. I also noticed that I was almost never
using the snare (left toes) in this mode, just the kick (left heel).
Let’s reallocate the left toe pedal from drums to bass: one pedal for
kick and three for bass.
You might think that three pedals would mean three choices, but I chord them. The
idea is, in addition to hitting each pedal on its own I can hit two
pedals at once.
When playing in major the main options I want, in order, are I, IV, V,
vi, ii, iii. Choosing easier patterns for the ones I expect to use more often:
Right heel
I
Right toe
IV
Right foot
V
Left toe
vi
Both toes
ii
Left toe, right heel
iii
This looks like:
It would be possible to use this for minor and mixolydian as well: set
it in the key of the relative major (C for Am or Gmix). This is what
I do when using all four pedals for bass, but I’m less sure it’s the
right option here when I have fewer pedals and some of the
combinations are pretty awkward. I’ll play around with this, but for
now I’ve also put in a second pattern that I can select live (with a
choice between mixolydian and minor):
Mixolydian
Minor
Right heel
I
i
Right toe
bVII
bVII
Right foot
bVII
bVII
Left toe
V
V
Both toes
III
III
Left toe, right heel
IV
IV
Note that this is slightly different options, in addition to being
different footings:
Mixolydian
Relative Major
Right heel
I
V
Right toe
bVII
IV
Right foot
bVII
III
Left toe
V
II
Both toes
III
bVII
Left toe, right heel
IV
I
And:
Minor
Relative Major
Right heel
i
vi
Right toe
bVII
V
Right foot
bVII
IV
Left toe
V
III
Both toes
III
I
Left toe, right heel
IV
II
This is a lot to keep in my head; I’ll know more about what I like
after I’ve played with it enough that it starts coming out naturally.
Here’s a very rough example of playing around with it:
Simultaneous Footbass and Footdrums II
Link post
Getting ready for this Friday’s Spark in the Dark I’ve modified my rhythm stage setup to support a new way of doing more things at once. I have four velocity-sensitive pedals, which I initially used for drums. Then I added bass as an option, and then year ago I got them set up for drums and bass at the same time. I’ve ended up using this a lot to accompany mandolin playing: I really like adding bass, especially rocking octaves, but I almost always still want the kick drum.
The biggest problem was that I wanted more chords: choosing between I IV V for major tunes, i bVII vVI for minor, and I bVII V for mixolydian was very limiting. I also noticed that I was almost never using the snare (left toes) in this mode, just the kick (left heel). Let’s reallocate the left toe pedal from drums to bass: one pedal for kick and three for bass.
You might think that three pedals would mean three choices, but I chord them. The idea is, in addition to hitting each pedal on its own I can hit two pedals at once.
When playing in major the main options I want, in order, are I, IV, V, vi, ii, iii. Choosing easier patterns for the ones I expect to use more often:
This looks like:
It would be possible to use this for minor and mixolydian as well: set it in the key of the relative major (C for Am or Gmix). This is what I do when using all four pedals for bass, but I’m less sure it’s the right option here when I have fewer pedals and some of the combinations are pretty awkward. I’ll play around with this, but for now I’ve also put in a second pattern that I can select live (with a choice between mixolydian and minor):
Note that this is slightly different options, in addition to being different footings:
And:
This is a lot to keep in my head; I’ll know more about what I like after I’ve played with it enough that it starts coming out naturally.
Here’s a very rough example of playing around with it:
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