# Quad Bass Pedal



## bostjan

Ok, I know there was an ancient thread about quad bass pedals, and I know that this youtube video is old, but I've searched the forums for "Quad Bass Drum," "Quad Pedal," "4 bass drums," and "Henker," and got nada.

Here is the example that got me thinking (revisited):

The guy's name is "Morgan" from "Henker," a French metal band. I don't know much about them, but they have a small website and a couple youtube videos of poor sound quality.

I know it's an electric kit, but still...to me that seems pretty tight for such a ridiculous speed. I've never owned a heel-toe pedal, but to me it seems pretty difficult to do.

I've noticed that one beater moves a heck of a lot more than the other. Has anyone ever done/seen blast beats similar to this on acoustic drums?!

With eight string guitars and subcontrabasses, I think quad bass drum pedals may have a place in metal. What do you guys think? Are there practical applications possible for this?

Years ago, in a thread about a different brand of heel-toe pedal, there seemed to be a lot of hate for this kind of product. I still don't see it very often, but I think the idea of it is interesting.


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## possumkiller

I will not be satisfied until the music I record is so fast that it sounds like TV static.


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## JJ Rodriguez

There's a video on Youtube of that same drummer playing some shit on an acoustic kit with the same pedals. Of course, it's triggered all to hell, but hardly any metal these days isn't. I dig those pedals, nothing I would play if I actually got seriously into drumming (I own a kit, but haven't touched it in like 2 years) but still cool either way. A lot of people might consider it "cheating" but they aren't like the duallist pedals that just throw an extra hit in when you lift your foot, so I don't see what the big deal is. Lots of people do heel toe drumming, this is essentially the same thing, except they just have the heel an extra beater.


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## bostjan

Sorry, I messed up the video tags.

IMHO, the triggering is more like cheating than having a heel-toe pedal, and I don't consider triggering to be cheating any more than electric guitar.

If it was cheating, then I should be able to do it.  There's no way I'd be able to do that sort of footwork. I'm not saying that it's the most amazing drumming I've seen, but I was still amazed, maybe because it's over my head.


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## JJ Rodriguez

The footwork is fast, but that's about it. It's pretty simple stuff. I'm not saying I could play it  But I can comprehend it, and I'm not even a mediocre drummer


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## AcousticMinja

Sounds like a huge fart. Basically after 3 cans of beans or something, I can make that noise.
However, that is some hugely fast footwork. 
I wonder what that would sound like live, with huge bass drops triggered to come through instead of regular kick sounds. 

Oh, the bass backing track thing was really awesome though.


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## All_¥our_Bass

Now we just need the quadruple rectifier to match!!


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## Durero

I like the way you think Bostjan, I was just looking at videos of this kind of thing the other day. If I was a drummer I'd be all over a pair of these just to explore the possibilities. Sonor used to make a pedal called The Duallist (not sure if that's the one used in the video you posted.)




On a side note the whole idea of cheating in music is absurd in my opinion. People who think that way are confusing music with sports. It's impossible to cheat in an artform that has no rules.


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## PyramidSmasher

Very cool, I would like to see this used more, but I cant imagine it works well off the electric set.


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## JJ Rodriguez

Durero said:


> I like the way you think Bostjan, I was just looking at videos of this kind of thing the other day. If I was a drummer I'd be all over a pair of these just to explore the possibilities. Sonor used to make a pedal called The Duallist (not sure if that's the one used in the video you posted.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On a side note the whole idea of cheating in music is absurd in my opinion. People who think that way are confusing music with sports. It's impossible to cheat in an artform that has no rules.




Those are actually made by a company called Duallist.

Duallist Drums Online - Bass Drum Pedals, Custom Drums, Drumstick Grips

What they do is do a stroke (tee hee) when you lift your foot. For balls out double bass in metal, I wouldn't exactly call it cheating, but it doesn't sit right with me  I bet you could do some fucked up patterns with it though.

The Sonar Giant Step actually has a heel plate that you press down on with your heel for the heel strokes (tee hee).


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## Durero

Thanks for the correction JJ - the Sonor pedal I was thinking of was the Twin Effect model of their Giant Step series. Can't find it on their site anymore so I assume it's no longer in production.

Edit: this is the only vid I can find on it:


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## JJ Rodriguez

That looks nifty, must be the precursor to the Giant Step. Looks like it has a heel plate too. Reading shit like this makes me want to get back in to drumming, but I hardly have time to play guitar these days


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## daemon barbeque

Sonor has the double pedal and can be used in Twin_double application too.


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## josh pelican

The quadruple bass drum seems like a nifty idea, but Morgan needs to be able play as fast with his hands, too. The bass drums are pretty fucking fast. Doing a standard blast beat on them just sounds stupid. He needs to be doing straight gravity blasts... BUT FASTER.


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## bostjan

Maybe the guy should also play with _four sticks_ {cue John Bonham} as well?

Has anyone made a pedal that hit when you press your foot, when you lift your foot, and when you press your heel? That would be maximum over-the-top-ness...actually then I'd need to find a four legged drummer on youtube.

My old kit ("I was never good at drums" would be a massive understatement) had a double kick pedal and a couple single pedals for cowbells and tambourines and junk. I also had two hi-hat pedals. I took lessons when I was about 15. My footwork advanced much faster than my stickwork. I could do all of my rudiments on double bass much cleaner than I could do them on the snare. I quit partly because my teacher was too nice. Instead of kicking my butt into shape, he told me that I was doing great.

...

How'd I manage to derail my own thread?


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## Asrial

bostjan said:


> Has anyone made a pedal that hit when you press your foot, when you lift your foot, and when you press your heel? That would be maximum over-the-top-ness...actually then I'd need to find a four legged drummer on youtube.


Actually, creating a Mechanism that makes a hit when:


You press your foot
You lift your foot
You press your heel
You lift your heel
... Would make a quad-bass IN ONE FOOT! And on each foot... Octabass?!
<--- The drummer that can play that without any flaws


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## sevenstringj

Why don't you, like, have a button you press that spits out 1000 bpm? I mean, it's triggered samples anyway. Why work so hard?


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## bostjan

sevenstringj said:


> Why don't you, like, have a button you press that spits out 1000 bpm? I mean, it's triggered samples anyway. Why work so hard?



See, for me it's all about who's in control. If you have to press the button 1000x/sec, then yeah, I guess that's kinda like using triggers. Otherwise, why even have a button? You could just program in 1000 BPM to your drum machine.

I can appreciate either one if done to my liking for what it is.


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## Winspear

bostjan said:


> I can appreciate either one if done to my liking for what it is.



Me too. I mean, there's guys out there playing electronic music on samplers who are respected just the same. Why is it that anywhere _in the middle_ of 'real' and electronic is so often considered cheating?

For me it's all about the music itself these days. If it sounds good, then 

That said, I think kicks this fast sounds like shit


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## JJ Rodriguez

I think a lot of it has to do with the samples he was using. All click, no umph.


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## JJ Rodriguez

Here's another video, same dude apparently: 



Definitely like this more.


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## SYLrules88

christ im about to get a new kit and i was gonna put up a thread with a demo. after watching this craziness i think ill just skip the demo  

ive never tried using triggers myself. i dont think ill ever want to as i feel that a player using a triggered kick would be able to be sloppy with his technique but still get the sound of a kick. if im right, all that pretty much has to happen is the beater has to make contact with the head and you get the sound right? this is where something like an Axis pedal would come in handy. i used to have one but i sold it and went back to my iron cobra because i couldnt get any volume out of it. sure i was faster on it, but i felt like i had no power.

sorry i realize this thread is about quad kick pedals and not triggers. in the very first video, it looks like he's barely moving his feet, not putting a lot of force behind his hits, and that just bugs me. though the second vid is quite a bit more brutal and the dudes obviously got fast hands and quite a variety of shit he can do


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## JJ Rodriguez

You might not have to have any power with triggers, but sloppy timing will stick out a lot more, and you also have to watch that you don't get rebounds when you stop going fast. It's not like anyone can slap triggers on their kit and be a double kick superstar  People seem to think triggers are this evil thing that hides super shitty playing, but they can have the opposite effect.

Do you need them to play fast? No, but it can definitely help you sound a bit better in kick department.


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## SYLrules88

ah good call on stopping the rebounds. didnt think of that. sure as hell know i would have a serious problem with that!


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## JJ Rodriguez

Yeah, I used to have an electric kit to practice with, and if you buried the beater, you would sometimes get a machine gun sound because it would bounce back a bunch 

If triggers are bad, then people should only play guitar with thick strings, and barely any gain, and pick really hard


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## quasarwaves

Asrial said:


> Actually, creating a Mechanism that makes a hit when:
> 
> 
> You press your foot
> You lift your foot
> You press your heel
> You lift your heel
> ... Would make a quad-bass IN ONE FOOT! And on each foot... Octabass?!



Aliens already did this, and subsequently created the cosmic microwave background radiation.


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## Lon

sounds like his desired sound is this


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## sevenstringj

bostjan said:


> See, for me it's all about who's in control. If you have to press the button 1000x/sec, then yeah, I guess that's kinda like using triggers. Otherwise, why even have a button? You could just program in 1000 BPM to your drum machine.



That's what I meant. Program it, and then just press and hold a button/pad. You can even label it "fart."


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## JPhoenix19

JJ Rodriguez said:


>




I dig most of this. On his fastest parts, however, it sounds like a guy making a farting noise with his tongue. I'm sorry, that much speed screams 'gimmick' to me.


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## JJ Rodriguez

He sent me his bands cd for free, and on the cd, there's only a few parts where he goes all out like that, so he uses it pretty sparingly.

I'm sure some people listen to regular fast double bass in metal and think the same  I think it sounds pretty sweet.


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## JPhoenix19

JJ Rodriguez said:


> there's only a few parts where he goes all out like that, so he uses it pretty sparingly.



 That's good.



> I'm sure some people listen to regular fast double bass in metal and think the same



True. It does come down to personal taste, like many other things. Having that much speed and control is impressive, no doubt- it's just finding that happy medium between holding back and going over the top, which is yet another matter of personal taste.


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## Soubi7string

that is straight up SEX
I want my drummer to use it
now


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