At first you would think, making a bassdrumpad is just as much work as a 'regular' pad. But it isn't. Because it is played by a foot, it has to have another shape and must be more durable. I call Bassdrumpads 'Footpads' because they can be used for much more sounds than a bassdrum sound only.
When playing an acoustic bassdrum, the beater of the bassdrum pedal makes contact with the drumhead when the beater reaches an exact vertical position. Therefore it seems logical to make a vertical footpad. But vertical footpads needs very sturdy legs, like they use on old fashioned bassdrum pads.
In the 80's I thought that you wouldn't need those legs if you could realise a beater that makes contact at a different momentum in the movement. One way to achieve this is to curve the beater rod. This is a picture of a footpad which I made in the 80's: It is not in a vertical position but lays down horizontal. In the picture you can see the cinch connector (nearby the pedal)
|
|
After that I started experimenting with other shapes and used angle bars from aluminium and PVC. The space between two angle bars I filled with a piece of rubber, leaving some space for the piezo. Unfortunately this design was not very sturdy.
|
|
To make a real sturdy footpad, metal is the best choice for this design. There are machines to curve the metal in a specific angle and this way you can make a sturdy footpad which can be used with a regular beater (when mounting the beater upside down in the pedal). The design at the right is fabricated for me, shaped nicely and with powder coating provided with a matt black color.
|
|
You can search for the best Footpad ever, but you can also look for the most simple or cheapest Footpad. A very low budget design is the next one: Two little pieces PVC, a piece of foam-rubber and some tape. Put a piezo trigger between the foam-rubber and there you have a Footpad for a few euros. A disadvantage to a regular bassdrumpedal is that you can't achieve the same speed as with a bassdrumpedal. With this Footpedal you can't play less percussive. Every movement has to be a full movement and with a bassdrumpedal you can hit the pad with a smaller movement. That plays a lot better.
|
|
Throughout the years I thought a lot of the possibility two play with both heel and toe's. In the next picture you can see what I mean. A sort of double pedal, but now for heel as well as toe's. Who can design a good working “heel-toe” pedal, let me know and I will add a picture on this website!
|
|
Conclusion:
Just as with other pads, you can design Footpads in all kind of shapes and materials. Besides a strong signal a Footpad has to be very sturdy. With your feet you produce greater power than you will produce with drumsticks.
|
|