Adding Stomp Box/Kick Drum/Etc

[Johnny K]

Originally Posted by gfa

I'm thinking about adding a foot percussion tool for when we're playing out. Not full on Avett/Mumford style, just something at low volume to add a bit more thump to the beat. No store near me has any inventory to speak of, so I am turning to y'all for some input. What are pros and cons of an actual kick drum vs. a wooden stomp box (with internal mic) vs. fully electronic like the Roland SPD One Kick? For you guitarist/singers, was it hard to become competent? Is it really like just amplifying the foot tap that I'm already doing? We play through 12" powered speakers, will they have enough bottom end to be satisfying? What else do I need to think about?

Thanks! BTW, posting this here even though slightly off-topic because this seems like the most likely group to have some experience. Mods, feel free to move.

I had this same existential crisis a few months ago. I lost my mind and bought a drum set and am now taking lessons. I was only looking for a foot tambourine. I bought one of those too. And I dont use it.

Sorry, I brought nothing to the discussion. Except maybe a cautionary tale.

And a suggestion to search "Moon Loungers" on YouTube. Those fellas will probably help you figure out what you want to do if you get tired of the Finhol

[rschultz]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

This thread has gotten me interested so I just ordered this $10 pickup to build my own: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073ZH1FNX

Like many here, I want something that I can play easily while standing. I think I'm going to build a little 'stage' that I can stand on that contains these pickups. Then as I stomp, I can get that bass sound. I don't know if it will work as I think so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I have enough scrap wood that its cheap and easy enough to try.

OK, I'll bite. Tell us how you built yours... with lots of pictures and sound bits please!!!

[gfa]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

This thread has gotten me interested so I just ordered this $10 pickup to build my own: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073ZH1FNX

Like many here, I want something that I can play easily while standing. I think I'm going to build a little 'stage' that I can stand on that contains these pickups. Then as I stomp, I can get that bass sound. I don't know if it will work as I think so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I have enough scrap wood that its cheap and easy enough to try.

Kudos to you, I look forward to hearing more about this!

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by rschultz

OK, I'll bite. Tell us how you built yours... with lots of pictures and sound bits please!!!

Originally Posted by gfa

Kudos to you, I look forward to hearing more about this!

The parts have shipped but haven't arrived yet. To be honest, I think I'll try a few different things before I settle on a final design. I have a wooden cigar box laying around that I'll try. I'll try different wood thicknesses, sensor locations etc. Since this part actually has three sensors, it's possible that I end up with a 'stage' with three areas constructed differently to give different tones. Either way, it will be a fun, cheap thing to play with.

[Neon Soul]

Originally Posted by gfa

Neon, how are you EQing it?

Really late on the reply on this one, but I'll fill you in if you are still interested.

On sound 8 (I think it's 8, the really dry kick drum sound), I am doing the following:

Bump the bass frequencies around 60hZ for thump, quite a narrow Q.

Increase the low mids at 200hZ, for thump that isn't subby, kind of a mid Q.

Slight boost of the upper mids at 6000hZ, for attack, wide Q.

Shelve the high end. I do this to taste, just till the digitally top end/slap disappears.

[rschultz]

I’ve always wondered if I could buy one of those cheapo stomp boxes you see for $30, and either EQ the crap out of it or use an IR through the 2nd channel of my helix.

Thoughts?

[rogueacoustic]

That’s what I did and it works great. My beat root cost a little more than that. I run it thru a cheap Danelectro Fish n’ Chips EQ pedal and it sounds better than I could have hoped for.

[Davis Webb]

I have been using the Shadowstomp for a few years and its a hit. Never gig without it now.

Yeh, playing it standing up takes conditioning and practice. But you will learn how to do it safely, comfortably with time.

You can do straight time on it or double kicks or accent hits. I use it to keep a beat going so I can solo as well.

Its something you play. Its not a drum machine. You have to have timing and consistency and train to play it right. I go into a small mixer with it along with guitar and just run it clean.

This is made of bubinga with a humbucker inside. Its important because the wood has qualities and the kind of shoes you were, the way you hit it, changes the tone and volume. I cannot see using a fancy gizmo here. This is real.

That is the way I think you should go. Playing a stomp box takes a ton of skill. Most of you out there cannot keep a steady kick, I guarantee. This will teach you to do that.

[Brent Nelson]

https://www.peterman.com.au/music3/stompboxes

[Chriscom]

I haven't done a survey but there are plenty of guitarists and singer/guitarists that cannot hold a beat, by themselves, to save their lives. I'm one of them. Truly steady rhythm is ridiculously powerful, maybe because it's not exactly common, so bravo to those who achieve it. (I mean there are commercially successful drummers who have had to follow a click track for crying out loud).

I think this is why Livingston Taylor, singer/songwriter and Berklee College of Music live stage performance instructor, places such a premium on it. He says the audience will forgive lots of problems as long as you follow a steady rhythm, steady as a rock. Lose that and you'll lose them.

I think using a stomp box would be a great trainer even if you don't perform with it. I've considered getting one for that reason.

[rschultz]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

I haven't done a survey but there are plenty of guitarists and singer/guitarists that cannot hold a beat, by themselves, to save their lives. I'm one of them. Truly steady rhythm is ridiculously powerful, maybe because it's not exactly common, so bravo to those who achieve it. (I mean there are commercially successful drummers who have had to follow a click track for crying out loud).

I think this is why Livingston Taylor, singer/songwriter and Berklee College of Music live stage performance instructor, places such a premium on it. He says the audience will forgive lots of problems as long as you follow a steady rhythm, steady as a rock. Lose that and you'll lose them.

I think using a stomp box would be a great trainer even if you don't perform with it. I've considered getting one for that reason.

I think there's a lot of truth in this. Both in that many good (not great) musicians have trouble holding a steady beat, and that it's so important. Over the years I've trained with a metronome, I know this has helped me and I've improved in this area. Using a stomp box is tricky, I've used one a couple times and it was hard... would take some practice to get my foot to be as steady as my guitar tempo is.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by rschultz

I think there's a lot of truth in this. Both in that many good (not great) musicians have trouble holding a steady beat, and that it's so important. Over the years I've trained with a metronome, I know this has helped me and I've improved in this area. Using a stomp box is tricky, I've used one a couple times and it was hard... would take some practice to get my foot to be as steady as my guitar tempo is.

Here's a quote from G.E. Smith, perhaps best known some years ago as the Saturday Night Live music director and guitarist, speaking about those years: "I definitely grew a lot from playing with those world-class musicians, especially the horn section. I really had to learn to play in time and in tune"

That was after six years of working as the Hall & Oates lead guitarist and a bunch of other things like leading what was basically the house band for the Philly-based segment of Live Aid in 1985, backing Mick Jagger and Tina Turner among other fairly successful acts.

Steady rhythm is hard. Gotta get a stomp box, again not so much for live performance with me but getting that rhythm into my bones.

[gfa]

I'm going to abandon this project. As mentioned before, I really like the Finhol Laser Kick Pro, but I am terrible at using it. To make matters worse, trying to add this to the mix throws off my normally steady guitar rhythm. My hat is off to those of you who make this work! If anyone wants a nearly new Finhol ...

[Br1ck]

Good drummers are hard to find. I mean really good drummers.

Search Mississippi stomp box. Some scrap 1x2s, a steel license plate, many are aluminum, and any old junk cheapo bass pickup, a jack, and you are in business. Adjust the pickup up and down to get the best sound for you and plug it into anything you could plug a guitar into. Cost you maybe $20.

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

The parts have shipped but haven't arrived yet. To be honest, I think I'll try a few different things before I settle on a final design. I have a wooden cigar box laying around that I'll try. I'll try different wood thicknesses, sensor locations etc. Since this part actually has three sensors, it's possible that I end up with a 'stage' with three areas constructed differently to give different tones. Either way, it will be a fun, cheap thing to play with.

For what it's worth, I got my parts and have some success. I tried the cigar box route but that didn't work very well as it was too small. I then cut a 16" x 16" piece of scrap plywood and put rubber feet on the four corners. I put the three piezo transducers near the center of the board. (But I'm going to try different locations.)

Now I have a large-ish platform that I can actually stand on or just tap in different areas to get different sounds.

Conclusions: It's OK... It works but all it really does is amplify the sound of my foot hitting a piece of plywood. Of course, I can change the gain, EQ, PA or amp and get a different sound but it's not a kick drum replacement.

Now, having said that, I'm going to keep it and will likely use it. Even though it's not perfect, it sounds like you tapping (or stomping) your feet on the floor and there is a place for that kind of sound. Plus, I now have a reverberant 'hardwood' floor wherever I take it and can amplify it if I want.

Fun little project!