Burying the Beater

It's not part of the instrument if you can avoid it by playing the bass drum a different way. You can't play the snare a different way to avoid snare buzz.
It was a problem with the advent of clicky bass drums (hard beaters and impact pads) on recording sessions. However, the same people who liked very clicky bass drums now like adding samples, so it's kind of gone to not being a problem again.
If I was learning to play again I would still try and avoid burying, as it 1) buzzes and 2) chokes the sound of the drum.
 
If I was learning to play again I would still try and avoid burying, as it 1) buzzes and 2) chokes the sound of the drum.
I dont disagree with this. I also dont believe it matters at home in the practice space for the average player just doing it for fun.

What this whole discussion is coming to is whether or not it's wrong to bury the beater. If it's not wrong, the flutter should be acceptable. If it is wrong, the flutter should not be acceptable because the technique is not acceptable.

I dont feel burying the beater is wrong. Just my opinion.
 
Yeah agreed.
If you are a beginner drummer is it already known you are going to be an at home drummer, an average player?
If so, yes of course it doesn't matter.
If you have bigger aspirations and you don't know where you are going to end up, better to start with the best sounding technique you can.
It's a nuance thing, if Porcaro and Colaiuta bury the beater it isn't 'wrong', but if you want to avoid every bass drum note buzzing on a studio session, there might be a better way.
 
It is hard to learn to stick the beater when used to rebounding it. I'm not really doing anything in particular to try to learn to plant the beater except to just make it happen more and more consistently. I do have to slow down a tad and pay more attention
 
The first time I saw someone bury the beater was on the Jeff Porcaro video where he explains the Rosanna shuffle. I never knew it was a thing. Given his reputation in the studio, his beater did not dribble. But @C. Dave Run dribbles his beater. tsk-tsk.
 
Given his reputation in the studio, his beater did not dribble.
It likely did. But he probably had his batter head loose, he might have used a felt beater? His playing and sound was so awesome no one cared.
If you solo the kick channel on any drummer who buries the beater and uses a hard beater, you will hear a buzz.
It is inaudible if you use a coated head and a felt beater - like the one side of a DW beater.
 
The first time I saw someone bury the beater was on the Jeff Porcaro video where he explains the Rosanna shuffle. I never knew it was a thing. Given his reputation in the studio, his beater did not dribble. But @C. Dave Run dribbles his beater. tsk-tsk.
I like a tight batter and use plastic beaters. If just stomping away, like dance club music, it does dribble. If doing double kick, it does not. I have speaker carpet as impact patches to help with this.

Heel/toe (the metal version) is on purpose controlled dribbling with both feet.

I would like to experiment with that beater you posted.
 
I like a tight batter and use plastic beaters. If just stomping away, like dance club music, it does dribble. If doing double kick, it does not. I have speaker carpet as impact patches to help with this.

Heel/toe (the metal version) is on purpose controlled dribbling with both feet.

I would like to experiment with that beater you posted.
In the Porcaro video, his batter head looks JAW. Hard to tell tho.

 
In the Porcaro video, his batter head looks JAW. Hard to tell tho.

The coated head doesnt help visually. Cant tell, but his beater looks flat. Doesnt look like much movement either, meaning he isnt stomping the pedal. His foot is staying almost flat the whole time.

If it is fluttering, I cant hear it.
 
Seems like you should do what feels right and sounds right to you, and in the end it will all balance out but I personally play heel down and bounce the beater off the head because it seems right to me.
 
My first and most influential drum teacher told me to bury the beater as they said it sounded better that way. He played a yammy oak custom with a 22 and ported reso

This is about the only advice I haven't taken on. Partly as I'm using a small kick and partly a big round boom is part of my sound now

It is a struggle with fast Latin stuff as the the beater pendular swing doesnt seem to gell with the tempo. Struggle aids invention so that's ok with that, I'm hoping to develop cheeky bass drum buzz rolls into my playing
 
Seems like you should do what feels right and sounds right to you, and in the end it will all balance out but I personally play heel down and bounce the beater off the head because it seems right to me.
Yeah! I’m just experimenting with different techniques to see what I like and how to achieve different sounds right now. :) But… my priority is keeping time so I am trying to stick what I can do naturally right now too and playing with techniqueswith extra time during practice sessions. Just because I’m curious
 
The thing that bothers me, or should I say affects me, is the tension that is held in my foot and leg when I bury the beater. I can play strong and relaxed, that’s not the issue.

But keeping the beater on the head feels like I’m tensing up, and I’m not a fan. It does lend a fair amount of attitude the vibe, but these days I’m looking for something more relaxed
 
the style and emotion of the music will tell if you kick it hard or tap it.

sometimes both during one song
other times one or the other thru out a song

usually don't think about it until you have to
then you make the decision

there's a difference between playing a funk tune and a 2022 version of Satin Doll with a jazz trio
but how about: be prepared for both

other than that I used to bury the beater -with a blanket and no front head- until my shin hurt.
 
45 years and still haven’t figured out different techniques. I play heel up or down. Slide, swivel, etc.never figured them out after hours upon hours of messing with them. There are a couple of songs like Motley Crue’s Live Wire that still give me trouble, because they are just way too fast and I’m just begging for the next pause, but otherwise the simple heel up/down works.

Good to try out the different techniques, but there should be no expectation they will work for you as they have others. No way to know without trying, so….
 
You may also want to mark the spot, make a map or something.

A solid case and vacuum packing may also be a good idea to protect from all the dirt and stuff. Unless that aged relic sound is what you're looking for, of course.
 
I’m sure this has been discussed but I thought I’d ask anyways for maybe some more specifics.

So I’m a heal up kind of gal and tend to bury the beater. (About two months beginner here) I know this sound isn’t ideal for all music types, so I was trying to consciously avoid this but kept bouncing extra kicks in there. I try and keep my foot in the center and put my heal down after. The most natural feel to me is heal up. Any tips on not keeping it on the drum? I will most likely play a lot of a rock but I don’t want this to limit my sound for other types of music I like too so I want to be able to do both, but I am having more control issues when I don’t. Probably because I haven’t practiced much this way. Plus I like the more muted sound for evening practice so I’ve practiced more this way from day 1.

Sometimes unconsciously I don’t keep it on the drum but I want to be intentiona.

I feel like that was a lot of words.


Uhhh bury the beater and how not to? Could the extra notes be due to my pedal and any adjustments I should make?


Opinions, tips welcome! Thank you! Hope everyone is doing well!!

I've been burying the beater for almost 30 years. I've never played music where this was NOT ok.

If the beater is bouncing against the head when you bury the beater, don't worry about the pedal yet. I would port the reso head, add a pillow, and re-tune it using the Rob Brown method. If you are still bouncing, then maybe the pedal needs adjusting.

 
I tuned to his video and thought I fell in love with the sound using a 9" reso side port.
Then the band asked to swap to a 4" reso ported head with a full face sticker of the band logo. I hated it at first because the resonance was foreign to me since the port was so small.

Burying the beater was insignificant with a huge port. Now I can play with burying or not and it's learning a different technique. I also tightened the batter side a bit more and got better rebound without losing much.

The small port/burying or not thing has highlighted the heel down playing attributes. I use up or down now. Burying or not.
 
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