Finally Did It / DW Sidekick

mangorockfish · Post by **mangorockfish** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:32 am

Last Wednesday evening, the litttle jazz combo I'm in played a benefit at the Clinton Library here in Little Rock, AR. Well, I played the whole gig standing up. Standing is a whole different ballgame. I said "What the heck", and just went for it, and loved it. From earlier post you know I was a "sitter" as opposed to a "stander" and now I'm a convert. I used fixed hats that I've been afraid to use in the past. Thought I couldn't do w/o my regular hi-hat. Also used my new DW Sidekick pedal that I though I didn't like. It works great when you play standing rather than sittting. IMO.
I feel that I am a REAL Cocktailer now.

JGove33 · Post by **JGove33** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:07 am

When I first started playing the cocktail drum I thought people who stood were crazy. I just couldn't give up my hat tricks and my complex foot beats. But, wow. All I can say is wow. I tried playing standing up yesterday. Man, it's awesome! It's so...liberating. I mounted a closed hi-hat on my right and kept my mounted snare on my left and...man!...I think I was able to do more standing up than sitting down. I mean i had to keep it somewhat simple with my foot and sacrifice my hi-hat, but my drumming sounded much, much more complex and...well...funky. I was able to get a funky rock/classic jazz sound. Awesome. I'm thinking that standing up is the way to go! I've been converted.

-Jeremy

Captain Nemo · Post by **Captain Nemo** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:06 pm

What is a DW 'sidekick' pedal?

Well, I have to wait a couple weeks to try it, but I'm committed to the standing thing. Just thinking about it, though, it seems to me the sound won't be 'full' without the hi-hat tricks and beats. It's going to seem really strange with my left foot just doing nothing. I think about the backbeat time keeping in jazz with the hi-hat and wonder how I'm going to get a passable sound going. Well, I'll soon find out.

Did you get tired standing for a whole gig?

multiperc · Post by **multiperc** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:15 pm

way to go, Mango!

Great to hear you had a good standing experience at your gig, though I admire all cocktailers whether they sit or stand! It IS very different tho. How'd you feel the next day?

I did a 10-5 rehearsal the other day, with a lunch break. I did get to move around during (I'm also playing seated djembe and keys on a couple of tunes) but for the most part it was all standup cocktail! And the next day I was pretty wiped...but exhilarated.

To all posts in this thread, I've been having a great time expanding my hihat technique with fixed hats - now that I don't use my left foot for a pedal. By setting the tension from the upper cymbal so there's just a hair of slosh, I'm able to get a fairly tight sound playing on the bow of the cymbal and a good half-open tone at the edge. Note I am using somewhat thick 8" cymbals which may be providing for more of a contrast in variation moreso than, say, thinnish 13's or 14's. Anyway it's possible to play cool hats without a traditional pedal - the ol left foot now is more of an anchor, but playing great grooves standing is an amazing experience!

Post by **jmettam** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:51 pm

Captain Nemo wrote:What is a DW 'sidekick' pedal?

DW came out with this pedal a year or two ago. THere are a couple of discussions on the forum about it. Just do a search for 'sidekick'

You can read about the DW Cocktail Kit here:

http://www.dwdrums.com/drums/specialty.htm

- John

Captain Nemo · Post by **Captain Nemo** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:55 pm

Wow, whatever that kit is in the pic......it is beautiful! Thanks for the info. And here I thought I'd seen everything.......oh no.

matthew medeiros · Post by **matthew medeiros** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:29 pm

JGove33 wrote:When I first started playing the cocktail drum I thought people who stood were crazy. I just couldn't give up my hat tricks and my complex foot beats. But, wow. All I can say is wow. I tried playing standing up yesterday. Man, it's awesome! It's so...liberating. I mounted a closed hi-hat on my right and kept my mounted snare on my left and...man!...I think I was able to do more standing up than sitting down. I mean i had to keep it somewhat simple with my foot and sacrifice my hi-hat, but my drumming sounded much, much more complex and...well...funky. I was able to get a funky rock/classic jazz sound. Awesome. I'm thinking that standing up is the way to go! I've been converted.

-Jeremy

If you can find one that's not too expensive, I've put a remote hihat on my right side, it works great for me, although sometimes I "miss" the hihat as I don't play in that configuartion much(right handed player playing crossed over)

multiperc · Post by **multiperc** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:33 am

Mango
How did the Sidekick feel? Noted that you were standing (when often you sit), but all other variables the same, do you think this pedal works well for cocktail?

mangorockfish · Post by **mangorockfish** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:04 am

Yeah, works great when standing. Sitting, it won't move to the position I wanted to feel comfortable using the high hat also. Sitting, I use a reversed DW 5000. The feel of the Sidekick is good and for standing, I would highly recomend it.

multiperc · Post by **multiperc** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:53 pm

I'm thinking about extenting a sitdown kit with a standing cocktail drum and would like to play the cocktail from the sitting position of the main kit (if that makes some sense). Are you saying that the sidekick is less useful or more difficult to play from a sitting position?

mangorockfish · Post by **mangorockfish** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:06 pm

I could never get it angled the way I needed it when sitting down. If I got the footboard in a good position, then the beater was in an awkward position.
All of what I'm saying is in relationship to my snare being in the traditional position of a regular sit down kit, between your legs, and it may just be the placement of my snare bracket position on my main drum too.
It is great for standing and you may find it fine for sitting. I just choose to use a reversed pedal when sitting. Hope this helps.
If you do get one, make them give you a bag. Those don't come with one but the catalog says every 5000 pedal comes with a bag. I had to go round and round with DW, but finally got one. Good luck.
Mango'

ratatattat · Post by **ratatattat** » Fri May 05, 2006 12:37 am

I think the thing works very well!! I had to drill my shell to add it, but I'm a player & not a collector & I just wanted it to work well! Now it does! My old slingerland has some punch now! The side kick is so completly adjustable! I could position it exactly where I wanted it easily. It beats the hell out of the old duplex heyn!!

mangorockfish · Post by **mangorockfish** » Fri May 05, 2006 9:18 pm

DUH!! I never even thought of adding another bracket specificly for th eSide-Kick.

OH Yeah, ratatattat, you're going to have to get a bigger drum if you put any more stuff on it.HAHA. I love seeing Cocktail Drums filled up with stuff. Cool.

cocktaildrum.com