Simultaneous Footbass and Footdrums II
Getting ready for this Friday's Spark in the Dark I've modified my rhythm stage setup to support a new way of doing more things at once. I have four velocity-sensitive pedals, which I initially used for drums. Then I added bass as an option, and then year ago I got them set up for drums and bass at the same time. I've ended up using this a lot to accompany mandolin playing: I really like adding bass, especially rocking octaves, but I almost always still want the kick drum.
The biggest problem was that I wanted more chords: choosing between I IV V for major tunes, i bVII vVI for minor, and I bVII V for mixolydian was very limiting. I also noticed that I was almost never using the snare (left toes) in this mode, just the kick (left heel). Let's reallocate the left toe pedal from drums to bass: one pedal for kick and three for bass.
You might think that three pedals would mean three choices, but I chord them. The idea is, in addition to hitting each pedal on its own I can hit two pedals at once.
When playing in major the main options I want, in order, are I, IV, V, vi, ii, iii. Choosing easier patterns for the ones I expect to use more often:
Right heel I Right toe IV Right foot V Left toe vi Both toes ii Left toe, right heel iii
This looks like:
It would be possible to use this for minor and mixolydian as well: set it in the key of the relative major (C for Am or Gmix). This is what I do when using all four pedals for bass, but I'm less sure it's the right option here when I have fewer pedals and some of the combinations are pretty awkward. I'll play around with this, but for now I've also put in a second pattern that I can select live (with a choice between mixolydian and minor):
Mixolydian Minor Right heel I i Right toe bVII bVII Right foot bVII bVII Left toe V V Both toes III III Left toe, right heel IV IV
Note that this is slightly different options, in addition to being different footings:
Mixolydian Relative Major Right heel I V Right toe bVII IV Right foot bVII III Left toe V II Both toes III bVII Left toe, right heel IV I
And:
Minor Relative Major Right heel i vi Right toe bVII V Right foot bVII IV Left toe V III Both toes III I Left toe, right heel IV II
This is a lot to keep in my head; I'll know more about what I like after I've played with it enough that it starts coming out naturally.
Here's a very rough example of playing around with it: