One More Tool In The Toolbox: The Tambourine Foot Pedal

tambourine foot pedal - a very simple device which allows the drummer to have tambourine at their disposal at any time during the performance.
If you ever had a chance to hear a tambourine being played in a band of any kind, you probably know just what kind of effect this instrument has on the overall vibe of the song. It adds a whole new level of crunchiness that is otherwise very hard to achieve.

The most popular way of playing tambourine is by using your hands. This requires a dedicated tambourine player, but is often left to the vocalist seeing how they have a pair of extra hands that usually don’t have anything to do.

With that said, there is a much better and more efficient way to include tambourine into your song. We are talking about tambourine foot pedal – a very simple device which allows the drummer to have tambourine at their disposal at any time during the performance.

This way you don’t need to have a person whose only job is to play tambourine, and the singer can focus on other elements of the performance instead. Find out our review.

Overview

The whole idea behind having a tambourine foot pedal is to get the best possible sound you can out of this instrument. Drummers used to mount tambourines on stands, and play them just like they would play a cymbal.

However, there is a very distinct difference between playing the tambourine using a drum stick, and playing it by hand. Having a dedicated foot pedal allows you to better replicate the mechanics of playing tambourine with hand. Additionally, the drummer has the discretion to include this instrument where ever they see fit.

Features

  Features

The design of tambourine foot pedals is rather simple. We can take the DW 2000 as an example, since it is one of the best pedals of this type. At a first glance, the whole device looks like your regular drum pedal. The only difference is that the pad is replaced by the tambourine itself.

The instrument is mounted on an axle which is rotated when you press the pedal. What creates the sound is a rubber bumper which is what the tambourine is hitting when you step on the pedal. There is a rather significance benefit of playing the instrument this way.
The instrument is mounted on an axle which is rotated when you press the pedal. First and foremost, you aren’t hitting your hand. The palm of your hand is soft, and in order to get more aggressive tambourine sounds, you will need to hit the hand pretty hard. That hurts, especially if the tambourine is a major element of your sound.

On a foot pedal like the DW 2000, you are actually hitting a hard rubber bumper. The second thing worth mentioning is that the pedal very nicely mimics the arc you create when playing the tambourine by hand.

Sound- Icon

  Performance

The range of use of tambourine foot pedal is wide. Drummers are probably going to benefit the most seeing how they can simply place the pedal next to the hi-hat one, and switch between these two whenever they need to. On the other hand, musicians who are looking for a simple percussion to spice up their solo act can use these pedals with great success.

Imagine what a tambourine can do for a solo acoustic session? Or how about cajon drummers? A tambourine foot pedal is a great addition that can really add more flavor in this situation.

Whatwelike

  What we like

Tambourine mounted on foot pedals give this instrument a whole new level of versatility. These were originally developed for drummers, but a wide range of musicians can use them with great success. The tone you get is optimal, and works even better compared to playing tambourine by hand.

Whatwedontlike

  What we don’t like

There is really nothing we can say is bad about the design or application of the tambourine in a pedal form. It simply works.

Conclusion

Tambourine foot pedal is the type of tool you probably think you don’t need, but will fall in love with once you start using it in your performance. That rich tone is really hard to replace by anything available on a drum set.

If you need a way to spice up your music, whatever the genre may be, check out these awesome little pedals. you might just fall in love with them too.

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