The Duallist Pedal Review

An engineering marvel that lets one foot do the work of two

-double-pedal function operated by a single foot
-equally good action in either single or double-pedal mode
-lightweight and durable construction

The Duallist bass drum pedal is an unusual combination of complexity and simplicity. The simplicity lies in the basic concept of its design. It's a single-footboard pedal that operates two beaters. You push on the footboard and the right beater strikes the bass drum. You release it and the left beater hits. That's it in a nutshell. The complexity comes from what you make of this beast. Understand: This is not a toy, nor is it a flight of the inventor's fancy.

The Duallist pedal is the brainchild of Scottish drummer/inventor Kevin Mackie. He worked on the concept for fifteen years (!) before achieving the product we see today. The current model has been available in Europe for the past two years, but has just come onto the US market.

Construction

My first impression of The Duallist was that it was big and clunky. Not so. It's light, and only slightly wider than a standard pedal. When you play with it for more than two seconds you get used to the size.

The Duallist's light weight is largely due to the fact that the frame is constructed entirely of DuPont Zytel, which is an extremely tough nylon polymer. The most common application for Zytel is for automotive parts, such as cam covers and air-intake manifolds, where its strength, stiffness, and resistance to heat and corrosion is needed. Zytel's light weight (it weighs less than one-fourth that of steel for a given volume) gives the Duallist pedal a weight of only five pounds. Yet it's tough enough to withstand the heaviest pounding.

Another valuable property of Zytel is its lubricity, which means that the bearings don't need lubrication. The footboard hinges are self-lubricating bearings manufactured from friction-resistant industrial nylon. They provide quiet and efficient pivot action. The color of the Zytel is an integral element of the material, so the parts will never scratch. A spokesman for The Duallist told me that Nigel Glockler from the heavy metal band Saxon has been using two Duallist pedals for over eighteen months and hasn't experienced any problems whatsoever. He attributes this to the toughness of the Zytel.

The Duallist's aluminum parts are made from a corrosion-resistant alloy suitable for intricate extrusions, while its steel parts are an alloy of 18% chrome and 8% nickel-steel suitable for hand machining. All the castings are manufactured exclusively in the UK for The Duallist.
The beaters supplied with The Duallist have four playing surfaces, which include felt, wood, and two differently shaped plastic surfaces. You simply rotate the beater to obtain the sound you want. It's also suggested in the video that accompanies the pedal that you experiment with different beater heights. The design of the pedal is such that it can accommodate electronic setups, even those with inverted beaters. A one-piece sliding hoop clamp allows you to adjust the spacing between the pedal and the bass drum (or the percussion item, when used with something like a Gajate bracket).

The drive connection for the right beater is a steel-reinforced polyurethane-coated strap. It has grooves underneath so that it mates with the footboard for non-slip and noiseless performance. it's very sturdy and will take a pounding. The connection for the left beater is an elastomer belt similar to those used in electric motors for vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers. It's also very durable and was put through rigorous stress testing before being chosen. The straps are secured under the footboard. The right strap feeds from the front, and the left one comes down through the middle. Both straps can be adjusted to your own preference.

The pedal's springs are made from piano-grade wire. The action is very smooth and predictable. Knurled knobs allow you to adjust the spring tension, with locking knobs above. Spikes mounted in the base help to hold The Duallist in place. All the adjustment are tightened by an alien wrench. Personally, I'd like to see drumkey bolts at the main adjustment points, like stroke length and beater height. (In all fairness, an allen wrench can provide greater torque than a drum key can, thus making the adjustment more secure. But needing only one tool to make adjustments is simply easier for drummers to deal with.)

How It Works

There have been several designs for double-action single pedals on the market in the past. The problem with all of them has been that while they might produce the desired double-action, they never produced a decent single action. They were one-trick ponies. The Duallist, on the other hand, feels great in single mode. You can adjust the stroke, the beater height, the spring tension, and the length of the drive straps (for both beaters) to obtain as light or as heavy an action as you want.

It's also easy to "shift" playing modes from single to double. This is accomplished by stepping on one of the Speedswitch levers located to the left and right of the foothoard. The positioning of the switches lets you do the switching with your heel, thereby keeping your foot on the foothoard. This allows you to continue playing as you choose your playing mode. Press the left-side switch and the left beater is locked back, putting you in single mode. Slide your heel over and press the right side to release the left beater, and you're in double mode. Your playing pattern can go uninterrupted.

So What's The Point?

The Duallist offers single-bass drum players most of the advantages of double-bass playing, without some of the drawbacks. For example, if you were a single-bass player who wanted to switch to two bass drum pedals (or a double pedal), your hi-hat foot would have to learn to hit as hard as your bass drum foot. Arguments could break out, resulting in swelling, cramping, and overall irritability. (The agony of de' feet'?) With The Duallist, the same "trained" foot operates both beaters.

Another drawback of conventional double-pedal setups is that while playing them, your hi-hat is pretty much inoperative. It's either stuck closed or open, even with the use of a drop clutch. Since the Duallist requires the use of just one bass drum foot, your other foot remains free to operate the hi-hat.

The Duallist is also the only "double-pedal system" that allows you to play standing up. This means a percussionist could combine a Duallist with a Gajate bracket to play a wood block, a cowbell, or a tambourine while standing and playing bongos, congas, timbales, etc. I even considered mounting an X-hat in a perpendicular position to keep a hi-hat pattern going.

Licks And Tricks

As I said earlier, the basic concept of The Duallist is that while the right beater strikes the bass drum head, the left beater is drawn back. When you release the footboard the left beater comes forward and strikes the head. How that action applies to your playing is really up to you. For example: If you play 8th notes in double mode, the pedal translates them into l6ths. Play quarter-note triplets and you get 8th-note triplets.

That might be all that many players would want in a double setup-but there's more. For instance, I tend to keep the beater on the head between beats when I play. In double mode, that works out as a shuffle beat, producing the first and third notes of a triplet. When I played a double stroke with the right beater, with what the left beater added I got a one-8th-and-two-16ths pattern. When I did the bounce with a pause, I got triplets. (I was able to accomplish this fairly quickly.) I was also able to produce the power triplets I hear players like Gregg Bissonette do, by playing the first beat with the stick on a snare or tom, and letting the beaters fill in the rest of the triplet. Very cool.

You may have surmised that with one foot you will not be able to play power paradiddles, or scare Virgil Donati into early retirement-and yuo are correct. The Duallist cannot completely duplicate every lick that can be played with a double pedal or two individual pedals. On the other hand, it boggles the mind to think of two Duallists on one kit, either on twin bass drums (can you say, "double-stroke rolls"!) or one on the bass and the other on the hihat side for percussion applications. Remember, because The Duallist is essentially a single pedal by nature, it works with either your hi-hat or bass drum foot. The main thing is that you don't have to build up your hi-hat foot to bass-drum strength.
I have no doubt that any drummer's creativity will be expanded as a result of contact with The Duallist. And if you can't come up with enough ideas on your own, the twenty-two-minute instructional video supplied with The Duallist is packed with examples of how the pedal can he used.

Major Feets

The Duallist already has quite an impressive history as an engineering achievement. In the UK it won the Millennium Product Award and the John Logie Baird Award for innovation. In the US it has been included in the NAMM Centennial Collector series, and it is on display at NAMM's Museum of Making Music. Meanwhile, Kevin Mackie may be the only percussion inventor in history to have been received and congratulated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the music industry.

You can check out the manufacturer's site at www.theduallist.com, or email them at info@theduallist.com. But that's just breaking the ice. You really need to check the pedal out in person. Put your foot on it and you'll understand what I mean. The possibilities are limited only by what you put into it. This is a serious new instrument that can-and most probably will-encourage drummers to reshape their thinking about how they play.

Modern Drummer March 2001