Short spurts vs. long runs

[Loogaroo]

I passed July Expert on my first try today with an 80% score.

It took me about 10 tries to pass Pandemonium Hard with a 59% score.

Meanwhile, I have about a 70% score on Tell, and I still can't get legitimately close to passing Delerium.

In both of the above cases, the songs I've passed have more steps than the ones I barely passed/failed. They're the same difficulty level and are roughly the same tempo (if Pandemonium is considered equivalent to being 165 BPM with 16th notes).

So what's the difference? July and Tell use short batches of 16th notes - no more than 7 at a time most frequently (Tell's mid-song runs notwithstanding), while Pandemonium and Delerium subsist on long stretches of fast notes. Obviously, I'm relatively good at song with a lot of short spurts of fast notes but suck at songs with one big long run.

What sorts of things do you guys suggest to help me improve on the long stretches of 16ths/fast 8ths?
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[Mio]

First, I've got a question for you:

1. Are the long/fast songs like Delirium and Pandemonium hard for you because you become tired, or because you can't keep your feet moving that fast?

If its a tired thing... then just keep playing and build up your endurance. If its the speed thing, I'm not sure.... and if its anything else, I'm not sure about that either.

[Loogaroo]

I just can't keep up. The only song out of that group that really wore me out was Pandemonium, but not to the point that I couldn't finish the song.
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[Jingle]

I've been having trouble with this too, and I'm a bit under your skill level. First, try to figure out the most important thing: Are you slipping behind, or getting ahead of the runs? If you're getting ahead of the song, listen to the song more carefully, and remember that all the notes should be played evenly spaced apart. If you're falling behind, try the following method I'm doing. Go back to slightly easier songs that have long runs at speeds not as high as what your dealing with and practice your pacing. Boogie Down Hard is an 8 and good to start learning to just pace longer runs (albeit they are 8ths at 175bpm) or Walking on Fire Expert for a bit more of a challenge. Just practice, and they will come.

Another thing might be is that you're hitting the arrows with too much force; lighten your step and you'll move faster. In any case, I would suggest not to kill yourself trying to pass Pandemonium again yet. I personally think it's better to practice what I'm comfortable with and try a song that I *might* be able to do once or twice a day rather than kill myself all night trying to pass one song.

[J. S. Mill]

Tim, do you play on your toes or on your heels?
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[Loogaroo]

I try to play on my heels as much as I can.

In response to Jingle's question, it does seem as if I fall behind the tempo a little bit, but the main problem is that after 10-12 steps I get into what I call "panic lockdown mode". My leg muscles tense up, causing me to use my knees less than I otherwise would and putting more weight on each foot, which drastically limits my mobility. I could probably do straight drumrolls marginally well, but Delerium certainly is anything but a straight drumroll.
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[J. S. Mill]

How hard do you hit the pad when you play Tim?
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[Devil Jin]

I too have this exact same problem. I can pass any song that has short bursts of very fast arrows but when it gets into long streams, I just tire out. I've tried a couple of techniques to try and improve this and they work somewhat well. You just need to practice them a quite a few times,. I'm not saying to go whore out a song or anything but just practice these when you can.

1. Try not to lift your foot up too high. This helps prevent that "panic lockdoen mode" because you're not forcing yourself to move too hard. This also helps you conserve energy. This is prolly gonna take you a while to get because I'm still learning it and I've been trying for a while.

2. Try using a simulator like SM to get the beat of the notes of songs memorized. This helps because you'll know exactly how fast you'll have to move and how many steps you'll have to hit. This actually is more like a placebo affect because it kinda helps you out more mentaly than it does physically.

This is about all the advice that I can give. Just keep trying is what it comes down to. Remember that those fast songs aren't as hard as you might think. It just comes down to conditioning your body for them.
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