Fear of going back to a single pedal

T

The Old Hyde

Guest
I have been using a double pedal for a long time and before that double bass. Being in a classic rock band I really don't play beats with it, just mainly song endings when we go for the big finish stuff. I have this kind of fear about not having it with me though and can't bring myself to leave it home. We practiced last night and I used the kit thats there with a single pedal and I really didnt miss the double. Do any other double pedal users feel like leaving it home some times but cant seem to be seperated from it?
 
I don't fall into the category of a "current double pedal player" but did make the switch back to single about a year and a half ago. It felt strange at first, and I did feel "naked" so to speak. But the band I was in previously played music that called for it most of the time. Now, in a blues/bluegrass/folk rock band, so it's not missed in the musical aspect of songs. I had grown accustomed to having the extra beater around for years, but as is the case with most things, I've grown comfortable with the single pedal again.

I've just practiced to increase my speed on the single pedal over the last year. I just hope one day to be as fast and accurate as Pridgen is on a single.

But it's all up to preference. Even if you don't use it throughout a song but want to use it for an ending or a drum solo, then keep it around. It's your playing style that's affected, and you shouldn't feel limited by your own decision. It's your kit after all, you might as well make it you. Many great drummers play double, just as many great drummers play single (and it's not limited to genre). Just don't overuse it, unless you just want to piss off your bandmates :)
 
I am in the same boat, I used to play a double bass kit, then went to the pedal. I don't even pull the slave out of the case any more. Just more to put away at the end of the night ;-)
 
I only used one in recording and performance for two years a long time ago, but when I switched back I sort of felt like I had gained an element of focus that I was missing while playing the double pedal stuff. The band I was playing with at the time was a really speedy punk/ska band and I felt that having more space in the low-end and not relying on the pedal so much made me more creative. I was also listening to tons of jazz then to see what I could incorporate to make our stuff stand out a little bit, so that certainly helped and provided some extra grounds to give up the double pedal. We were also gigging a whole lot and it was another heavy thing to bring around.

It was an obvious switch for me, and if you follow your bass player and work on getting your feet in shape individually, it might be a real good thing for you, creatively, as a drummer.
 
I'd be interested to see how many posts you get here on guys who have double pedals (or double bass drums) and over time just stopped using them. Then it would confirm my sneaking suspicion that double pedals are the most musically unnecessary pieces of gear that the industry has shoved down everybody's throats ;)

Just sayin' ;)
 
I am in the same boat, I used to play a double bass kit, then went to the pedal. I don't even pull the slave out of the case any more. Just more to put away at the end of the night ;-)

I'm in the same boat. I used the double pedal during a bunch of gigs, and then decided it didn't justify the extra few minutes for setup and takedown.
 
Bo im starting to wonder. i love using it but i honestly dont need it one bit. having my original double bass kit back in the late 80's was the thing to do. we kind of laughed at the double pedals when we first saw them. i remember the slave beater on a dw 5000 was bent on an angle instead if straight. it looked so stupid. then, all of a sudden they were the thing to have. all the grunge guys had them. now, i really feel the need to leave it home, im just scared to for some reason?
 
Bo im starting to wonder. i love using it but i honestly dont need it one bit. having my original double bass kit back in the late 80's was the thing to do. we kind of laughed at the double pedals when we first saw them. i remember the slave beater on a dw 5000 was bent on an angle instead if straight. it looked so stupid. then, all of a sudden they were the thing to have. all the grunge guys had them. now, i really feel the need to leave it home, im just scared to for some reason?

The fear will pass as you travel down the road of enlightenment ;)

Funny, I had that original DW double pedal back in 1983 after seeing Jim Keltner and Gregg Bissonette use one and was convinced I had to have one. Then every gig I got was for straight-ahead jazz, old skool rock n roll, musicals, casuals, and weddings. Nothing I played required that I have two bass drums. I even had a double bass kit last summer for fun and it never left the house.

Just imagine the money I would've saved over 30 years of playing if I just kept what mom & dad bought me back in 1978......that's a bigger realization I fear ;)
 
I'd be interested to see how many posts you get here on guys who have double pedals (or double bass drums) and over time just stopped using them. Then it would confirm my sneaking suspicion that double pedals are the most musically unnecessary pieces of gear that the industry has shoved down everybody's throats ;)

Just sayin' ;)

Maybe, given that it's only been possible for one person to play a bass drum with both feet since maybe the 1930s (well, nobody really tried it until around then), it's taken a while for music to come into existence that makes the best use of this new technology. I mean, people have been playing drums with sticks since the beginning of time, and the snare and similar drums have been around for centuries. One could imagine that a percussionist of 1890 might have regarded the drum kit as a rather unnecessary invention...and I think jazz then was regarded rather the same way extreme metal would be now (perhaps worse), as something not only unsavoury and vulgar but potentially harmful to society. In another twenty years' time we might be looking at the whole subject in a different way.

In my particular case I used to be a die-hard single pedal purist until the music I was playing forced me to start using two. I totally get where you're coming from, but I think 'musically unnecessary' is underselling them a little bit. 'Frequently used unnecessarily' might be a more accurate statement!
 
The fear will pass as you travel down the road of enlightenment ;)

Funny, I had that original DW double pedal back in 1983 after seeing Jim Keltner and Gregg Bissonette use one and was convinced I had to have one. Then every gig I got was for straight-ahead jazz, old skool rock n roll, musicals, casuals, and weddings. Nothing I played required that I have two bass drums. I even had a double bass kit last summer for fun and it never left the house.

Just imagine the money I would've saved over 30 years of playing if I just kept what mom & dad bought me back in 1978......that's a bigger realization I fear ;)

The more i keep playing my 5 piece setup the more i realise i have an extra 13 toms and 3 extra bass drums im not using taking up space in my house.soon maybe an extra double pedal to go along with the 3 singles i have.
 
Double pedals can smell fear. You have to be strong. Face the double pedals, and back away slowly, never run, as this triggers their predatory instinct and they will give chase. It can help to puff your chest up and try to look bigger.
 
The double pedal is part of my kit. It's not going anywhere. It's not used when it's mnot called for, but neither is the rest of the kit. I could live without a an auxiliary snare and half my cymbals could go as well, but they're part oft he kit and my epression.

When I play my kind of music just for my own enjoyment I need it all.
 
There are alot of things I could eliminate from my set and still play most songs...but I want the spur of the moment choice.

e.g. do I want a single "sticking" feel of one pedal for this passage...or a double "sticking" feel?...do I want a clean triplet bass drum to tom ruff to trasition out of this section or a ruff just on toms?

Most artists have tubes of paint the rarely reach for...but throw them away?

..especially for the minimal weight/space that a slave pedal adds?

I like my Axis X Longboards...for both single AND double bass colors.
 
meh, i don't lose sleep over it either way. i have an arsenal of double pedals. sometimes i hook up the slave and don't use it, sometimes i don't hook it up and wish i had, sometimes i hook it up and knock the pictures off the walls. i'll sleep fine that night no matter what happens. spontaneity of deployment. they don't rule me.
 
.... having my original double bass kit back in the late 80's was the thing to do. we kind of laughed at the double pedals when we first saw them ...

Well, the first few generations were to be laughed at. I started playing double kicks in the mid-70's .... didn't get a double pedal, until 1994. That's when I found one I could live with. (and no, not the one that's pictured. that's a relic. 1973 Zalmer.).​
I'd stop operating on the worry, need, and fear aspect .... and just do whatever makes you happy. Just get selfish.​
 

Attachments

  • zalmer_twin_1973.jpg
    zalmer_twin_1973.jpg
    60.5 KB · Views: 586
I my case what I play has changed, i used to play a lot of stuff that was double bass music. As the years went on i migrated toward blues, classic rock, classic R&B, country, red dirt, etc..


My two current projects are and all original Blues Rock band and a straight up electric blus band.

I don't have anything against double bass, i still love to listen to it, i just don't play it any more.


I will say if imwere to end up in a band that was doing harder classic rock, Van Halen, UFO, Bon Jovi, Pat Travers, etc, I would be playing it again and loving it !
 
It's just that leap into the unfamiliar (or at least rusty). I'd be worried about going double for the same reason (no, I'm not planning to go to the dark side). I imagine ex-double bass players would have a good strong, functional hi hat foot after all the double bass workouts. That's got to help.

Crazy bit of machinery you have there, Harry!
 
It's just that leap into the unfamiliar (or at least rusty). I'd be worried about going double for the same reason. Still, I imagine ex-double bass players would have a strong, functional hi hat foot after all the double bass workouts.

I usually find the opposite. The high hat requires a lot of finesse to sound good, it's all about control of pressure for the different textures, and they don't typically practice "closing" with their left foot, only hitting their second pedal as fast as they can.

Get rid of the second pedal, if only for a while. If it's not there, you won't be tempted to mess with it and can focus on other sounds and textures.
 
I've just practiced to increase my speed on the single pedal over the last year. I just hope one day to be as fast and accurate as Pridgen is on a single.

Gotta eat your Pops.
http://youtu.be/3HsnFL_06IU

I used to have one of those DW things with two bases on a single plate and the bent 2nd beater. Somewhere in the garage I have a 3000 double pedal. Like the OP I mainly used it for the endings of songs. My favorite technique was something I saw Virgil Donati do where it was a triplet with a single on the left foot and a double on the right.

I'm too old for frantic music. The focus on speed in double bass rolls doesn't move me musically. There are very few folks I've heard who can do fast double bass rolls with any sort of pulse or groove. It takes away from the flow of the music IMHO and becomes the focus of the music. I went though the backlash against souless shredders on guitar bit and thought the baby got thrown out with the bathwater. Hopefully some of the more talented folks will slow down just a bit to where they can swing those double bass rolls and create music that flows and still requires technical facility. Otherwise I fear the same kind of "anti-chop" backlash in drumming.

Over time, I developed a down/up twitch move for a fast double on a single pedal that suffices for song endings. What I'm trying to do now is control this so that I can keep it in time and accent either stroke as a part of a linear fill. It's like keeping the hand-hand-foot thing as a very even triplet. Lots of folks do the lick, but fewer make a pulsing triplet out of it. This is where it's at for me with single pedal technique. Less about outright speed and more about feel at a good pace.
 
Back
Top