Is it safe to play songs that require a double kick pedal with just a single pedal?

WayneD91

Junior Member
Hey guys.

I've always wanted to know, is it possible to play songs that sound like they have a double kick with just a single pedal?

I've been playing drums for about 2 years now. Will playing double kick songs with just 1 pedal put to much stress on my right calf muscle and strain it? Is it unsafe in anyway or will it be fine?

I really wanted to learn these 3 songs and think I could pull it off with just a single pedal. Here are the songs with their links incase you haven't heard them:

- Guns & Roses - Paradise City https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Rbm6GXllBiw
(I think I could do this with 1 pedal although the ending of the song might be a little tricky)

- Alterbridge - Addicted to Pain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYrAu-jnMY

- Pantera - 5 minutes alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks

Any feedback would be awesome.

Thanks guys.
 
If you can pull it off, go for it.

Things like Paradise City should be a breeze.....I've never heard it played with a double pedal anyway. It's single all the way AFAIK.

There will be so many songs where you simply can't though. The tempo will be just far too fast for a single pedal to contend with. Many Pantera tracks will certainly be getting into the range of a double pedal being a necessity.
 
This question is going to be like a self-licking ice cream cone. If you can learn how to play the song with a single pedal and it still feels and sounds like the original, then I figure it's possible. When you run across a song you can't play without your other foot, you'll know. As far as hurting or not hurting yourself, try not to run a marathon on your first day -- build up to it, stretch, hydrate, work up from slower to faster BPM, all the same things that are stressed here on the forum over and over again.

Keep in mind that speed metal is usually played with a double pedal or two kicks, so it's probably something that you want to invest in if you keep playing that style of music.

AFAIK, Steven Adler never used a double pedal on either of his two GnR albums, so rock on with Paradise City.
 
You can always play the bass drum against one of the lower toms. You can get some amazing effects doing that. "Hot For Teacher" is probably out of reach but I've had great luck with playing the bass drum in conjunction with the toms.
 
The link below is the son emulating the father who used a single pedal. Because the double pedal was not invented at that time and the Father had the fastest right foot on the planet to date, and the father's band mates did not allow him to use two base drums on stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEeetrdz1uw

If you notice the son is actually using a double pedal where the father used a single pedal. The father had an old speed king that squeaked. The son is not using the high-hat like his father did. The son is a fine drummer, and even he says, his dad is a tough act to follow. But, he did not have the same right foot as his father. Even genetics could not duplicate that same right foot. In this case it is alright to play a double pedal as a substitute for the greatest single pedal user on the planet. I like that drummer, admire him, a lot his technique fit very well with the famous band he is associate with. I think there were other drummers who were also very good, but the father had without a doubt the fastest right foot ever.
 
Hey guys.

I've always wanted to know, is it possible to play songs that sound like they have a double kick with just a single pedal?

I've been playing drums for about 2 years now. Will playing double kick songs with just 1 pedal put to much stress on my right calf muscle and strain it? Is it unsafe in anyway or will it be fine?

I really wanted to learn these 3 songs and think I could pull it off with just a single pedal. Here are the songs with their links incase you haven't heard them:

- Guns & Roses - Paradise City https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Rbm6GXllBiw
(I think I could do this with 1 pedal although the ending of the song might be a little tricky)

- Alterbridge - Addicted to Pain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYrAu-jnMY

- Pantera - 5 minutes alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks

Any feedback would be awesome.

Thanks guys.

I thought the question was, "Is it safe to play songs that require a double kick with a single?"

To which I would say: No, it is not safe. The double bass police will find you and make things very uncomfortable. Best to not tempt fate.
 
To which I would say: No, it is not safe. The double bass police will find you and make things very uncomfortable. Best to not tempt fate.

I heard that they're a new department in the Cover-Cops... You know them as "The guys in the audience that complain whenever you don't play something !EXACTLY! like the record".
 
The link below is the son emulating the father who used a single pedal. Because the double pedal was not invented at that time and the Father had the fastest right foot on the planet to date, and the father's band mates did not allow him to use two base drums on stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEeetrdz1uw

If you notice the son is actually using a double pedal where the father used a single pedal. The father had an old speed king that squeaked. The son is not using the high-hat like his father did. The son is a fine drummer, and even he says, his dad is a tough act to follow. But, he did not have the same right foot as his father. Even genetics could not duplicate that same right foot. In this case it is alright to play a double pedal as a substitute for the greatest single pedal user on the planet. I like that drummer, admire him, a lot his technique fit very well with the famous band he is associate with. I think there were other drummers who were also very good, but the father had without a doubt the fastest right foot ever.

I assume (as I can't see Youtube at work) that you're talking about John Bonham with this post.

It's fairly easy to teach your right foot to play how he does, it's all about finding the balance point of your seat height/pedal/action etc. As well as lessons I learned in my early teens by playing along to records, including Led Zep ones, and I've been able to play all his BD parts with one foot since I was 16 or 17, ditto Nicko McBrain's parts for Iron Maiden.

I'll also add that I don't see myself as a particularly advanced drummer technically, there are a lot of people who are way better than me and I don't have Bonham's overall feel (which is what made him great in my opinion, not his technique), but I can play all the parts.

Bonham had a good right foot, yes, particularly for his time, but there'll be a large number of players now who are significantly quicker.
 
No. You'll become a decadent Capitalist pig-dog and contract syphilis using the wealth you extorted from the proletariat to hire low-class hookers.

Seems an awful waste.

I mean, surely, when one has wealth one sends one's manservant abroad to procure high class hookers, otherwise what's the point?

Very hard to tread the proles down when one is consorting with their ladies of negotiable virtue, what?
 
I thought the question was, "Is it safe to play songs that require a double kick with a single?"

To which I would say: No, it is not safe. The double bass police will find you and make things very uncomfortable. Best to not tempt fate.

Indeed.

They will drag you out of your practice space and make you kiss the feet of Roddy and Kollias, and then say three Hail Lombordo's as you gaze upon the alter of the Master of Puppets.
 
Cuidado dude...

Go for the vibe single or double.

That said... hmmm I've been thinking about and smaller 2nd bass drum because I NEED another sound in there somewhere.
 
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