Double-bass drumming...

BaldJean wrote: let's face it: double bass-drumming is a gimmick, and like any gimmick using it again and again simply becomes ridiculous. since I am a keyboarder, let me use a keyboard equivalent as comparison. you can play a solo in a song using the "humorous duck quack" register, which is perfectly ok. but if you do that again and again in lots of different songs people will think you are nuts, and rightly so. also I totally agree with Friede that it does not sound aggressive at all when the bass drum becomes a blur

What prompted you to resurrect this thread? 

let's face it: double bass-drumming is a gimmick, and like any gimmick using it again and again simply becomes ridiculous. since I am a keyboarder, let me use a keyboard equivalent as comparison. you can play a solo in a song using the "humorous duck quack" register, which is perfectly ok. but if you do that again and again in lots of different songs people will think you are nuts, and rightly so.
also I totally agree with Friede that it does not sound aggressive at all when the bass drum becomes a blur

Equality 7-2521 wrote: When it fits its fine, but I think it only fits in very very few situations. Examples I can think of off my head, Portnoy's double bass in "The Glass Prison" terrible, in "When The Water Breaks" fantastic.

Man I was gonna say how much I love the double bass drumming in A glass prison!!! Well, a matter of taste I guess...

I like it, but when used (as Friede said) in an artictic way, or to make good "melodies" with it, but most of the times its not the case...sadly


Edited by el böthy - February 28 2007 at 22:32

BaldFriede wrote: Tony R wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Well, that's your personal opinion, of course. For me the Peart video was less impressive. But to each their own. As to having invalidated everything I said: Plain nonsense. Vander's hopping around is just an expression of his madness on stage. You just have to watch his face during drumming to see that he truly becomes a madman when he is drumming. I find his mannerisms diminish his artistic value and what you describe as "madness" I would regard as affectation used to camouflage the fact that he is pompous and unoriginal as a soloist and an effete snob as an artist.... All artists have their mannerisms; I haven't found an exception yet. It's a matter of which mannerisms one prefers. As to unoriginal: Look up the word in a dictionary.

BaldFriede wrote: Well, that's your personal opinion, of course. For me the Peart video was less impressive. But to each their own. As to having invalidated everything I said: Plain nonsense. Vander's hopping around is just an expression of his madness on stage. You just have to watch his face during drumming to see that he truly becomes a madman when he is drumming.

I find his mannerisms diminish his artistic value and what you describe as "madness" I would regard as affectation used to camouflage the fact that he is pompous and unoriginal as a soloist and an effete snob as an artist....

When it fits the music. Metallica's One is a pretty good example.

As with all things... if the composition works, it's ok. If only for technique show, then no. I love a good drummer if used correctly, I can also enjoy electronic drums if used correctly (Boards of Canada). It is not a matter of "what", but "Why", as in "why using this".

To make it clear again: I just don't like the use of two bass drums. Period. Telling me how great it is what the players play is as useless as telling someone who doesn't like spinach how nutritious is it and how much protein it contains; spinach would still be "yuk" for that person. For me the use of double bass drums is plain boring. But if some people love it - let them! Some people also put horse-radish on oysters or ice into their Scotch.
And yes, I do question the artistic value of using two bass drums. It can be compared to critisizing the violin tone of Ann-Sophie Mutter, for example. She certainly is a virtuoso on the instrument, but many music critics complain about her tone and find it manneristic and thus diminish her artistical value. One can agree with them or not; the fact that she knows how to play her instrument is not changed by that at all. Just as I don't question the instrumental capacities of Virgil Donati. But his use of two bass drums I consider to be a mannerism. And nothing will change my opinion on that.
By the way, I don't consider these bass drum whirls to be aggressive at all. By making a blur of the bass drum hits they lose the effectiveness and power a single hit has.


Edited by BaldFriede - February 28 2007 at 01:46

BaldFriede wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ here's a video that should be interesting to watch for any drummer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inhckpMxxdo ... around 2:25 he plays an interesting mix of ultra-fast double bass and hi-hat "simulated" with a very small cymbal. Now really, Mike, I would have expected something better from you. Do you really consider that tasteful drumming? Jeeze, he even did some stick twirling! Sorry, Mike, that doesn't impress me at all. A good technician, but also very definitely someone whose drumming borders on the tastelessness. Show effects. If you like that... <shrug> This one is more my cup of tea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3lYRqcjP6I I admit there are some "show effects" in it too, but of a completely different kind. You don't have to be whirling all the time to play a good drum solo; it soon gets boring.

Edited by Tony R - February 27 2007 at 18:49

When it fits the music, yes.