Double bass opinions

I'm all for anyone who wants to use both feet on a bass drum or drums ..... there are definitely advantages if you desire a certain sound

but most young players get so intrigued by what they hear some drummers doing with two feet on a bass drum that they completely abandon one of the most expressive pieces of the instrument .... the hi hat

to often the hi hat is relegated to a being a time keeper and it is such a shame because the colors and inflection that can come from that instrument have a much wider range than a single drum

so this is just a reminder that while you are having fun with your sweet double bass drum licks remember that other pedal connected to those two cymbals is a pretty special little secret waiting to be unwrapped

so special to me in fact ... that I abandoned my double pedal about 7 years ago to dedicate my left foot to is exclusively and have not looked back or missed it for one second

I have nothing at all against the double pedal.....I had one attached to my bass drum for 20 years and spent countless hours working on the skills to keep it efficient and tasteful ..... I just find no use for forcing applications for it while playing music that does not call for its services but does in fact benefit from the colors of the hi hat

just a little seed of thought to plant in your double bass travels

.... on the subject.... I also see many young drummers play with two bass drums pieces that really should be able to be played with one.... I don't consider it "cheating" in a sense that they are pulling one over on anyone..... but I find they may be in the long run cheating themselves out of things they could have developed early on by not relying on two feet what they could have done with one all along
THIS! The Hi-Hat is an amazing instrument that ought not be neglected. And yes i do feel the same way about people using double pedals to do things that a single pedal would suffice for. I dont have a problem with people doing it but in the long run think they would probably benefit from learning the technique to do without the double pedal. Of course the sound is the thing so as long as it works for the music i'm cool with it.
 
I myself have difficulty with single double strokes on the foot...i use the heel toe method and can actually do triplets and quads like jojo mayer but the volume is not as loud as I believe it should be...i have been trying to get the slide technique going because the double strokes are louder and more powerful...unfortunately I can only get the doubles in spurts and I feel like it takes alot of effort to achieve..I do play double bass and feel that I get the best of both worlds...you get power and volume and you also build up your left foot which gives you a ton of options that using a single pedal wont give you...perfect example is how weckl and colaiuta use their double bass...i luv weckl's triplet fills and how he incorporates his double pedal into alot of them..i disagree when people say the music they play doesnt use it...you can fit double bass into any type of song if you wanted...think electronic beats, dance beats, rock, metal etc...probably the only genre you wont see it is in jazz but otherwise like i said it can be applied to alot of diff types of music. So I will say I dont look at it as cheating but you should have some kind of single bass doubles technique..options are important.
 
I have no interest in double pedals at all. Never have, never will. Part of it is purism but mostly to me a double pedal is simply in the way of the hihat pedal, whose use I value way way more.
 
I love my double bass pedal and the way I look at it is " because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it " . And it goes for every instrument/cymbal/note there is.
 
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