Anybody switch from double to single?

  • Thread starter drumming sort of person
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I'm ready to pull the trigger and ditch the double pedal. Can anyone post any videos that show a drummer playing something interesting and musical with a double pedal (or two bass drums)? Unless I'm convinced that it isn't tired, cliché, novelty, silly, or tasteless, I'm done with it.

Please, show me the light. Show me that double bass/pedal serves a purpose beyond heavy metal wankery. Off the top of my head, Carter Beauford comes to mind. Can someone find a video where he's using it a lot?
 
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drumming sort of person said:
I'm ready to pull the trigger and ditch the double pedal. Can anyone post any videos that show a drummer playing something interesting and musical with a double pedal (or two bass drums)? Unless I'm convinced that it isn't tired, cliché, novelty, silly, or tasteless, I'm done with it.

Please, show me the light. Show me that double bass/pedal serves a purpose beyond heavy metal wankery. Off the top of my head, Carter Beauford comes to mind. Can someone find a video where he's using it a lot?
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This will sound weird, but I'm listening to a fair amount of Mastodon since the new album and I'm noticing that he's really toned down the double pedal notes just for the hell of it. It's more rare on the new album, and when it is used, it's used for nice musical effect instead of just putting more notes down or making things sound "impressive".

I personally got bored with the sound of the two pedal stuff shortly after the initial novelty wore off. At first I did think it sounded really cool and I was young so lots of notes at once was impressive; but then it just seemed like literally everyone was doing it and it all sounded the same.

As a player, for me, it takes up too much time to get good enough that anyone will even notice your double bass skill and all that time could have been spent on a lot of other things. I just never got into it.
 
Was just watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-z-imEAYow

He uses it quite tastefully, so maybe there's hope. I guess I just need to refrain from playing the "same old tired stuff" when I use them. But it's so hard to refrain when it's so tempting and easy to do.
 
On my rehearsal kit, I always have a single pedal set up (it's an especially low end one too, the old Pearl P-120) and I use that one for writing with my band and general practice. I generally write everything with a single pedal, and add the double in for live stuff, or to embellish a fill just a bit more, and for drum solos. I think we've written one song thus far that actually has a true double bass section in it.

Though, music always comes in waves. Right now, Jazz, Fusion, and Gospel drumming are back in style, and it seems like rock, punk, and metal are in the background and under the radar. That could change in a few years, and people might be rocking doubles again with the massive arena set-ups of yesteryear.
 
I finally shed my double pedal. Well, sort of! I still have and use a double pedal on my DW Smart Practice, multi pad setup, but the slave never goes on the set. I use the slave on the practice pad, so I can do patterns with my left foot. I’d have to figure out something for it otherwise, so a double pedal was the easiest solution. The slave pedal also moves my hats more to the left, which is another reason I like just prefer using the single on my set.
 
drumming sort of person said:
Anyone else switched to one pedal? If so, how do you feel it changed your approach?
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Although I wouldn't give up double bass, I do intentionally play single bass pedal when working on linear playing. But as a double bass player, I don't consider double-pedal and single-pedal two styles of drumming overall. They're merely two different bass drum functions. Each has its purpose, but neither defines my drumming.
 
bud7h4 said:
I don't consider double-pedal and single-pedal two styles of drumming overall.
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I disagree. If you have two bass drums or a double pedal, you end up thinking and playing differently.
 
drumming sort of person said:
I disagree. If you have two bass drums or a double pedal, you end up thinking and playing differently.
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That is a common result, but it's not an absolute. It could simply add to your drumming vocabulary without eliminating any of what you play on single pedal. Lots of people outside of metal play a twin pedal. It doesn't transform Chris Coleman into George Kollias.
 
drumming sort of person said:
I disagree. If you have two bass drums or a double pedal, you end up thinking and playing differently.
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I agree with this. You may not turn into a metal drummer but I think you'll still try to use the two whenever possible. Happened to me for 6 months. Finally went back to a single. Kind of like learning a great fill and using it everywhere!
 
rmandelbaum said:
I lugged around my double pedal for years, never even took the slave out of the case. I just pulled it out and put a single in. I simply don't use it anymore
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Same deal here.

Been rocking the single for years now.

Time for a pedal upgrade though, been playing a Pearl from the Early 90s since I was in High School. Kinda used to it after 20+ years though....

I see a DW single in my near future.
 
I made the switch this summer, much to my surprise. I was going to trade in my DW9000 double for a Speed Cobra double. On the drive over to the store, it just popped in my head, "Do I really use/need a double pedal?" The answer was no, I've just been using a double pedal for most of my 35 years of playing. Always rock oriented music, nothing tremendously heavy that would require the need for double bass. So I just traded for a single Speed Cobra and got a 20" Kerope which I've been enjoying so much! There was maybe a few instances where my foot automatically moved over for a quick fill or flourish but that soon passed. Since then I've been happy with just a single and have enjoyed the extra real estate without having to compromise my hi hat placement.
 
I'm late to the party, but i'll post anyways. OP you said creative drummers using double Pedal or Two bass Drums. Check Tim "Herb" Alexander, very creative with his DB parts.

as for me, I grew up single pedal, single bass drum. Most of is was because of the expense and the style of music I played. I'm a product of the 90's alt rock movement, so the bands I played in didn't call for a lot of RLRLRLRL across multiple bars. But also being a metal head I loved hearing that stuff. I got pretty quick with my single pedal using the slide method. I've tried Heel/Toe and it's just not coming along haha mostly because I'm not the best at practicing anymore. Happens when adult life catches up. (all excuses aside I should practice more).

I bought a used DB pedal back in the early 2000's and used it for fun and novelty. Then 5 years ago joined a metal band and really got into it. Worked on it and was pretty decent. But never did a lot of just RLRLRLRL, I always tried to be more creative with it.

My new band is more Hard Rock than metal, they never said I couldn't use it, but I found I complimented the guitar riff, vocal line, and wasn't stomping all over the bass player when I went back to single pedal about 6 months ago.

I think for me it's about what the style of music you're playing is, how often you get to open up for solos, and your level of comfort with a DB pedal or 2 Bass drums.

I've been thinking of going back and working being creative with it, without ignoring what's going on in my band musically.

So hopefully that helps and hopefully the OP sees this.

J
 
I just went from Axis Longboards to the DW MDD single.

Really have been just hanging on to the possibility when I might be back playing shred-footed stuff but it wasn't happening so ....no needing the double anymore. Got tired of carrying it around when I wasn't playing stuff that necessitated a double. Maybe some triplets and drags and a very slim chance at a run of RLRL every now and again...and have given way to just focusing on pocket and groove and the lesser of pain of moving and maintaining more than I need to.

No regrets...
 
At home I just don't use the left pedal if I don't want to.

Never had to use it on a gig though.
 
I've thought about switching over to single pedal many time's. My favorite music to play is metal. But I don't like the fact that 99 per cent of the metal guitar players that I play with want a ton of super fast 16th note rolls on the kick all the time. Honesty I think that is boring. I like to do thing's that are more creative in metal. So having the double pedal on my kit can make me feel a bit boxed in on some of my part's because I hear a lot of "do fast double bass here".

Problem that I've found is that because most of the guitar players want to hear double bass so much in metal they don't even want to play with drummer's that don't play double kick. In their mind's it can't be heavy without double bass all over it. So between that, and the fact that it has been a part of my style for so many year's, that's why I stick with it.

Also, and it may be somewhat irrational, there is a part of me that fears that if I ever got rid of the double pedal it may change my music tastes in a way that I don't want them too.

But, if I could find metal players that are more open minded (willing to play stuff like death, core, black, prog, etc) with a single kick approach that does not have to rely on the metal drumming cliches all over it I would be up for giving single kick a go.
 
@drummingman , fast double bass is a lot of fun for me, but when it comes to songs, I totally agree it often gets boring. Much the same way constant guitar shredding does, or bass guitar noodling as if it were lead guitar.

IMO, metal has to groove at some point to be "heavy". I like when a heavy groove is contrasted with double bass, rather than totally forsaken for double bass.

These aren't the 90s though. Today there are tons of extreme metal bands that focus more on polyrhythms and complexity, and drummers are playing a lot more interesting things than fast dbl bass. Because of this, when they do play those fast dbl bass runs, it's actually interesting.
 
I purchased my DW 5000 double pedal back around 98' or 99' after years with a Speed King. I wanted to play like Tommy Aldridge. That thought vanished pretty quick. To be honest, I never play the left foot and I am not really good with it. I just never took the time to develop my left foot. Maybe I should. I've had my current HH and double pedal positions for years. Even if I switched out to a single pedal, I would probably not change anything anyway.
 
I don't see any reason to switch to a single pedal once you already own a double bass pedal.. if you don't want to use the slave pedal you don't have to - there's still no reason to change pedals entirely / buy a new single pedal / sell your old double bass pedal. If you know for a fact that double bass playing is not your style, then I guess don't waste time and money on double bass pedals. But for everyone else, I'd say just get a double bass pedal and you'll be glad you did.

When I bought my first real kit and pedals, I went with a double bass pedal. Why? Mainly because I wanted that functionality and figured it was worth it for the few extra hundred dollars or so. I think it was. I didn't even use the slave pedal for periods of time, but on and off I'd use it, practice double bass, play some metal, etc. and I have even played a few metal gigs with friends in which my double pedal was necessary.

You can easily roll on your bass drum with a double bass pedal, and the strokes you execute with a double pedal are usually louder and more powerful even if you're not rolling. When you see videos of people showing off doing 16th note rolls with a single pedal using heel-toe or swivel technique, they're not doing what sounds like a true roll. To me, what sounds like a true roll on the bass drum would be at least 16th note triplets or 32nd notes. I'm not even great at double bass and I can at least roll 16th triplets or 32nd notes on my bass drum. Of course, I can't roll forever due to stamina issues, but it can easily be done with double pedals and it's really not possible on a single.

Thanks for reading my post. Here's a bonus Sonor Giant Step double bass pedal video which I personally believe displays the evolution of double bass drumming and drumming as a whole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2i9ORJ5NCA
 
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I used a double pedal from when I was 16 to about 19/20. I was never that great with it, but it got it's use jamming Patera covers at home and the odd gig that called for it. I used to be in a pub covers band and the lead guitarist was a real metal head so we used to throw silly metal things into innapropriate songs when the punters were drunk (Knock Three Times and I Saw Her Standing There) were two of the best.

Then I got kind of bored of it, a lot of our contemporary bands locally used double pedal constantly and at the time I was realy into Abe Cunningham, Travis Barker and the guy from Alien Ant Farm so I bought a single Eliminator pedal and put the double away where it stayed.

I had 10 years off the drums, joined a band a couple of months ago, and still had my old double pedal (I sold the eliminator when I stopped) so took that to band practice the first few weeks. The old drummer used a single pedal, but they liked a couple of half joke ideas I had and it's stuck. This band has a really bass driven sound so I tend to kick with him most of the time, and it's cool when I can follow him even when he's faster than I can go with one foot.

I did buy a Fame single pedal for about £40 though, it's really good, and saves me faffing with my settings if I do a gig where the double would look wrong. I've playing a wedding with my wife's big bang next month and I'll be taking the singe there. I'm happy to swap between the two, and I'm still pretty crap on the double.
 
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