I'm Confused about the Double Bass Drum

[fifthtea_sausage]

Can someone explain to me what the deal with this is?
I do not play in a metal band, or any metal instrument at all, and I have only been listening to metal for about 3-4 years. I have yet to go to my first metal concert.

I heard I think mafiaboy say that when Portimo [SA] comes in with Double-Bass, it just becomes lame. Well on this note, I am sure I heard other complaints, a thread about double bass, and how it ruins songs.

What exactly is double bass drum, and what does it sound like?
I know this is a stupid question because I know so little about metal and metal bands, but I do not know what it is, what it sounds like, and what sounds feature it. It bothers me quite a lot that I don't know about this and it is constantly being mentioned 'double bass' this 'double bass' that. Meanwhile, I'm just confused...

I'm sorry to anyone who thinks this thread is spam, and maybe this could be done through PM (private message) instead, but I think the more answers I get will help me understand why people hate this method of playing the drums.

Does Sonata Arctica feature a lot of double-bass drums? What parts if what Strato/Sonata songs does the double-bass drum come in? When in the song do you think it 'ruins' it?

Any comments that can help me understand this concept would be highly appreciated.

-Fifth

[ciruelo]

double bass are not that related to metal, it is more related to drums, the double bass drums are those drums that have 2 pedals. regular drums have only one pedal

i thing that is the "double bass"...

i hope that works for u

[Sknight2112]

double bass is in almost all Sonata Arctica songs I think. Its basicly just 2 kick bass drums so instead of useing 1 foot for bass drum and 1 foot for highhat you use foot 1 on bass pedal 1 and foot 2 on bass pedal 2 efectively doubleing the speed of your bass drum in the song generaly played 32 notes '

[ciruelo]

the double bass increase the power in the music

so yeahhh long life to double bass :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

[MaFiaBoY]

When you hear very fast bass-drum, it's certainly double. It indeed adds power but when you have 32th bass drums from the beginning to the end of the song/album it also adds a lot of boredom. It's totally uninventive and cheesy, boring to listen and also damn boring to play, I don't understand how Jörg who is such a great drummer would not kill himself during a show...

So basically double-bass drumming is not a bad thing, depends on what you do with it.

[NeonVomit]

When you hear very fast bass-drum, it's certainly double. It indeed adds power but when you have 32th bass drums from the beginning to the end of the song/album it also adds a lot of boredom. It's totally uninventive and cheesy, boring to listen and also damn boring to play, I don't understand how Jörg who is such a great drummer would not kill himself during a show...

So basically double-bass drumming is not a bad thing, depends on what you do with it.

Like anything in music, it has to be used carefully and intelligently. Just like solos, riffs, vocals, melodies, shit ANYTHING.

[MaFiaBoY]

When you hear very fast bass-drum, it's certainly double. It indeed adds power but when you have 32th bass drums from the beginning to the end of the song/album it also adds a lot of boredom. It's totally uninventive and cheesy, boring to listen and also damn boring to play, I don't understand how Jörg who is such a great drummer would not kill himself during a show...

So basically double-bass drumming is not a bad thing, depends on what you do with it.

Like anything in music, it has to be used carefully and intelligently. Just like solos, riffs, vocals, melodies, shit ANYTHING.

Agreed, and in some bands like SA it is NOT intelligent AT ALL. It's just basic double-bass for the entire album except the one or two ballads.

[-=Bulbin=-]

When you hear very fast bass-drum, it's certainly double. It indeed adds power but when you have 32th bass drums from the beginning to the end of the song/album it also adds a lot of boredom. It's totally uninventive and cheesy, boring to listen and also damn boring to play, I don't understand how Jörg who is such a great drummer would not kill himself during a show...

So basically double-bass drumming is not a bad thing, depends on what you do with it.

Like anything in music, it has to be used carefully and intelligently. Just like solos, riffs, vocals, melodies, shit ANYTHING.

Agreed, and in some bands like SA it is NOT intelligent AT ALL. It's just basic double-bass for the entire album except the one or two ballads.

I can't agree about that. I really like Sonata Arcticas songs and the double-bass fits the songs great! (that's my opinion) You can ruin a song by "playing" to much as a drummer. Sure, I don't know how the songs would be without the double-bass, but it wouldn't be the same.

[Twilight Legionnaire]

If you're wondering about the *sound* of double-bass.. try listening, for example, to Holy Solos from the Visions of Europe album. Go to 8 minutes and 29 seconds onwards, and you'll hear Jörg switching between bassdrums and the snare like mad.

[Electric Eye]

it also might be called double-kick. It's an engine of power metal music !

[fifthtea_sausage]

Thanks a lot for everyone who replied to this thread and helped me understand. Things have really cleared up now.

[Neorave]

it also might be called double-kick. It's an engine of power metal music !

The local metal band here, Cellador, uses double-bass drums. The drummer uses them very well.

[stratoplayer]

Like anything in music, it has to be used carefully and intelligently. Just like solos, riffs, vocals, melodies, shit ANYTHING.

agrees 100%, if you overdo something it could turn worse than not doing it at all! like powerchords for slipknot, god i hate that kind of music!