The Power Of Double-Kick

[Your Usual Table]

EDIT: Removed

[Carcass]

The Power Of Double-Kick

There are notable uses in other sub genres of metal for sure. The stick work of Dave Haley from Tasmanian black metal outfit Ruins, especially on their new album Cauldron is astounding.

I can't imagine any non-metal genre would need to rely on double kicks.

[adams house cat]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Danny Seraphine of Chicago uses double-kicks.

[beak]

The Power Of Double-Kick

keith moon and ginger baker both played double-kick, though they used two separate bass drums, which you don't see so much these days. either way, it's not like they were playing massive blasts on them though.

the real action is in death metal, grind and black metal. my favourite metal drummer is dave witte (burnt by the sun, discordance axis, municipal waste, human remains, melt banana, phantomsmasher, atomsmasher, east-west blast test etc.)

[beak]

The Power Of Double-Kick

george kollias (nile) shows how it is done.

absolutely bloody ridiculous drumming.

[Bruno]

The Power Of Double-Kick

The bit starting about 2:15 is pretty astonishing. Has there been any meaningful mechanical advancement in the kick response since the old days, or have such drummers just developed more absurdly coordinated leg muscles than ever?

[Bruno]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Also, there's (necessarily) a weird disconnect between the physical act of doing that and the kind of music it's underpinning. Soundwise you feel the guy should look like Animal from the Muppets, but in order to maintain that precision he has to be completely relaxed. The thrashier the music, the stiller the drummer.

[Guest]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Terrifying technique undoubtedly. But sometimes less is more.

"When I get the groove going..."

[My Name Is Ian]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Keith Moon originally had two bass drums because he saw that Ginger Baker had two bass drums. It was, originally, slightly more of a showmanship thing than a musical thing. At first, his left hand bass drum was used as a tom tom holder only, and didn't have a pedal attached to it.

I think that, originally, it was a showmanship thing, starting with Louie Bellson in the 1940s. Here's a clip of Bellson soloing on a twin bass drum kit from 1957 - note how he switches from brushes to sticks without breaking his beat about thirty seconds in:

I had a twin bass drum kit for about a year, but gave up on it because it didn't allow me any control over the hi-hat pedal (there are electronic triggers that allow for this sort of thing, but I haven't tried them) and because, well, transporting them is an absolute nightmare.

Curiously, the last recorded footage of Keith Moon shows that he went back to using one bass drum right at the very end.

[My Name Is Ian]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Oh, and in answer to the original question, the very start of "Fireball" by Deep Purple is pretty special, especially considering that I think it was more or less the first time that Ian Paice had used twin bass drums.

[Guest]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Ever since you posted that I've had an intro going through my head. Finally I pinned it down - on Top of the Pops, oddly.

[Bruno]

The Power Of Double-Kick

The drumming on display here, namely Kollias's uncanny 4-limb synchronization, reminded me of the precision required of a drum line. If Kollias can make his hands and feet play with such precision, imagine the challenge of getting a group of 20 or so people to do the same thing. Of which there's no finer example I know of than some of the top American drum & bugle corps. One of the perennial powerhouses is called the Blue Devils and here they are playing a warm-up routine:

(Sheet music here for anyone curious.)

And of course they need to maintain that precision while marching a very difficult competition routine. Worth a look if you've never seen this sort of thing.

[Bruno]

The Power Of Double-Kick

Phantom Regiment, another top corps.