Fuse and the estimable peter c mentioned this in another topic and I thought it worthy of it?s own thread. So if I may paraphrase Shakespeare: to double bass or not to double bass, that is the question.
I used to be a diehard single bass advocate. If I could execute Bonham bass drum triplets and ?imitate? other double kick tricks, I asked myself, why play it? But, like peter c, I bought one and it was fun. Big fun. What really made my mind up was seeing a video of Carmine versus Vinny Appice; they both played great and threw a ton of licks at each other. But in the end I think Carmine championed (although I prefer his little brother Vinny?s style) and it was SOLELY because he played double bass.
I meet people who vehemently argue the purity of the single bass. To this I say hogwash. Mssrs. Colaiuta, Weckl, Donati, Bozzio, Chambers, Phillips, Lang, Peart and so many others can?t be so unpure. Even Tony Williams had started playing and recording with double bass before he passed away. (R.I.P., bro.)
And a double pedal is superior to two bass drums. Why? Because you can maintain a balance with the pedal that?s more comfortable than ?stretching? to reach your hi-hat to achieve a similar balance with two separate bass drums. And who needs to spend $1600 (plus another $200 or so for a case) to lug around a second quality bass?
It took about two years before it became ?second nature? to me. And it impresses the civilians no end. I?ve had more than one guitarist tell me they wished they played the drums because it looked like so much fun. We can all use a good word every now and then, can't we?
