Drums
& Equipment - Bass Drum
A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low
definite or indefinite pitch. There are three general classifications of
bass drums: the concert bass drum, the 'kick' drum, and the pitched bass
drum. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral or concert band music
is the concert bass drum. The 'kick' drum, struck with a beater attached
to a pedal, is usually seen on drum kits. The third type, the pitched
bass drum, is generally used in marching bands and drum corps. This
particular type of drum is tuned to a specific pitch and is usually
played in a set of three to six drums.
Usage
It is used in orchestral music, concert band music, marching music, and
throughout 20th century popular music as a component of the drum set.
In popular music, the bass drum is used to mark time. In marches it is
used to project tempo (marching bands historically march to the beat of
the bass). A basic beat for rock and roll has the bass drum played on
the first and third beats of a bar of common time, with the snare drum
on the second and fourth beats, called "back beats". In jazz, the bass
drum can vary from almost entirely being a timekeeping medium to being a
melodic voice in conjunction with the other parts of the set. In
classical music, the bass drum often punctuates a musical impact,
although it has other valid uses.
An orchestral, or concert bass drum is quite large, about 36" in
diameter, and is played with one or sometimes two large, padded mallets.
Usually the right hand plays the drum and the left hand muffles it. When
played with both mallets, a knee or forearm can be used for damping.
Many different timbres, or sound-colors result depending on how where
the drum is struck. Implements used to strike the drum may include bass
drum beaters of various sizes, shapes, and densities, as well as
keyboard percussion mallets, timpani mallets, and drumsticks. Concert
bass drums can sometimes be used for sound effects. e.g. thunder, or an
earthquake.
In a drum kit, the bass drum is much smaller, most commonly 20" or 22"
but sizes from 16" to 24" are quite normal, with depths of 14" to 18",
although some brands have made 20" sizes. 26" in diameter is not unusual
in a big band, and extremes both larger and smaller are sometimes seen.
It is usually more heavily muffled than the classical drum, although it
can be a bit "boomy". But this can be stopped by placing a pillow or a
blanket against the back head to produce a shorter "thud". It is played
using a pedal operated mallet, which a right-handed drummer will
conventionally operate with the right foot. Sometimes the front head of
a bass drum has a hole in it to allow air to escape when the drum is
struck for shorter sustain. Muffling, such as pillows and blankets, can
be installed through the hole without taking off the front head. The
hole also allows microphones to be placed into the bass drum for
recording and amplification. In addition to microphones, sometimes
trigger pads are used to amplify the sound and provide a uniform tone,
especially when fast playing is too difficult.
One of the many ways to use the foot to hit the pedal is the heel-toe
technique, or the "powerslide," where the drummer first puts down the
heel and rolls onto the ball of the foot. This method uses a rocking
motion and makes it easier for the drummer to hit the pedal quicker.
Another variation is the toe-heel method, where the foot is played
heel-up, so that the toes play the first stroke, then the foot shifts
forward to a flat stance so as to drive the pedal into another stroke.
Double bass
Main article: Double bass drumming
In some forms of jazz, rock, hardcore punk, progressive rock and many
forms of heavy metal, two bass drum pedals are used, one operated by
each foot. Originally two tuned bass drums were used for this, but a
double pedal on the same drum using an extension mechanism is now more
common, particularly due to the significantly lower cost. Although a
double pedal will help conserve space, drum resonance is affected by
having two beaters playing one drum which is why many drummers,
particularly, nearly all of the well-known practitioners, will opt for
the classic two bass drum setup. Some drummers have also experimented
with two different bass drum tunings, sometimes combining this with
double beaters so as to have more than two pedals. With two feet playing
bass drum, many of the techniques of snare drum playing (such as
rudiments and rolls) can be performed on the bass.
With many double bass drum pedals the common use of a hi hat drop clutch
is used to be able to hit the hi hat and it not ring. This allows the
drummer to use the double bass and the hi hat at the same time. This is
very common among double bass drum players.
Recently, drummers have been able to buy a single foot double pedal. It
acts like a single pedal, but it hits on the downstroke and the
upstroke. This allows the drummer to perform fast bass beats while
keeping their other foot free to use the hi-hat. In addition, drummers
can also get a triple kick double pedal, which combines the single foot
double pedal with an extension mechanism for the third pedal, which is
operated with the left foot.
Double bass drum techniques were first used by artists such as Ray
McKinley as far back as the 1940s, and then further pioneered by artists
such as Louie Bellson in the 1950s and popularised in the 1960s by
Ginger Baker of Cream and Keith Moon of the Who. In certain types of
metal, the drummer plays a constant stream of rapid-fire notes on the
bass drum, and the ability to play evenly at extremely high tempos is
prized (as exemplified by Canadian band Eudoxis whose bass drums
measured six feet in length). While metal drummers are stereotyped among
some as focusing excessively on double bass speed, other metal drummers
of various genres, such as Tool's Danny Carey, Dream Theater drummer
Mike Portnoy (who could also be classified as progressive rock
drummers), ex-Blind Guardian drummer Thomen Stauch and Cryptopsy's Flo
Mounier are also known for varying their double bass patterns and using
them to interact with the other drums in a creative manner.
Additionally, some drummers, such as death metal drummers Derek Roddy,
Gene Hoglan, and Tim Yeung are notable for being able to execute complex
bass drum patterns at very high speeds while playing independent
patterns in the hands.
Additionally, many extreme metal drummers use a combination of
fast-double bass drum patterns, the snare, and the cymbals to create a
more extreme style of blast beat sound. The hyperblast style,
exemplified by Flo Mounier, is an example. Blast beats on the double
bass drums combined with a more standard thrash-pace rhythm on the
snares and toms are more common among thrash metal and particularly
European power metal. Of course, there are exceptions to both the
aforementioned generalizations.
Some metal bands have turned to using trigger pads, although this
practice is frowned upon by some fans and some drummers, some of whom
might be unaware that the trigger is merely a sensor that produces a
certain sound assigned from a sound module, once the head has been
struck by the drummer's foot or stick. It allows drummers to focus more
on speed and less on volume: because at very rapid speeds it becomes
impossible for the legs or feet to make as large motions as when playing
slowly, the volume of the bass drum hits necessarily diminish. Triggers
will produce a sound whenever the bass drum head is struck, making it so
a drummer can gently tap on the head at a very fast rate and still
create the sound of a full-on fast drumbeat.
This method has been accepted by many contemporary grindcore and death
metal bands who aim for speed that cannot be attained by conventional
drumming techniques. There are various reasons why triggers are
advantageous. One can always have the desired sound at any time, making
them almost essential for somebody who plays two bass drums, for it is
impossible to tune two drums to precisely the same note, since no drum
is ever identical as the other (not even in case of same brand, model
and dimensions). Even players using a double pedal experience this to
some degree, as the two beaters hit different spots in the head. In
addition, at extremely rapid speeds, the sounds produced by the bass
drum, being at a very low frequency, will often become indistinguishable
and the effect will be a rumble rather than a series of notes. A
triggered bass drum sound often has an audible treble portion, called
the "click" due to its sound, guaranteeing that even at high tempos each
note will be clearly audible (this can also be achieved by substituting
the usual felt beater head with one made of wood or rubber). Triggers
are also useful for touring bands who play concerts night after night in
venues with different acoustics and various levels of sound quality. The
triggers make one less hassle in preparing for death metal concerts,
which often feature very large and expensive drum sets played in small,
cheap venues.
However, using triggers has its drawbacks. The triggers can be
notoriously difficult to calibrate in the beginning: often before
calibration a trigger will either produce a flurry of notes from only
one hit, or will produce only a few notes when many hits are made. Using
quality triggers and spending a large amount of time fine-tuning the
sensitivity of the triggering equipment is almost always necessary.
Furthermore, triggering necessarily diminishes the potential for dynamic
playing: whether the drum is struck softly or heavily, the signal
produced by the transducer will be at a constant volume (though some
dynamics are possible, depending on the type of trigger used). Whilst in
some cases this is desirable, such as in a death metal band, where the
use of dynamics is less needed, it is not in a different and more
sensitive setting such as jazz or fusion music. Finally, a triggered
bass drum will almost never sound like a real bass drum, even if the
sound produced by the trigger is a recording of a real bass drum, as
subtleties of individual hits are lost due to the uniform sound
produced. In order to alleviate this to some degree, often a recording
drummer will choose to employ a mix of trigger and microphone when
recording the bass drum.
A few bands use drum machines to obtain bass drum speeds impossible for
human legs, but this practice is not well received by fans and musicians
who consider it cheating.
The most common method of doublekick playing is a "heel-up" technique:
the pedals are struck with the ball of the feet using force primarily
from the thigh as opposed to the ankles when using the "heel-down"
technique. Most drummers play single strokes, although there are many
who are also capable of playing doubles or paradiddles.
A more difficult method is the "heel and toe" technique: the foot is
suspended above the footboard of the pedal and the first note is played
with the heel. The foot snaps up, the heel comes off the footboard, and
the toes come down for a second stroke. This method is much more
difficult and tiring than running. However, once mastered it allows the
player to lay down very rapid rolls on the bass drum. Noted players
include Mike Justian, Nicholas Barker, Tim Waterson, Danny Carey. The
technique is commonly used in death metal and other extreme forms of
music, but there are musicians such as Thomas Lang or Virgil Donati that
employ it for various styles and are also capable of performing
impressively complicated solos on top of an ostinato bass drum pattern.
Lang, for example, has mastered the heel-toe technique to the extent
that he is also able to play dynamically with the bass drum and to
perform various rudiments with his feet.
Many drummers use a drop-clutch mechanism in order to disengage the top
hi-hat and free both feet while double bass playing. This results in the
hi-hat producing a closed sound until the hi-hat foot is available. The
mechanism is disabled by fully pressing on the hi-hat pedal again.
Another solution to produce closed hi-hat sounds is by mounting an X-hat
on the kit, thus leaving the main hi-hat for the open sounds.
In the opinion of many long-time drummers, the constant use of a double
bass drum pedal (for example a blast beat although not popularly played
with double pedals or double bass) in such musical genres as metal shows
little talent. The way most drummers preform with a double bass drum is
overpowering, and it makes up no actual learned beat. After all, anybody
could sit in a chair and move their legs up and down as fast as they
can.
Marching bass drums
The "bass line" is a unique musical ensemble consisting of graduated
pitch marching bass drums commonly found in marching bands and drum and
bugle corps. Each drum plays a different note, and this gives the bass
line a unique task in a musical ensemble. Skilled lines execute complex
linear passages split among the drums to add an additional melodic
element to the percussion section. This is characteristic of the
marching bass drum — its purpose is to convey complex rhythmic and
melodic content, not just to keep the beat. The line provides impact,
melody, and tempo due to the nature of the sound of the instruments.
Components
A bass line consists of between four and six musicians, each carrying
one tuned bass drum, although variations do occur. Smaller lines are not
uncommon in smaller groups, such as some high school marching bands, and
several groups have had one musician playing more than one bass drum,
usually small ones, with one mounted on top of the other.
The drums are typically between 16" and 32" in diameter, but some groups
have used bass drums as small as 13" and larger than 36". The drums in a
bass line are tuned such that the largest will always play the lowest
note, the closest smaller one will play a higher note, and so on, with
the smallest drum playing the highest note. Individually, the drums are
tuned higher than other bass drums (drumset kick drums or orchestral
bass drums) of the same size, so that complex rhythmic passages can be
heard clearly.
Unlike the other drums in a drumline, the bass drums are generally
mounted sideways: the two drumheads don't point up and down, but left
and right. This results in several things. First of all, to ensure that
a vibrating membrane is facing the audience, bass drummers must face the
end-zone (outdoor groups usually march on a football field; indoor
groups in a gym: in either case, the drum head still points toward the
audience) and so are the only section in most groups whose bodies do not
face the audience. Consequently, bass drummers usually point their drums
at the back of the bass drummer in front of them, so that the drum heads
will all be lined up, from the audience's point of view, next to one
another in order to produce optimal sound output.
Playing a marching bass drum
Since the bass drum is oriented differently than a snare or tenor drum,
the stroke itself is different, but the fundamentals remain the same.
The drum is mounted essentially on the chest, with the heads pointing to
the left and to the right. The arm is bent at the elbow and the forearms
are held parallel to the ground and nearly parallel to the drum head.
The hands hold bass mallets in such a way as to place the center of the
mallet in the center of the head.
The motion of the basic stroke is either similar to the motion of
turning a doorknob, that is, an absolute forearm rotation, or similar to
that of a snare drummer, where the wrist is the primary actor, or more
commonly, a hybrid of these two strokes. Bass drum technique sees huge
variation between different groups both in the ratio of forearm rotation
to wrist turn and the differing views on how the hand works while
playing. Some techniques also call for the use of fingers supporting the
motion of the mallet by opening or closing.
However, the basic stroke on a drum produces just one of the many sounds
a bass line can produce. Along with the solo drum, the "unison" is one
of the most common sounds used. It is produced when all of the drums
play a note at the same time and with a balanced sound; this option has
a very full, powerful sound. The rim click, which is when the shaft
(near the mallet head, usually) is struck against the rim of the drum,
either solo or in unison. Rimshots are rare and usually only happen on
the top drums.
The different positions of the typical 5 man bass line each require
different skills, though not necessarily different levels of skills.
Contrary to the popular belief that "higher is better," each drum has
its own critical role to play.
Bottom, or fifth bass, is the largest, heaviest, and lowest drum in the
drumline. Consequently, it is used frequently to help maintain pulse in
an ensemble and is thus sometimes referred to as the "heartbeat" of the
group (the bottom bass was also often referred to as the "thud" bass in
days gone by, indicating that many of their notes were the last one at
the end of a phrase). Although this player does not always play as many
notes as fast as other bass drummers (the depth of pitch renders most
complex passages indistinguishable from a roll), his or her role is
absolutely essential not only to the sound of the bass line or the drum
line, but to the ensemble as a whole, especially in the case of parade
bands.
Fourth bass is slightly smaller than the bottom drum (generally two to
four inches smaller in diameter) and can function tonally similarly to
its lower counterpart, but usually plays slightly more rapid parts and
is much more likely to play "off the beat" - in the middle rather than
at the beginning or end of a passage.
Third bass is the middle drum, both in terms of position and tone. Its
function is usually that of the archetypical bass drum. This player
plays an integral role in the actual rendering of complex linear
passages.
Second bass has arguably the most difficult job in the drumline. This
player's parts are very likely to be directly adjacent to the beginning
or end of a phrase and less likely to be on a beat, which is highly
counter-intuitive, especially to a new player. Sometimes this drum can
function about the same as the top drum, but usually the second and top
drummer function as a unit, playing very rudimentally difficult passages
split between them.
Top, or first, bass is the highest pitched drum in the bass line and
usually starts or ends phrases. The high tension drum heads allow this
player to play notes that are just as taxing as those of the snare line,
and often the top bass will play a part in unison with the snare line to
add some depth to their sound.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_drum
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