Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain has reflected on his former resistance to double-bass drumming, admitting that he once considered the technique unnecessary before gaining a deeper appreciation for its possibilities.
Speaking to Loudwire’s Joe DiVita, McBrain recalled believing in the 1980s that a drummer should need only one bass drum. He described his old view as “un-drummer-ish,” reasoning that mastering one pedal was difficult enough without adding a second.
McBrain now recognizes that two pedals can make some rapid rhythmic patterns easier to execute.
Many years ago, I’d sort of, kind of got down on people that [played with two bass drums]. I thought it was un-drummer-ish for [drummers to use] two bass drums. Yeah, back in the ’80s I did. And my philosophy behind it at the time was it’s bad enough using one, it’s hard enough using one. Why compound it with two? But the thing is, it’s the opposite to compounding. It actually makes things easier to do, like a 16th-note grouping with two pedals instead of trying to do it with one. I mean, it makes sense. It’s easier. I was just trying to make the point that I thought that… a drum set should only have one bass drum. And then, of course, we had Carmine [Appice] and Ed Shaughnessy and the great Louie Bellson was the first double-bass drum player I ever saw, back in 1939. But that was more jazzy guys. Ed Shaughnessy on ‘The Tonight Show’, he had two bass drums. Buddy Rich always played with one bass drum pedal, never two. To me, it was un-drummer-ish. But these guys have taken… Joey [Jordison, Slipknot drummer] was just frighteningly fast, such a wonderful player. It’s a shame we lost him when he was so young. And then I had a different attitude.
You hear about the blast beats, like Derek Roddy, for instance. He’s an incredible [player]. I think he depped in for Anthrax at one of the Maiden shows just recently. He lives down near me, and we get together occasionally. These guys have kind of taken… It’s like when John McLaughlin came out and the great Billy Cobham. I think, yeah, he was two bass drums, but his speed around the drum set, he took it to another level. And the Terry Bozzios of the world. But these guys, they just blow me away. You think it can’t get any better, it can’t get any higher, and then you see these guys coming out with these amazing time changes and technique. Beautiful.
