What The Frak Is With Two Drummers?

[Zappathustra]

Again and again we have to respond for the self-evident.

No, all these - quiet a few bands - that don't use two drummers are not some idiots that they were not aware of the immensely unique dimensions that 2 drummers can offer to rock music.

Yes, you can give a rock tune another color, or flavor, or call it what you will, by using two drums. The same goes exactly for two guitars, two bass, two keyboards, two horns, or two crumhorns. It's just a matter of choice - for the musician - and taste - for the listener.

Could it ever be that simple?

[JKL2000]

There are definitely some bands that have a drummer and then a separate percussionist. This should often be the case, IMO.

[Fracktured]

I think 2 drummers have been used effectively by some bands. I liked Butch and Jamoe in ABB because they were two different styles. Butch was straight rick and Jamoe was jazzy. I could always pick out the one from the other when listening to ABB. After all the years that ABB existed I couldn’t see them with only one drummer. Of course they had 3 for awhile and I thought that was overkill. I think Gregg wanted that for some reason.


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[mozo-pg]

I think 2 drummers have been used effectively by some bands. I liked Butch and Jamoe in ABB because they were two different styles. Butch was straight rick and Jamoe was jazzy. I could always pick out the one from the other when listening to ABB. After all the years that ABB existed I couldn’t see them with only one drummer. Of course they had 3 for awhile and I thought that was overkill. I think Gregg wanted that for some reason.


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Agreed - except I thought the 3 drummers worked fine. Check out their final performance!

[TheLoony]

Bullshit. The Dead most definitely didn't require two drummers, and I maintain that the best music they played was when Bill Kreutzman was the only drummer. But that might have been as much a function of the other musicians having a better sense of dynamics and a willingness to, say not play for a bit, during the improvisational sections of the shows.

My ignorance is showing. I know next to nothing of the Dead or their music. Maybe I could have worded it better as it SEEMS to me that their music is the type for two drummers but again, I know very little of their music to really know what the hell I'm talking about.

I also never knew the ABB had multiple drummers. Shows how much I really know.

[Trane]

I've seen five drummers playing at once on a single drumkit

There was a power failure at Marts & Morgan's show in Verviers (roughly 06 is my guess) , so they all gathered on the drums and played until the power went back on (some 10 minutes later)


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Two drummers is not a problem, but I prefer one that does percussions as well (including Congas)

[Buddhabreath]

I've seen five drummers playing at once on a single drumkit

Reminds me of Genntle Giant back in the day where all five played percussion during So Sincere if I remember correctly. It was a consistant feature of their live shows at one point and a lot of fun. It can be heard on Playing the Fool as all of you GG enthisuasts will know.

[DocProgger]

Reminds me of Genntle Giant back in the day where all five played percussion during So Sincere if I remember correctly. It was a consistant feature of their live shows at one point and a lot of fun. It can be heard on Playing the Fool as all of you GG enthisuasts will know.

Tortoise frequently does something like that with all their band members--they all play vibes and drums and sometimes all at once, in addition to rotating on the various percussion during a show.

[Kavus Torabi]

Melvins with two two drummers was one of the most visceral, exciting and entertaining things I've ever witnessed on a stage.
Watching Dale Crover and Dave Lombardo play together in the Fantomas/ Melvins big band was also pretty memorable, two of my favourite drummers playing both in unison and across each other.

The Glitter Band two drummer sound is iconic too.

I am a big fan of this set up.

[Trane]

Plenty of bands played with two drummers, whether the Allman Brothers Band, Doobie Brothers, Genesis (live only), etc...

But even the French Zeuhl band Taal >> they had an impressive stage set-up as well: the two drummers occupied the centre of the stage facing each other (therefore sideways to the audience)and allk of the musicians (six or seven formed a semi-circle around them.

Melvins with two two drummers was one of the most visceral, exciting and entertaining things I've ever witnessed on a stage.

the Melvins playing with two drummers??
I thought they were playing with two bass players (even their guitarist also played bass at times)

[Kavus Torabi]

^ Yeah, starting with A Senile Animal they did a few albums with the two drummer line up. It was basically Buzz and Dale with Big Business, who were a bass and drums band.
Absolutely mind blowing, It worked so well.
Never seen them with two bass players though and to my knowledge Buzz never played bass but they have been through bassists like Spinal Tap did drummers.

EDIT:
Just seen the other thread about Melvins having two bass players!
I really must keep up.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Why two drummers?



You can't do that with one drummer.

[SteveSly]

Have not seen anyone mention Yes on the "Union" tour which featured both White and Bruford. I thought that worked really well. Saw the tour twice and loved both shows. White played a more traditional kit and Bruford played an electronic kit / percussion.

As others have mentioned Genesis were the masters of the duel drum thing live. Phil and Chester very rarely mimicked each very much.

Another band that comes to mind that had 3 drummers at one time were The Doobie Brothers. They were pretty good at doing the 3 drummer / percussionist live.

The Outlaws had two drummer at one time, although they seemed to play pretty much the same thing.

[Jerjo]

I could hear differences with the Allmans and live boots of Bruford/Collins are pretty cool. KC is also an exception. But most of the time it seems superfluous. I can't help but imagine what Bonzo or Keith Moon would say about it (though the two did team up once at a live show).

[GuitarGeek]

The Outlaws had two drummer at one time, although they seemed to play pretty much the same thing.

Yeah, they started off with just one drummer on their first couple records. I think they added the second drummer around the time of Bring It Back Alive, which, incidentally is a great double live album, one of my favorites.

But then not long after that, they went back to just one drummer. I saw them back in about 2003, the first reunion tour, and they brought back both David Dix and Monte Yoho up on the drum riser. In all instances, I don't think they really did much that one or the other couldn't do on his own.

[Progbear]

Grobschnitt had two drummers in their early, Santana-influenced phase. Eroc was always more than just a drummer, anyway, so it’s surprising that they never chose to replace Axel Harlos.

It seems to be a popular thing with German bands. There’s also Birth Control in their “we have the ex-rhythm section from Message, now what do we do with them?” phase. Bernd Noske’s (R.I.P.) answer to this seems to have been to buy a whole truckload of percussion instruments from Sonor and shove them, and himself, to the front of the stage.



When I saw Bondage Fruit live, they had two drummers. The second was really more a vibes/marimba player, but she also had a second, bass-less drum kit.

There are definitely some bands that have a drummer and then a separate percussionist. This should often be the case, IMO.

That’s what most of my examples really were. If they’re just twinned conventional drum kits, I really don’t see the point.

[jake]

It seems to be a popular thing with German bands.

Yep - Faust featured two drummers in pretty much the only live footage of the original band.

[Garden Dreamer]

Manowar with 3 drummers (and 3 guitarists, basically a reunion show with everyone who ever played in the band):

[Rarebird]

Another German band with 2 drummers

[Rarebird]

Grobschnitt had two drummers in their early, Santana-influenced phase. Eroc was always more than just a drummer, anyway, so it’s surprising that they never chose to replace Axel Harlos.

It seems to be a popular thing with German bands. There’s also Birth Control in their “we have the ex-rhythm section from Message, now what do we do with them?” phase. Bernd Noske’s (R.I.P.) answer to this seems to have been to buy a whole truckload of percussion instruments from Sonor and shove them, and himself, to the front of the stage.

Actually it had more to do with the group drifting away from straight hard-rock, which made it harder for Bernd Noske to sing and play drums, so they added Manfred von Bohr to play drums, while Bernd Noske did percussion and sang.

[jkelman]

Even if drummers are playing the same thing, they're not playing exactly the same thing (no matter how hard you try, everyone's phrasing, rhythm, time, etc, is at least subtly different). Also, unless the drummers are using exactly the same kits (same make and size of drums, same make and model of cymbals, even same foot pedals and other hardware), then they each sound different.

The result is a fatter sound that you cannot reproduce, even with amplification, effects, etc.

[SteveSly]

Another southern rock band that had two drummers was The Charlie Daniels Band. Don't know if they still do or not.

[Rarebird]

Even if drummers are playing the same thing, they're not playing exactly the same thing (no matter how hard you try, everyone's phrasing, rhythm, time, etc, is at least subtly different). Also, unless the drummers are using exactly the same kits (same make and size of drums, same make and model of cymbals, even same foot pedals and other hardware), then they each sound different.

The result is a fatter sound that you cannot reproduce, even with amplification, effects, etc.

My idea as well. That is also why there are more violinplayers in an orchestra. You don't get the same sound with one instrument for each part.

[pb2015]

Another band that comes to mind that had 3 drummers at one time were The Doobie Brothers. They were pretty good at doing the 3 drummer / percussionist live.

If I recall right they usually had two drummers and an auxiliary band member on percussion. Some of their album cuts with two drummers are fun headphone listening.

[taliesin]

Why two drummers? Because it looks cool onstage. That's the reason 99% of the bands who have two drummers do it.

This is nonsense.

Most bands who have 2 drummers do it because 2 players will always bring 2 different things to the table.

I played in a celtic rock band for years when that was a thing and for a while we had 2 drummers - some of the time 1 would play kit and 1 would play percussion and some of the time both would play kit. They had both come through drum corps so they understood how to arrange the parts so they were complementary - on the handful of songs that they played kit together it was musically staggering. Both onstage and in the audience.