What’s the deal with 2 drummers in 1 band?

[DrummerByron]

I was watching Conan the other night and he has a band that has 2 drummers playing the same thing so it got me wondering what's the deal? It wasn’t a kit drummer and a percussionist; it was 2 kit drummers, like The Grateful Dead. This is a musical phenomenon that I don’t understand. What are the benefits of having two drummers playing the exact same thing? I heard no difference in volume; both drummers were using the same rigs, so there was no pitch or tone variance.
Please clue me in…

[sarcasmsetyourhouseonfire]

listen to the melvins' "a senile animal".

two drummers on that album.

songs can be found on their myspace page. (http://www.myspace.com/themelvins)

sometimes it's just for show. it's a schtick.

[sarcasmsetyourhouseonfire]

listen to the melvins' "a senile animal".

two drummers on that album.

songs can be found on their myspace page. (http://www.myspace.com/themelvins)

sometimes it's just for show. it's a schtick.

[Rockula!]

Two drummers can be cool and two drummers can be redundant
I never thought bands like 38 Special were doing anything unusual with the 2 drummer thing
However, there are lots of bands out there who utilize 2 drummers very well
They tend to be a bit more experimental in anture
My favorite is Course of Empire
They had a sit down and a stand up drummer
The "normal" kit was used for the traditional drumkit duties while the stan up kit was used as a tribal configuration
They suspended a bass drum on a rack and then switched rummers every few songs
It makes for a very thunderous drum heavy sound
This two drummer idea influenced me to use bas drums as floor toms myself
Lastly, no one seemsto question two guitars in a band
Two bass players is more unusual but 2 drummers allow for very complex arrangements as well as beefing up the sound considerably

[FelterSkelter]

There's limitless possibilities with two drummers in a band. I've always wanted to just sit down with two people and two kits, just to see what comes out.
As far as onstage, even if they're both playing the exact same pattern, you could pan the two kits for a bigger, fuller stereo effect. And we all know that two drums, while they may be similar, do not sound the same.....just like two drummers.

[iatemygoat]

Kylesa now has 2 drummers. for the most part they play the same thing but you can tell on some parts one may be hitting the high hats while the other is on the ride. little things like that. they also have a drum solo thing at the end of their new CD.

[michiganice91]

its cool if u have a drummer, and percussionists like the band "chicago". But idk about 2 drummers

[DrummerByron]

Two drummers can be cool and two drummers can be redundant
I never thought bands like 38 Special were doing anything unusual with the 2 drummer thing
However, there are lots of bands out there who utilize 2 drummers very well
They tend to be a bit more experimental in anture
My favorite is Course of Empire
They had a sit down and a stand up drummer
The "normal" kit was used for the traditional drumkit duties while the stan up kit was used as a tribal configuration
They suspended a bass drum on a rack and then switched rummers every few songs
It makes for a very thunderous drum heavy sound
This two drummer idea influenced me to use bas drums as floor toms myself
Lastly, no one seemsto question two guitars in a band
Two bass players is more unusual but 2 drummers allow for very complex arrangements as well as beefing up the sound considerably

And I get that, in fact that to me is what a band with 2 drummers should do; fully utilize both drummers and not have them play the exact same thing the exact same way. So it does sound like a shtick when they are matching beat for beat. It also seems like the band would be paying someone needlessly unless the other drummer is doing something dynamic. I supose if it work and the fans enjoy it then it's cool, but it still seems superfluous to me.

[Groove]

I played with another drummer in a band once. It was pretty fun and a lot harder than you think. You find yourself suddenly focusing on the basic groove and not being able to improvise so much.

[PDP9000]

Im not really sure mabe better sound new beats faster music

[Daza73]

me and my mate sat down 1 day with 2 kits and just played...it was awsome
sorta like chad smith and ian paice
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6_COMJRaCZw
we originally sore it on youtube and thought hell yer
lets have a crack at it and so we jumped on our kits and just played it was sik as

[Homki890]

Slipknot has three. One set drummer and two psudo-percussionists.

Homki890

[seandude]

james brown had 7, at one point, if im thinking right

[DrummerWithNoJive]

if anyone has seen godsmack live, then you know thats a utilization of two drummers. The drummer and the lead singer play a sweet duo.

[Rockula!]

Yeah
But unfortunately, you would actually have to go to a Godsmack concert to see such a thing