Metal Drum Kit Configurations: Double Bass vs. Double Pedal, by Genre | MetalForge
How MetalForge’s 72 documented metal drummers set up double-kick sound — physical double bass, double pedal, or twin single pedals — plus cymbal-setup size by genre.
Bass Pedal Configuration
| Configuration | Drummers | % of 72 |
|---|---|---|
| Double Pedal | 59 | 81.9% |
| Double Bass (twin kicks) | 2 | 2.8% |
| Twin Single Pedals | 2 | 2.8% |
| Single Pedal | 1 | 1.4% |
| Unspecified | 8 | 11.1% |
Pedal Configuration by Genre
| Genre | Drummers | Double Pedal | Double Bass | Twin Single Pedals | Single Pedal | Unspecified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Metal | 12 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Thrash Metal | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Death Metal | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heavy Metal | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Technical Death Metal | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Black Metal | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Melodic Death Metal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Metalcore | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nu Metal | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Groove Metal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Progressive | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Progressive Death Metal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cymbal Setup Size by Genre
| Genre | Drummers (verified) | Avg Pieces | Median Pieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Metal | 9 | 5.6 | 5 |
| Thrash Metal | 9 | 5.1 | 5 |
| Death Metal | 5 | 4.8 | 5 |
| Heavy Metal | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Melodic Death Metal | 4 | 3.8 | 4 |
| Black Metal | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Nu Metal | 3 | 7.3 | 8 |
| Technical Death Metal | 3 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Groove Metal | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Metalcore | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Progressive Death Metal | 2 | 7 | 7 |
Full Shell Configurations (Documented Subset)
| Drummer | Band | Bass Drums | Toms | Total Shells | Full Config |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eloy Casagrande | Slipknot | 2 | 5 | 7 | Tama Starclassic Bubinga (22"x16" & 24"x14" Bass Drums, 10", 12", 13" Toms, 16" & 18" Floor Toms) |
| Tomas Haake | Meshuggah | 1 | 5 | 6 | Sonor SQ2 Heavy Beech (24"x18" Bass, 10"x8", 12"x9", 13"x10", 16"x14", 18"x16" Toms) |
| Mario Duplantier | Gojira | 2 | 3 | 5 | Tama Starclassic Bubinga (22"x18" Bass Drums x2, 12"x9" & 13"x10" Toms, 16"x16" Floor Tom) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do most metal drummers use double bass or double pedal?
Double pedal is by far the most common bass-drum configuration among metal drummers, used by 59 of the 72 documented drummers on MetalForge (81.9%), well ahead of true double bass (twin kicks) and single-pedal setups.