Need help concerning double bass drumming

Ive played a single bass drum for years, but recently i was asked to join this band who has all origional music. I was also given a copy of their cd so i could get familiar with the songs. Here's the problem, on alot of the songs this drummer sounds like he's obviously playing double bass, but he's playing a closed hi hat, then on certain parts he's playing with it open. I dont understand how he can play these double bass parts with a closed hi hat and then be playing double bass again with the hi hat open unless you have three legs. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

he could have a drop clutch or a second pair of hats

Here's the songs im talking about. Listen to "Zendozer" and "Knowhere" and you'll see what im talking about. http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/90/the_love_comanches.html

absolutely
with the drop clutch you hit it to close the hi hats, leaving your other foot free to play the double kick and you step on the hi hat pedal again to resume normal play

or

he could just have 2 sets of hi hats, one closed and one opened

I use my drop clutch all the time. Very handy device.

Edit: Do you already have a double pedal, and know how to use it? If not, don't even worry about doing solid 16ths until you have them down solid. I've had a double pedal for almost a year, and I still don't quite have it down.

yea same here i've had it for half a year and i have'nt quite sussed out anything yet

Yes, i have a double pedal and can actually play double bass pretty well, but it was just the hi hat thing that confused me.

Well, I just listened to "Zendozer", and I didn't hear any double bass at all. Maybe the other song you suggested has some, so I'll listen to it next. They aren't really my cup of tea, but the singer is good, and the vocal s are really tight, which I DO like.

Tim

Listened to that "Zendozer" song. I'm not sure if there's any db-stuff there. Those ruff-type fills might be only two triplets played on the bass drum(double stroke) followed by a snare/tom hit(s).

-second hihat, mostly on the right

-dropclutch

edit: oops already mentioned

A triplet (like: bass-bass-snare) with closed hihat can be played this way. Place left forefoot @ hihat pedal, use left heel for left bass pedal.

hey, i use a 3-pedal technique.. my toes are on the hihat and my heel is on the slave pedal. this works for me and i can do fast double bass beats, even with hihat on 2 and 4. it lets me go fast, keeps my hihat closer to me (i'm 6ft tall and my feet can't angle up as much as other people cuz my leg chords are kind of short, so my bd is pretty far away). it just seemed most natural to me. i can play double bass and open the hihat for sizzle sound anytime. real nice.

maybe this would help you. but from listening to the tracks it just sounds like a drop clutch would do the trick, instead of changing your double bass playing style.

I think the easiest way to go is a 2nd hi-hat. Ofcourse that's the most expensive though. But I'm poor, and have a Percussion Plus drumset, and even I'M thinking about doing that, because I have a set of Sabian B8 14" hats laying around not being used, all I have to do is get a hi-hat clamp to mount the hats off from the middle of an existing stand. That way they will be closed permanantly. So I can used my regular hats for opening and closing, and when I need the double bass which is almost always, for triplets etc. I can just used the 'remote' hats that will be closed, I believe that is what they call the 2nd pair of hihats, not sure though...