Too much China with my Double Bass

Metal music and china cymbals. I just realized, that the less is more concept may come up more than a couple of times on this blog. I think it is funny that drummers in metal can have some screaming double bass, 16th note triplet action and fast blasts, and then throw in the garbage can of cymbals over the top. When is it okay, when it becomes your style and you make it sound good. Matt Greiner from August Burns Red is a perfect example of that. It sounds really good with their style but for some it may be a bit much. Personally I think if you can pull something different off, good for you for being different, that is one of the hardest things to do these days!

Double bass, in your face!

One thing that has always intrigued me as a musician is the concept of the "less is more." Pop music will always win on the genre with the most less is more, it is more revolved around what the general populous likes at the time, which is very primal, "animal like to beat drum, beat drum". The human brain just likes to stomp a foot or clap hands, so how come we push past that? The human desire is to also push limits and boundries of ourselves and the world we live in. Metal Music is a great example, metal music is well constructed (at least the pros do!), and almost as complicated as classical music. So why do we like to have double bass in your face? I think it is because we like to push the envelope and it is also an aquired taste. The funny thing that I have noticed is the fact that mainstream music has picked up double bass in the last couple of years. So where is less is more going now? It is getting away from itself in my oppinion. But I am a fan of more complicated with a simple feel that is easier to follow, hence the reason why Eastern music is an aquired taste for us. Different scales, larger ranges, and twangier sounds. Looks like we are the ones in the stone age of aquired taste. What do you think?