Scar Symmetry's Henrik Ohlsson talks about double bass playing

 

Drum Craft Endorser Henrik Ohlsson from Scar Symmetry just finished a tour with Bibel Black in Finland, two days after the band finished the scandinavian tour with Hypocrisy.
Drum Craft caught him up one day after he came back and asked Henrik a little bit about double bass playing.

Henrik, Scar Symmetry songs require a lot of double bass, how do you practice that?

I play a long with a clicktrack very oftenly, because then I know exactly how fast I am playing and that is a very important aspect.
Different tempi feel very different from day to day, depending on your state of mind.
So I sit down at least one hour per day and just play simple patterns to different bpms.
That is the only way you get a feeling for double bass and especially a feeling for speed and precision.

On a tour you have to jump out of the bus and perform each night - do you warm up?

Yeah I need to warm up. I do that by stretching and playing on a little practice kit.
That is very very important cause otherwise your muscles might cramp and that is a no go for a live performance.

Do you care about the shoes you are wearing on stage?

Well that is a very personal thing, I think.
I like it a lot when the sole is solid and thick which gives me a stable feeling on the pedal.
Honestly I cannot understand how some guys play without shoes.

And which exercise could you advise for double bass?

Oh I think a very good exercise is to play all your regular exercises with your left foot instead of the right.
Do that until the power and feeling of your left foot is equal to the right foot.
A lot of Scar Symmetry songs start with the left foot on the double bass pedal, so it is very important for me to play with left foot a lot, but it also helped me gathering independence on double bass and becoming a better drummer.

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