It’s no secret that heavy metal features big drums smashing away with pounding bass and grinding guitars. It’s tempting to think that means you need a huge kick drum in your kit. And some metal drummers do prefer big kicks, such as Tommy Lee and Vinnie Paul of Pantera and Hellyeah, who uses a pair of gigantic 24″ kick drums. But this is the exception, not the rule. In fact, the speed of metal drumming, especially when using double kick drums, means that fast response is more important than boominess, so tighter kicks — often 22″ — are more common. In most cases the huge sound of metal kick drums comes from careful miking, studio production techniques, triggers to augment the bottom end, and PA volume, not the size of the kick.