This track concentrates on the feet as being the dominant limbs. My take on double bass technique-especially for a 16th note figure-is to keep the feet alternating from the main foot to the slave foot. For example, 1 e + a would be M S M S (Main / Slave). So whatever your pattern is, all of the "ones" and the "ands" are on the main foot and the "ees" and "ahs" are on the slave foot.

I start playing this track by keeping it simple and then building it up by adding more notes each time. I go back to the main beat after a few variations, just to give it a rythmic rest. Double bass can fill up a track pretty quickly, so use it sparingly unless it's part of the main beat. For a bit of a challenge, try crashing on the "ees or "ahs", where you'll wind up using your slave foot to hit with the cymbals.

Form:

INTRO FILL     2 bars
MAIN BEAT      8 bars
VARIATION 1   8 bars
MAIN BEAT      8 bars
VARIATION 2   8 bars
MAIN BEAT      8 bars
VARIATION 3   8 bars
VARIATION 4   8 bars
MAIN BEAT      8 bars
VARIATION 5   8 bars
VARIATION 6   8 bars
VARIATION 7   8 bars
MAIN BEAT      8 bars
VARIATION 8   24 bars
VARIATION 8   8 bars (with toms)
OUTRO            4 bars

Suggested Listening:

Simon Phillips
Mike Portnoy
Rod Morgenstein
Terry Bozzio