Hi and welcome to the drum pages!
This page is meant to help beginners. It will explain what a drum set consists of, what pieces are essential to the kit and what may be optional. Of course opinions will vary and that’s the beauty of music. The variety and expression possibilities are almost endless!
Okay so you or your child is interested in playing the drums. You have nothing yet but the burning desire to lay down some rhythms. Where do you start?
As you begin to gather information it can soon become overwhelming. What gear do you need? What the heck are all those pieces that make up today’s modern drum set and what do they all do?
Hi-hats, bass drums, snare drums, tom toms, ride, crash, ping and splash, cymbals of every size, drum stools, foot pedals, drum sticks. The sheer size of some of the kits you’ve seen, What is all this stuff, what does it do and is it all needed? Can I upgrade or add pieces later? What’s the minimum I need to get started? All great questions!
The beauty of today’s drums is the ability to customize your set to fit your style. Every drummer has his own way to build his kit. A drummers setup typically changes and evolves as one learns to play. As your style develops you will start to know what pieces you want to include in your setup.
(picture of DW Classics-Blue-Glass).
This is a 4 piece set because there are 4 drums. A 5 piece set would have
5 drums. Cymbals don't count when describing the setup. This set would be
described as 'a 4 piece with a ride and 2 crashes.'
Before you can know how to choose your setup you’ll need to know a few basic things. Here is a list of items for a typical conventional or traditional right handed drum setup.
Bass
drum
The bass drum is the biggest drum. It sits in front of the drummer and is
played using a foot pedal.
Foot
Pedal
This attaches to the bass drum and is played with the right foot.
Snare
drum
The snare drum sits between the drummers legs and along with the bass drum
and hi-hat is the main component on the set.
Tom
Toms
The toms are further broken up into upper toms, mid toms(also classified as
an upper tom) and floor toms. Most modern kits have one or two upper toms
and one or two floor toms.
Hi-hats
Every kit needs a hi-hat. This is the pair of cymbals that sits on the pole
with the foot pedal off to the left. The hi-hat is the most used item on the
drum set. It is played with the right hand and left foot.
Cymbals
Not including the hi-hats, a typical drumset will include at least two different
cymbals, a ride cymbal and a crash cymbal.
So
a good minimal drumset consists of 1 bass drum, 1 bass drum foot pedal, 1
snare drum,
1 upper tom, 1 floor tom, 1 hi-hat, 1 crash cymbal, 1 ride cymbal, drummers
stool, drumsticks.
