Friday, October 10, 2008

How to Choose a Drum Set

Get a Free Pearl Vision VSX Drum Kit

With the huge variety of drum sets available, how do you decide which set is right for you? We'll introduce the components that go into a drum set: the snare drum, the bass drum, one or more mounted toms, and a floor tom. The two other essential components that complete the contemporary drum set are the cymbals and hardware, both of which we will address shortly. First we'll examine the various drum set configurations that are available.

If you're a beginner or hobbyist who wants to play in a band or jam with your friends, a 4-piece drum set consisting of a snare drum, bass drum, single mounted tom, and floor tom provides you with all the basic sounds. Ringo Starr made this configuration famous with The Beatles. A 4-piece set takes up a minimum of space, is easily portable, and has a sound well suited to jazz, blues, and rock styles.

If surrounding yourself with drums sounds like fun, then consider a five-piece, six-piece, or larger set, which add additional toms for a wider tonal range. These larger kits are well suited for rock, fusion, contemporary, and country styles.

Many drum sets come in two different configurations, Standard or Fusion. The drum diameters distinguish each configuration. Fusion drum sets typically feature 10" and 12" mounted toms, a 14" floor tom (suspended or standing) and usually a 22" bass drum. Standard-sized kits feature 12" and 13" mounted toms, a 16" floor tom, and 22" bass drum. The benefit of the smaller diameters of the Fusion set is their punchy tone and articulate sound. The benefit of the Standard size set is that the larger toms produce more volume and bigger tone. Choosing the best set is a subjective process with benefits to each configuration.

The double bass drum set was pioneered by the great jazz players and popularized by rock drummers. The double bass set allows you to play very fast patterns with power and has a striking visual appearance.

A rule of thumb is that kits with fewer and smaller drums are a good fit for jazz, traditional blues, and other primarily acoustic forms of music, while drum sets with larger drums are better for rock and other more amplified styles.


1 comment:

A.Hugenkiss said...

My boyfriend has been dying to get a drum set, great info, thanks!