A Question For Drummers...

[binky_bass]

Hi all,

 

I've recently picked up a kit from one of our fellow BCers. It was mostly complete except one or two things that I've now bought.

 

I'm VERY much an amateur drummer, I play just for a bit of fun. I got this kit as I've started a second band and the drummer from the first band wasn't overly keen about sharing his kit, which is no problem, so getting a 'house' kit for both bands to use way the way forward.

 

I'm really after a bit of advice on setting it up to get the best out of it. I'll list below what I have and if anyone could give me some hints and tips on the best set up for what I've got, I'd be grateful! It's mostly a Pearl Export kit with a few bits and pieces to make it a 'full' kit...

 

22" Pearl Export Kick Drum

8" Pearl Export Tom

12" Pearl Export Tom

13" Pearl Export Tom

16" Pearl Export Tom

14" Mapex M Series Snare

Paiste PST3 14" Hi-Hats

Paiste PST3 16" Crash

Stagg SH 8" Splash

Sabin Pro 20" Ride

Mapex Raptor Direct Drive Double Kit Pedal

Gibraltar Hats Stand

3 x Premier Cymbal Stands (2 are on their way)

2 x Spare Tom Mounts

1 x Clamp (Mounts to cymbal stand and can holds 2 'things')

 

So this is what it looks like now (bare in mind 2 of the cymbal stands are in the post so the ride and splash are not set up yet). It might be set up in a totally arsé about face way... Any suggestions to get the best out of it are very welcome indeed! 

 

 

Thanks! 

Edited September 11, 2022 by binky_bass

[Doctor J]

Firstly, congratulations and welcome to the club. Drumming is a lot of fun. There's no one right way, it's whatever is comfortable, but I'll show you how I set my drums up and tell you why they are the way they are. I picked up this Yamaha last year as a replacement for my old 5-piece Export kit and, even though there are more drums, followed the same principals of setting it up. I try to play from the wrist, not the elbow and not the shoulder, and economy of movement factored high in how I originally arrived at this kind of setup. I'll see if I can find any pics of the Export setup. Also look at youtube videos and pictures and you'll see every drummer sets their kit up differently, so find what's comfortable for you.

 

First, see the snare as the centre of the kit. You've got a double pedal, set that up so your legs are comfortably apart with the snare between them. Don't have your legs rubbing off the snare and don't have them so wide you're straining yourself. The kick, as a result, will be off-centre to the right. Imagine you had a second bass drum and you'll see what I mean. Get your stool height, snare height and position and bass drum position done first. Get comfortable with those before you add anything else. They are the foundation of everything and you'll use them the most. I'd recommend getting started without the second kick pedal. You need to learn how to play the hi-hat with your left leg, maybe give that some time before adding double-bass playing into the mix.

 

For stool height, find a height comfortable for you. I don't like to be down too low. I'm tall, with long legs, so being down low would make playing uncomfortable. The height of the snare is entirely set on how high I sit. Just measuring, the top of the stool is 60cm, the top of the snare is 73cm, but that was set up entirely on feel. I like to keep the snare quite horizontally flat and, at these heights, I can comfortably play, do rimshots and fills with my wrists in a neutral position and without hitting myself in the leg with my left hand.

The toms are set up with economy of movement in mind, they close together and follow a natural arc of movement when I rotate. You shouldn't need to look for them, they should fall within your body's natural range of movement when you are sitting on the stool. The height of the small three is not far above the snare, the two floor toms are level with the snare. This is what feels comfortable to me. I don't have to stretch to reach anything. I try to hit the toms with the stick at as shallow an angle as possible, almost like playing a rimshot. It makes ergonomic sense and you don't put great big divots in the skin. Don't have them too close and don't have them too far away. The height and distance of the floor toms means they're just a flick away from the snare, they feel quite natural where they are.
 

After all that is comfortable, I worked on cymbal height and position. The hats will go outside your second kick pedal so make sure the distance is comfortable for your leg and your hand. I have the hi-hat and the ride roughly the same height as each other and the rack toms. That whole economy of movement thing again. It takes some practice to have the hats this close to the snare, though. Lots of sticks hitting each other until I got my technique together. They're at a level my arms are comfortable at and I don't have to travel great distances to reach them. I think it's important to not have to stretch to reach anything, to not have a lot of movement going through the shoulders. I play the ride in different ways, not just pinging off it, but also like a big washy cymbal, and use the bell. This setup allows me to do this with minimal effort.
 

After that, the other cymbals. Again, keep them at a comfortable height. They need to be able to move without hitting off anything but don't have them too high. Keep the bell of the ride unobstructed and make sure you can hit the toms without a cymbal getting in the way. I keep my cymbals quite horizontal, just a personal preference, I prefer the feel of them that way. Some like to angle them inward. I raised the crashes by about 10cm a few days ago, just to try something different, see how I got on with them. They're still below shoulder level, though. In terms of tone, there are some who set the cymbals up from left to right in terms of pitch, mirroring the drums, but it's not essential by any means.

 

That's pretty much it. Keep things close to hand, follow your own body's natural movement arcs and set up so it feels good rather than looks good. The Export tom arms are handy in that you can put the short bit in the kick drum and the long bit is long enough to hang that 13" like a floor tom. Experiment and find the setup which works for you and don't fight your setup evolving as you learn what you like and don't like. Our bodies are different so there is no one right way. 
 

 

Edit -> found a pic of the old Export kit. Same idea in how it's set up.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Doctor J

[cheddatom]

Good advice there from Dr J. I like to set up my bass drum, attach the pedal, sit on my stool with my right foot on the pedal, then put the snare directly infront of me, and the hi-hat under my left foot. The rest just fits around that. I tend to end up with the bass drum angled slightly to the right, so I have to bare that in mind when setting up live. If I don't rotate the bass drum I end up looking to the left of the stage, instead of directly ahead at the audience.

[binky_bass]

Very good advice @Doctor J, thanks. 

 

The size of the rack toms seems to prevent me from being able to mount them low and flat in a similar way to your picture as the heigh of the kick drum just doesn't allow for it. If I move the 8" tom and the 12" tom that are mounted to the clamp on the crash stand so they are in such a position as to be similarly low and flat, then I'm finding that the 12" tom is miles from the 14" kick mounted tom and I can't get the 14" tom to be as low as the base of it would smash into the kick drum itself.

 

I mean it's 'playable' the way I have other set up. But it's not really set up in an overly efficient way to maximise economy of movement. 

 

Any advice on what I'm doing wrong here? I feel like if I set them up to be flat-ish, then the toms would be too high up without being able to go lower because of contact with the kick drum.

[Doctor J]

The Yamaha has a 20" kick and the rack toms are 8", 10" and 12" so I can get it all a bit lower. In the pic of the Export kit, it's a 22" kick with the 12" and 13" toms so they're a bit higher. Like I said, one option is to use the tom arm to hang the 13" like a floor tom. It's just long enough if you stick the short end in the bass drum.

[Doctor J]

And also bear in mind, that's just my preferred way of going about it. Try different positions yourself and see what feels good to you.

[Pea Turgh]

I’m no expert, maybe one or two notches past beginner, but I’d want the toms grouped a bit tighter together with the smallest tom positioned above the snare.

Maybe pop the 8” & 12” on the bass drum and use a cymbal mount drum thing for the 13”?

Edited September 16, 2022 by Pea Turgh

[binky_bass]

Slight change of set up...

 

Over the last few weeks I've been really enjoying having a smash on the drums, to the point where today I picked up a rather nice Mapex Storm kit with a big bag of much better cymbals!

 

I need an extra stand with a boom Clamp as I have a Paiste 101 18" Crash and a Meinl 10" Spalsh I can't set up yet. I also need to work on the general set up too but here's the kit now thrown together...

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by binky_bass

[binky_bass]

Final adjustments made...

 

[Pea Turgh]

That’s a lot of cymbals!

[PaulThePlug]

And only one cow bell...