RE: Advice needed on tom dimensions

[Unclenabe]

Greetings people i was just wondering whether you guys have any advice these particular drum dimensions:

Bass drum : 20x18 (diameterxdepth)
Rack Tom 1: 8x7 (How does this measure up to 8x8 toms?)
Rack Tom 2: 10x8
Rack Tom 3: 12x8
Rack Tom 4: 13x9
Floor Tom 1: 14x12
Floor Tom2: 16x14

Anyone here with similar dimensions? i was thinking of shells with shallower depths so that they can be mounted lower (Since i'm a rather short person) as with my 20" bass drum as opposed to a more conventional 22". (Therefore rack toms can be mounted 2" lower)

The 1st three rack toms are 8" depth or lesser (in the case of the 8" tom) so they can be mounted at the same level. But i am wondering whether there is a great difference between an 8" tom with a 7" depth as compared to one with a 8" depth.

Any advice or tips out there?

[Ironcobra]

How tall are you exactly? If you're anything over 5 feet, I don't think you should be changing the size of your drums, hardware can easily adjust.

[Wavelength]

But i am wondering whether there is a great difference between an 8" tom with a 7" depth as compared to one with a 8" depth.

None of your other toms are square sized, so a 8" x 7" is a viable choice. As a side note, I'd advice against getting a 13" rack tom. It's going to be difficult to tune the 12", 13" and 14" tom toms into nice intervals, and your set will get very crowded.

[Unclenabe]

How tall are you exactly? If you're anything over 5 feet, I don't think you should be changing the size of your drums, hardware can easily adjust.

I'm not too sure how high 5 feet is but i'm 171cm tall (grew up on metric system :P)

[Unclenabe]

None of your other toms are square sized, so a 8" x 7" is a viable choice. As a side note, I'd advice against getting a 13" rack tom. It's going to be difficult to tune the 12", 13" and 14" tom toms into nice intervals, and your set will get very crowded.

Oh, i was intending to mount the 13" tom on to the left side by itself actually.

Therefore the setup will be 8 10 12 up, 14 and 16 to the right and suspended 13 to the left.

[fourstringdrums]

I'm not too sure how high 5 feet is but i'm 171cm tall (grew up on metric system :P)

That's about 5'5". The dimensions are what I would personally go with. I don't think you'd notice much of a difference between an 8x8 and a 7x8. Most people tend to do 8x8, 8x10, 8x12 from what I've seen but really it won't make much of a difference.

Regarding IronCobra's comment, set the drums however you feel comfortable. That is the most important thing. I'm only 5'4" and I have my 18" bass on a riser which brings it up to about 20". Then I have my 8x12 tom so it's almost touching the bass, maybe an inch away from it. That's perfect for me. There is no rule saying how low or high you should set your drums based on your height, so his comment of " If you're anything over 5 feet, I don't think you should be changing the size of your drums, hardware can easily adjust." doesn't add up to anything more than personal opinion. When it comes to toms, you obviously can only put them so low until they hit the bass drum. I'm at a point now where I can't play a 22" bass drum with even a 9x12 over it and be comfortable. If I was even shorter it would be worse.

[Unclenabe]

That's about 5'5". The dimensions are what I would personally go with. I don't think you'd notice much of a difference between an 8x8 and a 7x8. Most people tend to do 8x8, 8x10, 8x12 from what I've seen but really it won't make much of a difference.

Regarding IronCobra's comment, set the drums however you feel comfortable. That is the most important thing. I'm only 5'4" and I have my 18" bass on a riser which brings it up to about 20". Then I have my 8x12 tom so it's almost touching the bass, maybe an inch away from it. That's perfect for me. There is no rule saying how low or high you should set your drums based on your height, so his comment of " If you're anything over 5 feet, I don't think you should be changing the size of your drums, hardware can easily adjust." doesn't add up to anything more than personal opinion. When it comes to toms, you obviously can only put them so low until they hit the bass drum. I'm at a point now where I can't play a 22" bass drum with even a 9x12 over it and be comfortable. If I was even shorter it would be worse.

Thanks 4strings! Opps, i forgot to say that one of my main concern is the bottom of the toms hitting/scrapping the bassdrum as i see this happening in many kits around especially when their toms are mounted on one the bassdrum via a non-virgin bass drum.

Yeah, so like i was saying, the reason why i'm looking at shorter toms and a bassdrum of smaller diameter was because i intend to mount everything a bit lower than usual to be a bit more ergonomic for myself and also to prevent uncessesary damage caused by the toms to the bassdrum.

[fourstringdrums]

Thanks 4strings! Opps, i forgot to say that one of my main concern is the bottom of the toms hitting/scrapping the bassdrum as i see this happening in many kits around especially when their toms are mounted on one the bassdrum via a non-virgin bass drum.

Yeah, so like i was saying, the reason why i'm looking at shorter toms and a bassdrum of smaller diameter was because i intend to mount everything a bit lower than usual to be a bit more ergonomic for myself and also to prevent uncessesary damage caused by the toms to the bassdrum.

I understand completely. When I played sets with 22" bass drums, I usually didn't play with the 9x12 tom because I could never get it low enough. Even if it was on a 4 piece it still felt strange, though it wasn't that bad on 20" bass drums and fine on my 18". You have to do what is most comfortable for you. Ergonomics is the key. I'm a comfort and ergonomics freak and I have a friend who gets on me about it who says "You change things around so much, you need to get used to the setup". You need to tailor your set for you, not the other way around.

[Unclenabe]

I understand completely. When I played sets with 22" bass drums, I usually didn't play with the 9x12 tom because I could never get it low enough. Even if it was on a 4 piece it still felt strange, though it wasn't that bad on 20" bass drums and fine on my 18". You have to do what is most comfortable for you. Ergonomics is the key. I'm a comfort and ergonomics freak and I have a friend who gets on me about it who says "You change things around so much, you need to get used to the setup". You need to tailor your set for you, not the other way around.

I understand the ergonomics part but i'm just wary that it might affect the sound. The shallower toms would mean less resonance if i'm not wrong and the smaller diameter of the bass drum would make it higher pitch. I'm thinking of using

On the side line, i intend to use Evans EMAD2 for the bass drum and the default front head for it. As for the toms, i'm very comfortable with Evan's EC2s on the top and G1s on the bottom. For the snares, i intend to use REMO CSs or i might try the Emperor Xs.

i've had experience with the EC2s and CSs and personally i think they sound great. Any advice/tips ?

[fourstringdrums]

I understand the ergonomics part but i'm just wary that it might affect the sound. The shallower toms would mean less resonance if i'm not wrong and the smaller diameter of the bass drum would make it higher pitch. I'm thinking of using

On the side line, i intend to use Evans EMAD2 for the bass drum and the default front head for it. As for the toms, i'm very comfortable with Evan's EC2s on the top and G1s on the bottom. For the snares, i intend to use REMO CSs or i might try the Emperor Xs.

i've had experience with the EC2s and CSs and personally i think they sound great. Any advice/tips ?

I think you'd notice more in regards to resonance in terms of the wood, heads and quality of the kit more than the sizes. What sizes would you go for if height wasn't an issue? You won't notice much of a difference between say an 8x12 and even a 10x12 in my opinion anyway. In the same token, you could put a Maple 8x12 next to a Birch or Mahogany 8x12 with the same heads and the Maple will have the most resonance. As for the bass drum, yes the 20" will have a higher fundamental pitch but in my experience you can tune it to sound just as deep as a 22". I have an 18" after playing 20's and 22's and I can tune it to get a deeper sound that while it might not replace a 22", it's a good enough substitution for me.