protestthedrummer
Junior Member
personally i love both big and small kits. I love to play smaller kits because there is less to focus on and when I am working with my band I can zone in on what everyone is doing. (very important) with a big kit its easier to go off and do stuff of the beat and time like Gavin harrison. When I do drum solo stuff or just fool around I play my 6 piece. But with my band I strip it down to a 4 piece. It helps a lot. I like both sides of the coin.
shrink
Senior Member
Im not a fan of the crazy huge kits. It seems to me, that it just creates too many choices.
I know the argument will be "how can you have too many choices", but i think that you can needlessly overcomplicate things, to a point where it gets in the way of what your trying to achieve.
I run an average/medium sized kit comprising:
-6 piece kit (4 toms, bass drum, snare)
-hi hats
-2 crashes (either side of the rack toms)
-1 ride (over floor tom)
-1 splash (between crashes and above rack toms)
-2 octobans (if i can ever get them mounted)
At the very most, i think i would add:
-1 larger crash (i have two 16's of varying thicknesses)
-1 smaller splash (i love my 10" avedis, but would like something faster brighter and trashier)
-1 china (no idea how id use it at this stage, but its forseeable that id fancy one someday)
-1 extra floor tom (i run a 3 up 1 down setup, would like 2 down.
Thats as far as id ever go, and thats still what id consider a pretty average setup. Not into the realms of crazy.
I know the argument will be "how can you have too many choices", but i think that you can needlessly overcomplicate things, to a point where it gets in the way of what your trying to achieve.
I run an average/medium sized kit comprising:
-6 piece kit (4 toms, bass drum, snare)
-hi hats
-2 crashes (either side of the rack toms)
-1 ride (over floor tom)
-1 splash (between crashes and above rack toms)
-2 octobans (if i can ever get them mounted)
At the very most, i think i would add:
-1 larger crash (i have two 16's of varying thicknesses)
-1 smaller splash (i love my 10" avedis, but would like something faster brighter and trashier)
-1 china (no idea how id use it at this stage, but its forseeable that id fancy one someday)
-1 extra floor tom (i run a 3 up 1 down setup, would like 2 down.
Thats as far as id ever go, and thats still what id consider a pretty average setup. Not into the realms of crazy.
R
Random Name 123
Guest
Huge for me mate. But then I only use three drums and three cymbals. I'm very happy with what I can get out of it though, and when I start gigging it should be nice and easy to set up!
zakhopper316
Silver Member
sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
hey all, so i know i can be really argumentative at times but i just have to say..well first off
nothing personal
any way i have got to say i am so so sick of people with large drum kits, i mean really?
do we really need to act like Neil Peart? and its even worse when they cant even play a 4
piece well let alone a 9 piece!
i record a good number of bands per week with my friend in his basement, and i am just so sick of people bringing in there 8 9 10 shell kits along with 12 cymbals and doing 16th note sweeping fills on every track. i think it kills creativity.
look i understand if your a drumming monster and have a 6 piece kit, you deserve it, but
when these high school kids come in with a 10 piece pacific drum kit and record nothing
but the same fills on different drums it drives me up the wall!
i had band come in this week, they where juniors in high school and he had 12 drums,
only one was a bass drum, he had 3 snare drums, only one actually had snares on it,
the other 2 where used as toms, he had real toms from three different kits, some of them
where the same size, none of them tuned really, he says he has been playing almost 4
years, and his chops seemed accurate to that, but he could not groove and its because
of all those drums, i know it!!
look if you have a big drum kit please break it down to a four peace just for a week, you
will feel the creativity flow.
i swear this makes me want to get better recording gear and a place so we can raise our
prices and stop dealing with this "we want a demo, we are 16" group of bands.
hey all, so i know i can be really argumentative at times but i just have to say..well first off
nothing personal
any way i have got to say i am so so sick of people with large drum kits, i mean really?
do we really need to act like Neil Peart? and its even worse when they cant even play a 4
piece well let alone a 9 piece!
i record a good number of bands per week with my friend in his basement, and i am just so sick of people bringing in there 8 9 10 shell kits along with 12 cymbals and doing 16th note sweeping fills on every track. i think it kills creativity.
look i understand if your a drumming monster and have a 6 piece kit, you deserve it, but
when these high school kids come in with a 10 piece pacific drum kit and record nothing
but the same fills on different drums it drives me up the wall!
i had band come in this week, they where juniors in high school and he had 12 drums,
only one was a bass drum, he had 3 snare drums, only one actually had snares on it,
the other 2 where used as toms, he had real toms from three different kits, some of them
where the same size, none of them tuned really, he says he has been playing almost 4
years, and his chops seemed accurate to that, but he could not groove and its because
of all those drums, i know it!!
look if you have a big drum kit please break it down to a four peace just for a week, you
will feel the creativity flow.
i swear this makes me want to get better recording gear and a place so we can raise our
prices and stop dealing with this "we want a demo, we are 16" group of bands.
Tommy Two-Shoes
Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
I get what you mean, but when I was younger I was the same. I watched people like Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy and thought "wow, i want one!" - like most people who play, I was really into the aesthetics of drums. I still am, but those kits look pretty ugly to me now. Well, Neil's is cool. I think most people grow out of it though.
I know some people who use fairly big setups, but they justify it. It fits their style, it's what they do, the extra toms are handy for them. That's cool. I find I'm much happier at a minimum though - snare, big rack tom and floor tom. Like you said, it makes me be more creative with my fills, for sure.
I get what you mean, but when I was younger I was the same. I watched people like Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy and thought "wow, i want one!" - like most people who play, I was really into the aesthetics of drums. I still am, but those kits look pretty ugly to me now. Well, Neil's is cool. I think most people grow out of it though.
I know some people who use fairly big setups, but they justify it. It fits their style, it's what they do, the extra toms are handy for them. That's cool. I find I'm much happier at a minimum though - snare, big rack tom and floor tom. Like you said, it makes me be more creative with my fills, for sure.
zakhopper316
Silver Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
your right, neil peart was expressing him self, some one who has added more and more drums through the years is expressing himself, but a beginners first drum set with
8 pieces.. i mean yea, he is in fact expressing himself, i just think its a bit of an over load of expression if you know what i mean.
interesting, i was actually the opposite, i grew up in the travis barker age, and i wanted to be like him( i didn't know better at the time). and he played a pretty tight kit, so i was a fan of the small drum sets, you know with cymbals like 4 feet above the drums.
i think a lot of it is my infatuation with the older days in drumming, i wasn't alive then but as i have gotten older i have really immersed my self in 50' and 60's music, and i wish i
could live through that music scene, because everything was the same in a way as far as gear and stuff. there wasn't all this stuff we have today. all the huge drums and out if this
world cymbals, and accessories , it was all uniform, the setups, the sizes, everything accept the playing. and im not anti originality or anti expression. i just think expression
then was more pure, it was doing something different on the same thing, you had the same sounds but you could express them in your own ways, i think that makes expression more difficult, more true
your right, neil peart was expressing him self, some one who has added more and more drums through the years is expressing himself, but a beginners first drum set with
8 pieces.. i mean yea, he is in fact expressing himself, i just think its a bit of an over load of expression if you know what i mean.
interesting, i was actually the opposite, i grew up in the travis barker age, and i wanted to be like him( i didn't know better at the time). and he played a pretty tight kit, so i was a fan of the small drum sets, you know with cymbals like 4 feet above the drums.
i think a lot of it is my infatuation with the older days in drumming, i wasn't alive then but as i have gotten older i have really immersed my self in 50' and 60's music, and i wish i
could live through that music scene, because everything was the same in a way as far as gear and stuff. there wasn't all this stuff we have today. all the huge drums and out if this
world cymbals, and accessories , it was all uniform, the setups, the sizes, everything accept the playing. and im not anti originality or anti expression. i just think expression
then was more pure, it was doing something different on the same thing, you had the same sounds but you could express them in your own ways, i think that makes expression more difficult, more true
Jessiah331
Senior Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
Let me put it this way. I (typically) play with 5 toms, a single bass, and two snares. I have four crashes, two splashes, a mini china, ride, and hats. I don't blast out 16ths, play repetitive beats, and don't think I'm anywhere near as good as some drummers that use smaller sets.
BUT
I set up like this because I like to play my drums like a musical instrument. Not something that produces three different sounds and monotone beats. I prefer to be able to crash and have different sounds, and do little tom fills that all sound different. I enjoy playing my drums with all the bells and whistles to play with.
Don't get me wrong, I do have fun playing a small kit too, but it's just not what I enjoy doing. I mean, I don't start threads rapping on drummers that have one tom and one crash, because thats what they like to play.
Let me put it this way. I (typically) play with 5 toms, a single bass, and two snares. I have four crashes, two splashes, a mini china, ride, and hats. I don't blast out 16ths, play repetitive beats, and don't think I'm anywhere near as good as some drummers that use smaller sets.
BUT
I set up like this because I like to play my drums like a musical instrument. Not something that produces three different sounds and monotone beats. I prefer to be able to crash and have different sounds, and do little tom fills that all sound different. I enjoy playing my drums with all the bells and whistles to play with.
Don't get me wrong, I do have fun playing a small kit too, but it's just not what I enjoy doing. I mean, I don't start threads rapping on drummers that have one tom and one crash, because thats what they like to play.
Pocket-full-of-gold
Platinum Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
Hey there mate.
The only question I would ask myself here is: "why does it piss ME off, what OTHER people choose to play?"
On a personal level, I own a 6 peice kit.....when I gig (not often these days admitedly), I take a 4 peice....only beacuase I'm a lazy bugger and can longer be bothered dragging a heap of stuff around with me anymore. But that's MY choice, much like it's YOUR choice to take a smaller rig also. But what does it really matter? My take on it all is, it's music.....do what you need to to get the sound out of your head and into your instrument. For you, it's achievable on a smaller kit.....others need more. Why should that annoy you?
If your greatest concern is a 16 year old on a 12 peice kit......then you can consider it a damn good life my friend.
As for you recording the same thing week in, week out.......that's the vocation you've chosen for yourself mate. You're gonna hear a hell of a lot more "same, same" before you're through......trust me (imagine how the Eddie Kramers of the world must feel...lol). Record it, track it, give 'em their CD and then take the money. It'll make you enjoy the "quality" acts when they pass through your studio, all the more.
Hey there mate.
The only question I would ask myself here is: "why does it piss ME off, what OTHER people choose to play?"
On a personal level, I own a 6 peice kit.....when I gig (not often these days admitedly), I take a 4 peice....only beacuase I'm a lazy bugger and can longer be bothered dragging a heap of stuff around with me anymore. But that's MY choice, much like it's YOUR choice to take a smaller rig also. But what does it really matter? My take on it all is, it's music.....do what you need to to get the sound out of your head and into your instrument. For you, it's achievable on a smaller kit.....others need more. Why should that annoy you?
If your greatest concern is a 16 year old on a 12 peice kit......then you can consider it a damn good life my friend.
As for you recording the same thing week in, week out.......that's the vocation you've chosen for yourself mate. You're gonna hear a hell of a lot more "same, same" before you're through......trust me (imagine how the Eddie Kramers of the world must feel...lol). Record it, track it, give 'em their CD and then take the money. It'll make you enjoy the "quality" acts when they pass through your studio, all the more.
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Andy
Honorary Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
I play a 6 piece now. I played a 6 piece when I was 18. I'll always play a 6 piece because it's what I want to play. I'm not going to "grow out of it". I'm not trying to be like anyone. It just suits my playing and I like it.
Of course I can knock out a groove on less drums, it's just that I don't want to most of the time. There isn't a single element of my kit that I don't use regularly. I am currently putting together a big kick & little snare combo for some groove stuff I'm into. Just the two pieces, with hats, ride & a couple of crashes. A very different flavour to my 6 piece. Just because I usually play with more stuff, doesn't mean I'm going to struggle with the ultra simple setup. It's a choice thing, nothing more than that.
I play a 6 piece now. I played a 6 piece when I was 18. I'll always play a 6 piece because it's what I want to play. I'm not going to "grow out of it". I'm not trying to be like anyone. It just suits my playing and I like it.
Of course I can knock out a groove on less drums, it's just that I don't want to most of the time. There isn't a single element of my kit that I don't use regularly. I am currently putting together a big kick & little snare combo for some groove stuff I'm into. Just the two pieces, with hats, ride & a couple of crashes. A very different flavour to my 6 piece. Just because I usually play with more stuff, doesn't mean I'm going to struggle with the ultra simple setup. It's a choice thing, nothing more than that.
Brundlefly
Senior Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
/agree.
Bigger is bigger. Smaller is smaller. Less is less, not more. More is more. Tools are tools, nothing more. Creativity comes form be being creative, not from tools. And only tools give a rat's ass about how many tools someone chooses to use to be creative.
Ok, back to setting up my 19 piece...
/agree.
Bigger is bigger. Smaller is smaller. Less is less, not more. More is more. Tools are tools, nothing more. Creativity comes form be being creative, not from tools. And only tools give a rat's ass about how many tools someone chooses to use to be creative.
Ok, back to setting up my 19 piece...
kevthedrummer
Member
Re: sorry but i have to, BIG DRUM KITS
Good post I agree.
I do know what the thread starter means though, particularly with recording bands. A lot of young drummers discover things like the double kick, and totally ruin every song with it, my brother records bands and he's had similar issues.
Good post I agree.
I do know what the thread starter means though, particularly with recording bands. A lot of young drummers discover things like the double kick, and totally ruin every song with it, my brother records bands and he's had similar issues.
