Drum Set Personality Types?

Coldhardsteel

Gold Member
I have a partially theoretical question.

Does personality type correlate to the kinds of drum set and cymbals one purchases?

Even more, it seems like some people buy certain pairings of producers(such as Pearl and Paiste), or innately believe or feel that certain kinds of sounds match up.

I was looking through the Your Gear section and read through some "Show Off your ____!" threads, and found that no matter what I saw I found it hard to imagine myself behind any of those kits. I had no real desire to play them, and I didn't consider any of them, no matter the quality, better than something I would like to buy. Obviously, this is getting into some objective things, but the main idea is that I'm sure others feel this way.

So is it just subconscious brand loyalty, or is it psychological?
 
Every kit that I own is a direct representation of a piece of my personality.

I view the, "Show Your Kits" threads and I get many ideas from the images that reside within them.

My trip over the past few years has been to take beginner and practice kits and combine them with high end cymbals. I put good heads on the drums and I tune them to perfection.
I have created three kits that I simply can't resist playing by doing this.

I am having the time of my drumming life from expanding on the Ideas that I get from this site.

I love this place!

Drums and cymbals are all about personality.
No other instrument allows a player to set up in endless ways.
No other instrument allows a player to play so many different sounds!
You don't even have to tune drums to specific notes! Unless you want to.
Freedom, Total Freedom!
 
I think I kinda know what your saying but I at least partially agree with all of the previous posts also.
I too would like to play alot of these other drum setups in this forum, and I do get ideas from other peoples kits.
I dont however get jelous or envious for some reason. I guess because I get an idea of what I like and thats all I really want. I also only want to own pieces that are brand new and virtually untouched by other hands/sticks, but thats just me.
 
i don't think i really have a drummer identity yet. i look at others kits (besides just the physical beauty being a gear hound) to get ideas of new things to try since i'm not really satisfied with my own set up. but looking at other instruments i do have a lot of experience in i can totally see it. heavy metal bands playing the guitars with lots of sharp edges and certain brands even though any guitar brand would do, certain amps. classic rock guitarists usually use gibson or fender 70's styles, blues using gibson semi hollows. i think it's kind of a mentality that if your doing one particular thing you need to have a certain type of instrument to accomplish it even though in reality it's not really going to matter much what brand or the design. it's all in HOW you use it not so much in what it actually is. could jazz be played on a larger kit? i don't see why not, providing your accomplished enough to know what to do with each piece. could metal be played on a 4 piece? why not? if you can make it work and sound good, no problems. yet look at the kits, at least from what i can tell most of the jazz players on here use smaller 4 pieces and metal players use larger 6/7/8 piece sometimes double bass kits...

i would say less subconsious brand loyality but a subconsious ideal of what is expected of a certain style.
 
My first kit years ago was a Gretsch. A buddy had a set of Rodgers that were to die for. The drums at school were Ludwig. My next set a few years ago were Taye. The price was right and liked the features. Still do. But when the Gretsch set I now have came along I knew from experience that they were good drums so I bought them. If money were no object I would buy a set Of Gretsch USA over anything I have seen. Brand loyalty for sure but for the right reasons, not because anyone famous plays them which I think is the worst reason. I am a huge Ringo fan but have no desire to own Ludwig.
 
Here's what my kit says about my personality type: "Too cheap to buy new drums and cymbals."

A very accurate analysis!
 
My drum sound requirements have remained the same from the start. I've always bucked the trend. In the early 80's, I used a piccolo snare drum when others were using snares the size of a small country. It was tuned very high too, again, when others were tuning tuning slacker than Monica Lewinski. I still use the same piccolo size, & remarkably, my 8, 10, 12, 14, 20 setup has remained unchanged apart from an additional 24" kick for some gigs back in the day. I suppose you could say I never did follow fashion, I cut my own path.

The same cannot be said of my taste in cymbals though. Although I still use my earl 80's Sabian HH hats, my taste is getting much darker over the years. I used to go for bright, cutting sounds. I now look for depth & complexity. I'm not sure that says anything about me, other than I'm getting a lot older.

I've always stuck with the natural beauty of wood finishes as my default cosmetic & sonic choice. Although I have flirted with wraps (chrome only), I still come back to that earthly comfort of a natural finish.
 
It was tuned very high too, again, when others were tuning tuning slacker than Monica Lewinski.

Oh come now, Andy, a lot of gals would have done the same if a hunky president came on to them :)


my taste is getting much darker over the years. I used to go for bright, cutting sounds. I now look for depth & complexity. I'm not sure that says anything about me, other than I'm getting a lot older.

I think that happens a fair bit. In the 80s it was Paiste 2002 all the way. When I started up again I bought another 2002 to relive old glories and it was too bright for me ... now I have a Zil A and a Sabian HH. In the old days I wanted them to sound slick, now I prefer a touch of trashiness (yeah yeah, I can see the link).


I started out playing gigs with oddball kits - added rotos with a synth trigger, a throwaway cymbal that sounded like a China when turned upsidedown and clamped down tight, a shallow snare. Then I went conventional for about a decade. The Rhythm Traveller kick & toms I now use says I'm even cheaper than Jay is ... and I'm over lugging.
 
I have a partially theoretical question.

Does personality type correlate to the kinds of drum set and cymbals one purchases?

Even more, it seems like some people buy certain pairings of producers(such as Pearl and Paiste), or innately believe or feel that certain kinds of sounds match up.

I was looking through the Your Gear section and read through some "Show Off your ____!" threads, and found that no matter what I saw I found it hard to imagine myself behind any of those kits. I had no real desire to play them, and I didn't consider any of them, no matter the quality, better than something I would like to buy. Obviously, this is getting into some objective things, but the main idea is that I'm sure others feel this way.

So is it just subconscious brand loyalty, or is it psychological?

I think this is true to some extent. I have always liked exotic, unusual things and being different, so I have that kind of set. I would expect someone playing covers to have a very ordinary (but good quality and well-maintained) name-brand set, while someone in a punk rock band to have a set covered in bumper stickers and spray paint, a country drummer to have a wood veneer set, a jazzer to have a sparkle wrap set and so on. These are obviously rough stereotypes but I think there is some truth in there.
 
You may be on to something there however as far as brand names go it always seems who has been, well, branding. The kits I see most often on tv or modern videos are DW,Sonor or Pearl so I'm thinking that sets in a young drummers mind and decides his or hers choice. I have had 5 kits in my lifetime and would like to have any of them back, there were few similarities between them but they were all good. Personality might play a part in configuration and sizes but the rest I think is based on what seems popular at the time. My various kits all came as pre-owned and and sort of came to me out of the blue except the Sonor, I purchased them in a store.

First kit: Bolero's, the folks bought them for $75.
Second Kit: Ludwig Hollywoods, Pink Champagne
Third Kit: Fibes, real fibre glass covered with metal
Fourth Kit: Gresch, 18" Bass Drum, Silver Coating
Fitfh Kit: Sonor

Various snares are involved. Great kits and all quite different from each other.
 
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