Re: DRUMRACK OR NOT?
I've played both ways, so here is my experience (and I apologize in advance for its lack of brevity).
I started life as a drummer with one hi hat stand and one cymbal stand (with a 18" crash/ride). My kit was a 4 piece, and I was 12. I didn't even know racks existed.
When I was 14, I bought some guy's huge collection of Paiste cymbals and Tama cymbal stands. Huge, heavy duty numbers, and one stand for each cymbal, even the splash. I think I had 3 crashes, a ride, and a splash in addition to the hats (I sold the 18" crash/ride). With the five heavy duty stands sitting around my 4 piece kit, the footprint was starting to become a problem.
At 16, my cymbals/stands were stolen, so I quit drumming for a while.
At 19, I bought a Ludwig 7 piece from a friend. It came with 2 cymbal stands and a hi hat, plus the ride, crash, and hi hats. The toms were all mounted, so I was dealing with 2 double tom stands as well. This started to become a problem, especially due to the age of the hardware and its resistance to proper positioning. After about 6 months of fiddling, a friend of mine was selling his Gibraltar rack, and I bought it. Suddenly, everything was able to be positioned exactly where I wanted it. I set up my toms slightly off center for easier access, and the rack would let me. I positioned my cymbals where I wanted them, and the rack let me.
As I started buying more and more cymbals, the rack became a fantastic asset to me. When I ran out of clamps, though, it started to get more pricey. I thwarted that by buying the Gibraltar cymbal clamps with boom for $30. I also found out that the more hardware I started mounting to the rack, the heavier and more complicated it became. Although everything stayed positioned correctly, it started taking me 20 or more minutes to get everything unloaded and set up, even for the smallest gig. Minimalist setups were difficult to accomplish because everything was tied up in the rack. Finally, the rack, although it was smaller than having 8 stands sitting around the set, still had a fairly large footprint.
So, at 21, I started to revitalize my old 4 piece and creating a smaller setup. I started using those same Gibraltar booms attached to cymbal stands so that I could use one stand for two cymbals. I could bring out 2 stands and mount 4 cymbals, or I could make due with only one stand and 2 cymbals. The rack was still fantastic to use with the big set, but I found myself using the smaller setup more and more often, especially with the short 30 minute gigs that I was facing.
Fast forward to now. I just bought my new kit, and it came with a Pearl Icon rack and a slew of other hardware. I pretty much ignored the rack, and set about making the cymbal stands work for me. In my practice studio at least, I mount 6 crashes, 2 rides, a china, a splash, and a pair of hats. My 3 toms are all mounted. Here's how it works:
1) Hi hat stand has a boom attached which holds the splash.
2) Boom cymbal stand on the left has another short boom arm attached via a universal clamp, and are able to place two crashes on either side of the hi hat.
3) Double tom stand has another slot for a cymbal stand, so that mounts crash #3.
4) Boom stand mounts crash #4 above the kick drum (it's the only cymbal stand that only holds one thing, and that's merely because I haven't figured out how best to use it for double duty).
5) Cymbal stand holds my ride. Below, a universal clamp holds a tom arm which holds my low tom.
6) Boom stand mounts ride side crash (#5) and Gibraltar attachment holds china.
7) Boom stand mounts my secondary ride and Gibraltar attachment holds crash #6.
So there we go. 7 tripods hitting floor, holding 3 toms and 12 cymbals (wow, I'm excessive). The nice thing is that I can take or leave whatever I want, depending on how much hardware I want to lug out with me. A rack is certainly lighter than hauling one tripod stand for every single thing you want to mount (assuming that you've got more than about three or four stands).
To me, though, the adaptability of stands is the clear winner. I could go out and do a jazz gig with 2-3 cymbals (and use only the stands that hold my toms), or I could go do a rock gig with everything... or anything in between. And if the room is a little tight when I get in, stands are a little more flexible to space restraints.
Now, if you are trying to decide between Gibraltar-style round racks and Pearl style square racks, consider this: Pearl style will require a Pearl clamp and a cymbal tube for every cymbal you want to mount. You can also mount regular percussion equipment clamps to the legs, but those might not be close to where you want them. You can also mount regular percussion clamps to the cymbal arms you've already got mounted to the Pearl, but again, those might not be where it's most convenient.
The Gibraltar style, on the other hand, can accommodate most any percussion mount due to the tube construction. Yes, it's quite a bit bigger than a cymbal stand tube, but most mounts can be made to fit. Also, when in a pinch, the Gibraltar clamps can clamp down on equipment of any size, whereas the Pearl clamps tend to only work for cymbals. When I mounted my toms to the Gibraltar rack, I clamped down on the L-arms and slid my toms right on. With Pearl, I would have had to buy all new tom arms with L-arms attached... Or I would have had to try disassembling my double tom holders and mounting that. The round construction also allows you to mount anything in any direction.
On the other hand, the square construction of the Pearl DOES give a great deal more stability. My rock band's drummer uses a Pearl rack, and he loves it. He now spends more time pulling drums out of the cases than he has to spend setting up hardware. Of course, he's also not changing his setup as often as I do.
I hope that some degree of my rambling has helped.