Minimalist Setup?

I did a search on 'minimalist' with no results and 'small' with some results, but didn't find what i was looking for.

It seems that most minimalist setups are a 4 piece w/ varied choices of cymbals. Do some people strip it down even more and make it work well? maybe just the floor, bass and snare?

And are there certain size combinations for the bass drum, rack tom and floor tom that "work better" or are "optimal"?

I'm probably going to be going with the 20x16 bass, so if that helps...

Thanks
 
If I was to run a "minimalist" kit it would be a snare, bass, hats and a ride with crashable abilities. But I've seen kits with all toms, a snare and no bass.

It's whatevers gunna fit the music is what you'll need so run with it. And a 20x16 can give many ranges on sound so just have a good overall snare and some good cymbals and you can jam with it.
 
And are there certain size combinations for the bass drum, rack tom and floor tom that "work better" or are "optimal"?

20x14 bass drum
14x14 floor tom
12x8 tom
14x5 snare

Of course, it all depends on the sound you want for the genre you're playing, and your reasons for picking a minimalist setup. If you're looking for something ultra-portable, you could look into nesting kits or cocktail kits or even convert a floor tom into a kick. You can get a "passable" rock kick sound out of a 16" kick, but 16" kicks really excel at bop music and small combo jazz. Some people even roll with a 10" rack tom and a 13" floor tom, but don't expect to sound like Bonham...
 
sorry, i should note that the bass drum will be a pearl, so i noted it 20x16, which is how i think they are usually listed.

so 20" diameter 16" depth.

my reason for wanting a minimal setup is that...i'm a bassist wanting to play the drums at home, so i don't want to clutter up my room with excess gear. but i also want it to sound good enough/be sufficient for recording.
 
It really depends a lot on you. But it is possible to make it work with only bass, snare, hihat and crashable ride. One good example are these videoclips from JoJo Mayer's "Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer"

HTML:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGwIzdNfI9k

But a floor tom could make a huge difference in the overall picture. You get sort of another dimension to play with :p
 
At the moment I'm literally just using a kick, snare, hats and a ride. Forces you to think a bit differently and get the most out of very little. Its a lot of fun actually!
 
sorry, i should note that the bass drum will be a pearl, so i noted it 20x16, which is how i think they are usually listed.

so 20" diameter 16" depth.

my reason for wanting a minimal setup is that...i'm a bassist wanting to play the drums at home, so i don't want to clutter up my room with excess gear. but i also want it to sound good enough/be sufficient for recording.

Oh. Since you were asking about what sizes were best, I just assumed you were getting a custom kit. My bad.

If you want versatility with that size of kick drum, I'd say that you should get 3 toms. If you do more rock, I'd suggest a 12" rack, and 14" and 16" floor toms. If you do more funk/jazz, I'd suggest getting 10" and 12" racks and a 14" floor tom. Then, you'll have an option for your toms, if you want to switch it up a bit, but definitely keep the 12" and 14" toms in there.
 
If I was to run a "minimalist" kit it would be a snare, bass, hats and a ride with crashable abilities.

I used a kit like that for a few years with one Americana band. If I was feeling really ambitious, I'd add a proper crash. One time I brought a rack tom, but invented ways to use it just because it was there. I served the music much better without it.

On other gigs, since I always know what the music is, I'm able to bring exactly what I need for that band. No more, and no less.

Bermuda
 
For the longest time, I just played bass, snare, floor tom with a ride cymbal and hi hats.

A few years ago I got a new kit, and now have one rack tom. I still usually just use the ride and the Hi Hat. Every once in a while I'll throw on another ride cymbal.


I'm playing jazz, which is a little more dynamic than rock/pop, so I feel that I can coax more sounds out of the drums and cymbals by controlling my technique, where I'm hitting, and volume levels. I constantly get feedback from drummers, saying that I can produce a lot of sound out of such a minimalist setup.
 
Old thread but maybe still relevant.

I've been following this guy's lessons and he uses a fairly minimal kit in his live presentations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXGkosU7Z2E

Kick (looks like a 16 to me), snare, hi-hats and two cymbals. Could probably get by with just one cymbal.

I'm transitioning from a 5-piece set to a 4-piece for gigs (but still keeping my 5p kit at home). I need at least a floor tom for the songs I play (classic and alternative rock), and I could get by with hats, ride and a single crash. That's as small as I could go: kick, snare, floor tom, hats, ride and crash. But by that point, bringing a suspended tom and another crash is not a problem.
 
my reason for wanting a minimal setup is that...i'm a bassist wanting to play the drums at home, so i don't want to clutter up my room with excess gear. but i also want it to sound good enough/be sufficient for recording.

I feel like you're overthinking it a little bit. Non-drummers and even some drummers get a little too caught up in how big or small the kit is or the drums are. They're just drums, you're not going to build any product knowledge being timid like that.

If you want clean, go with a 4 piece kit in a finish you like. Add hats, ride and crash and you're good to go. Inevitably you'll discover things about your taste and liking and can change your setup from there. Easy peasy.

Big plus if you buy used, you can sell them off if you discover that you want something else and not take a loss.
 
When I was gigging a lot, I used 2 stet-ups. If I was playing in the funk/jazz band I would use kick, snare hat, crash-ride. If I was playing in the rock band I would play 1 up, 1 down with hats, crash, and ride.
 
I used to carry around quite a large kit that I now leave in the studio and take a small Mapex kit out on gigs - 16 kick, 10 rack, 14 floor and sometimes don't even bother with the rack. Crash, Ride and Hats, and that has been working really well for a while now. Obviously it depends on the gig you're doing, if I were to be on a bigger gig I'd make the effort and take the studio kit.
 
What I see mainly on this site when people are speaking minimalist, they are speaking number of pieces more so that drum sizes. If you were to go minimalist in a punk band your drum sizes would be different than a minimalist funk setup. Maybe.
 
The most "minimalist" set I've seen was a buddy of mine who used a snare, a hi-hat and a ride. It was lounge type jazz, and he pulled it off with aplomb and a great sound.
 
When I first started playing with my current band six or seven years ago, we did a couple of lower-volume gigs in small venues. I brought along a 20" kick, snare, hats, and a 19" medium-thin crash that worked as a ride. I had a cowbell and a jam block as well, since we did a lot of Latin stuff. At one gig I added a floor tom, but other than that I played that setup for nearly 6 months.

Now my minimalist kit is a cajon with a foot-strap tambourine. I set up and tear down faster than anyone else at those gigs now.
 
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