In the gigging bag...

Cymbalise

Senior Member
When playing a gig with a kit share, as well as my usual cymbals and snare I have also over the years learnt to bring the following:

- a few cymbal stands, in case the kit has too few or they're rubbish
- my own stool (I'm 6'7" tall and appreciate a sturdy seat that will remain at a comfortable height no matter what)
- my own pedals

The other day I learnt another item that will now be brought to every gig - a decent hi hat clutch. How the owner of the kit put up with the one he provided I have no idea. No matter hope much I fiddled with it, tightened it, readjusted it, swore at it or (by the end of our set) physically forced it, it slipped. I had no idea such a tiny piece of gear could provide so many headaches.

What have you learnt over the years to keep in the gigging bag?
 
I played a gig where the snare stand was a concert snare stand. Couldn't adjust that thing low enough for my tastes.

I don't sweat bringing extras. I bring cymbals (including a hi hat clutch) and that's it. If I know the house snare is crap, I'll bring my own. I subbed a show this past month where the drummer welded his drum throne so it would't adjust height, so I had to bring my own (the first show was a bit uncomfortable). I dunno...I take it on a case by case basis. I figure if I'm sharing a kit, and everyone uses the same snare, I'm not going to sound any worse than anyone else.
 
ALWAYS ALWAYS have a good clutch. I've learned that one the hard way before. I carry the usuals. Some sticks, gaffer tape, ear protection. More recently, I started taking a change of clothes to gigs, and I have to say, it's a great idea. The music I play is pretty high energy, so by the end of a set, I am completely soaked in sweat. It's not pleasant spending the rest of the night drying off. Now, I just make a trip to the bathroom, dry myself off, change my clothes, and put on some deoderant and maybe a little cologne, and I'm nice and fresh.

In addition, I'm going to start bringing a hand towel to wipe down cymbals, hoops, etc. There's nothing worse than opening up your cymbal case the day after a gig and finding that your ride is oxidizing.
 
My kit lives in my van, so wherever I go, I have everything there. My gig bag is a Ford E-250. It's nice being able to hop in my van and not have to worry about forgetting anything and also loading and unloading it to my house.

On a kit share, if I have time and space, I set up all my cymbal stands, hi hat, snare, throne, and when it's my turn, just move off the existing stuff and replace it with my already adjusted stuff. Makes getting on and off the stage quick and easy.
 
I've played on many kits and it always amazes me how there's always that one kit that is just... completely crappy. And the guy who owns it is fine with it! It could be something glaringly bad or something simple like a bum hi hat clutch but he's totally "ho huignorant about about it being bad. Or worse he knows it's bad and just doesn't care! "Yeah I've been meaning to replace that but.. meh.." Now we all can feel bad for someone who has a less that stellar kit that we know is due to income, etc.
But it's the guy who doesn't care that amazes me. A drum buddy of mine once had to share a guy's kit that was beyond horrible. Everything was stripped, duct taped and bent, all the cymbals were broken, each head dented to heck, and he had taken off one of those kick drum patches but left sticky goo where it was on the head.. It sounded really badly out of tune and everything rattled. Anyways my friend had brought his own stands and pedals and was setting it up and the guy got all offended. "Don't touch anything!! Is my stuff not good enough?!?" Who does this? All that duct tape proves it's not good enough! Pearl put a wing nut there to hold that up brother! Why'd you have to lose it? Tape is not a wing nut! lol..
 
If its a kit share and I'm not providing one of mine then its quite basic.

Other than snare, cymbals & pedal I'll have my stick bag, Hi hat clutch, cymbal washers, some moongel, a screwdriver, a book or magazine to read on the journey there/back and a couple of drum keys. Quite basic.
 
I used to bring a snare, cymbals, sticks, brushes etc....these days I just use what is offered
and make due taking sticks/brushes only.
 
I bring my own sticks, throne, snare, snare stand, pedal, cymbals, and one cymbal stand to a shared gig.
I will now bring a hi-hat clutch thanks to your post. :)
The stupid thing is that a top line hi-hat clutch costs less than a pair of quality sticks.
keeping a drum kit working properly cost almost nothing. A trip to a hardware store can fix most issues!
I can go on eBay and find a perfectly good, fully functioning hi-hat stand, or snare stand, whatever... for about $25.00 shipped! How cheap can a person be?
A few months ago I bought a used snare stand for $35.00 shipped. It is a PDP base model. I love it! The basket tilts to just the right angle. It is light weight
Hardware is so good and inexpensive today that there is no excuse for having a malfunctioning anything on your kit.
 
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Some interesting replies.

For me its always been a fine balance between taking advantage of not having to lug my entire kit down and also wanting to sound my best. I sometimes feel that with the amount of stands etc I already bring down, what would be the extra effort in just sticking the kit in the car as well? But then just one little routine of break down kit, load car, unload car at venue, set up said kit, play for 30 mins, break it down again, load car, unload car at home, set it back up soon dissuades me from that notion…!
 
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