Most common/standard kit set up

Hi,

I don't have my own kit and I realised that after playing various kits with different numbers/positions of drums and cymbals, I am yet to get truly comfortable with a single set-up.

I want to be able to play a 'standard' kit, if I am hiring out a kit, using the headliners kit, or practicing in rehearsal space.

What would you say is my safest bet for me to try setting up each time I go to a rehearsal space, to try ang get comfortable on? I want something that I could replicate anywhere really and is the most common set-up, if there is such a thing?

5 piece or 4 piece?

And in terms of cymbals; some of the most common set-ups seem to be either (a) hats and crash/ride, (b) hats, crash, ride, (c) hats, ride and two crashes.

Then there is the question of where the cymbals are: ride could be up near 2nd rack tom on a five piece, or further down and to the right on the same 5 piece. And of course on a four piece, the ride can be closer to the middle.

With a single crash it could be on the left or right.

So there are many variables; any thoughts on the most 'common' set up.

I am usually playing on kits with the rack toms mounted on the bass drum; I have yet to try a kit where the rack toms are on stands or a rack and can be mounted more to the left.

please let me know your thoughts!

Cheers

Andy

I've been doing a lot of playing on different drum kits lately and by far the most recurring set up is:

Snare, 1 Rack tom, 1 floor tom, hats and 2 cymbals. 3rd cymbal that I like to place on the right of my ride cymbal is an occasional luxury.

Placements should be how ever you feel most comfortable with these options... Since they are minimal, even if there is a drummer playing before or after you, it shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 minutes to re-adjust height and angles... that is the beauty of a small kit.

As far as cymbal choices to go I would recommend investing in high quality cymbals that offer a wide variety of options for the different types of music you might want to play.

Sweet, thanks for the info Tyrnox, I appreciate the inout, especially as you have been playing a lot of different kits.

and more importantly; Great avatar! I doubt Berserk will evet move from my no.1 manga (onepunch man and dorohedoro are trying very hard though!)

cheers

Andy

The first thing you need to do is to get your body positioned correctly. Get the throne height set up first. Set it to where your thighs are parallel to the floor with your feet flat on the floor to start. Adjust it up or down from there to where you feel the most comfortable. Snare, bass, hi-hat, ride, toms, crashes come next, in that order.

I think it's a good idea to lose the middle tom tom-- it causes people to move their ride cymbal way off to the right, and they don't play it enough. Until you're very comfortable with the basics of getting around the instrument. Set up your snare drum, then pedals, then ride cymbal, then make everything else fit around that.

If comfort is a big consideration I think the standard four-piece setup allows the most flexibility. One rack tom and one floor tom won't get in the way of hi hat or ride positioning, which are the two parts of the kit that end up having to compromise positioning the most when there are more drums.

When I started gigging regularly almost 30 years ago, a few things became apparent. One of which was maximizing comfort and efficiency for those 3-4 hour gigs. It's a different animal vs practicing at home. At the time I played a standard 5 piece, 2 up 1 down, both toms mounted on the bass drum. I used to play my ride quite high over the 2nd tom, and quickly came to the realization that wouldn't work for me for those long gigs. I played around with positioning the ride, but ultimately decided to ditch that 2nd tom and get the ride in a spot where I could play it all night long without an issue. Another benefit is when using another drummers kit, or a house kit, you can always lose the 2nd rack tom (if there is one), but if you're used to one and it's not provided it could affect your playing. There's a reason so many gigging drummers play 1 tom up with the ride in that nice low position. Disclaimer- I am no way saying 1 setup is superior to another. Just wanted to share a rundown of what I experienced many years ago. I think it's cool that drummers have so many different ways of setting up. The drumkit is really the only instrument where you see this.

The best thing you can do is set up, and learn to play, your drum set in a very traditional way. I say this because if you ever need to use another drummer's drums, it will most likely be set up that way. What I mean by traditional is; check out how Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich had their drums set up. 90% of drummers still set up their drums in a similar manner.

I was the drummer in a house band for a local open mic jam. All of the drummers used my drum set. It was always very annoying when a drummer would need to adjust my drums; move everything around just to suit their needs. I don't mean slight adjustments, I mean they would adjust and move everything! Really though, it only happened on a rare occasion.


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Tyrnox said:

Snare, 1 Rack tom, 1 floor tom, hats and 2 cymbals. 3rd cymbal that I like to place on the right of my ride cymbal is an occasional luxury.

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I would agree with that. Pretty much your standard basic setup which can cover pretty much any style.

It's interesting - I always thought that two up, one down was the "standard", just because that's the kit I had when I was a kid (in the 1970's), and that's what all the other drummers I knew at that time had. At the time, I didn't have a lot of access to vids of drummers like krupa, rich, and bonham. My setup now is two up, two down, and a 20" bass drum, so I can have everything pretty low and level. I have no problems accessing my ride, but I still kinda have no idea what to do with that second floor tom, lol!

Everyone plays hi-hat and/or ride every song. Not every song needs toms. Fewer need more than two. Go for a four-piece and it's hard to get it wrong.

Wow, thanks for all the great responses. I can move forward now and focus getting used to the 4 piece/1-up 1-down set up now, with 1 crash, 1 ride and hats.

And thanks HollywoodJim for the heads up on Gene and Buddies kits; I am ashamed to say I havent studied the drummers or their kit to any extent, but it is easy to see where we get our inspiration from looking at their kits!

They even had a cool bass-drum mounted ride; allows for a nice position; I will try and replicate that with a boom stand.

Cheers

Andy

The vast majority of house kits i encounter are a traditional 4 piece set up. This is my preferred set up in any case mainly for the Ride placement. Hollywood Jim is right about the Krupa set up still being the standard for the most part.

I usually get a 5-piece. If it's a 4-piece the second rack is there somewhere often with a mount that's broken of misin a screw.

Jazz place, yeah, usually a 4.piece.

Most common BD. probably a 20". Jazz place might be an 18".

AndeeT said:

Wow, thanks for all the great responses. I can move forward now and focus getting used to the 4 piece/1-up 1-down set up now, with 1 crash, 1 ride and hats.

And thanks HollywoodJim for the heads up on Gene and Buddies kits; I am ashamed to say I havent studied the drummers or their kit to any extent, but it is easy to see where we get our inspiration from looking at their kits!

They even had a cool bass-drum mounted ride; allows for a nice position; I will try and replicate that with a boom stand.

Cheers

Andy

Click to expand...

You are welcome.
I've been playing drums off and on for over 60 years. A couple of years ago I tried a few more creative set ups. I wanted to start playing open handed with toms and snare drums to my left. Which meant I had to relocate my hi hat. And I wanted to add a second non-working hi hat to my right where my ride is normally located. All of these changes where lots of fun. However, I found that there was never enough room on stage (small bars and night clubs) for these kinds of setups. And hauling around extra equipment was a pain. Plus when I played other peoples' drums they were never set up like that.

So I realized that drum set ups that are way out of the norm are reserved for rich and famous drummers who have roadies and drum techs working for them. Instead of getting used to a wild and strange new drum configuration, I concentrated on getting the sounds and rhythms I wanted using the more popular, standard drum setup.

As you progress in your drumming you will find some cool little things you can add to your drum set that will help make you more creative.
But I think it is best to start with the basic traditional set up.


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