Floor space contention - hi-hat, cymbals, rack etc.

resqguy

resqguy

Member
I have a problem with the real estate (floor space) around my feet and various cymbal stands etc. The hi-hat, 2nd bass pedal, cymbal stand, and rack foot all seem to overlap. This is constant source of frustration for me because it seems that every time I sit behind the kit I have to move something to make it fit.

I was wondering what the best option was to give me the most flexibility to arrange these pieces based on where they are comfortable vs. just getting them to fit (somewhere). I think I am ok with the feet of the snare stand and the 2nd bass pedal. Which do you think would give me better flexibility, a remote hi-hat or a legless hi-hat? What brands/models work the best?

I have a Gibraltar rack and could add an arm that would replace a cymbal stand that holds a heavy ride and a splash. Of course, I'm always changing things so assume any cymbal combo could end up there. Do these work well and will they allow a lot of flexibility in cymbal placement? Again what brands or models work well? I like my cymbals to be anchored well. I have booms throughout my kit but I don't like long boom travel because the lack of stability.

I don't hit hard or anything so assume a normal playing style.

I appreciate the depth of knowledge on this forum and any help you can provide.
 
I have a Yamaha 740 hi hat stand, that allows the tripod to rotate.
That gives me plenty of room, for the slave pedal. I've also used legless hi-hats (Gibraltar and Tama), tied into my rack. That free's up a lot of space, also. Remote hat (cable) won't get you any more floor space than a legless stand, but it will get you greater placement options. I've got one of those, also.​
 
In my experience, a rack does provide less clutter on the floor and consistency of set up without minor adjustments each time. The downside is that making changes on the fly is often not that easy.
 
Here are some pictures that show what I'm up against. You can see that there isn't much room to position and the hi-hat is really limited. The base does rotate and that helps. This is my practice studio kit, so it stays put.

I'm thinking about adding a side rack and a footless hi-hat stand.

LeftSide%20Small_zpsl0hvxvqj.jpg


FloorSpace2%20Small_zpsghzohdb3.jpg


FloorSpace1%20Small_zpsp9l8rgwa.jpg
 
You can get rid of the cymbal stand next to your hats if you get the piece/clamp that allows you to mount things in the end of the rack tube. Gibraltar sells them, but I don't know what they're called off the top of my head. I do known that they come in two different sizes, and by the looks of that cymbal stand, you would use the smaller one.


Here's a link to what I'm talking about

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/product/sc-rba/
 
You could probably get by (cost effective) with getting rid of that left cymbal stand and running those two cymbals off your rack, as S.D. recommends. Adding a side, and going to a legless hi-hat, not a bad way to go either.​
 

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This might be like a game of dominoes, and once the first piece gets a small adjustment more pieces will start falling into place.

I'd start with reducing the spread of the legs on the snare drum stand, and perhaps rotating the legs slightly differently. The stance doesn't need to be that wide, and it'll free up a couple inches to help move the slave pedal inward. That should allow a little more flexibility in hi hat placement.

I agree that eliminating that whole cymbal stand with the ride and splash on it and boom them off of the rack will also free up more space.

Also consider that the bottom legs of the rack can also rotate and slide in/out, freeing up a little more room if still needed.

I'd start by completely tearing the whole thing and start from scratch. Get the bass drum pedals, throne and snare drum perfectly placed and balanced. Add everything else back in from there.
 
Without that cymbal stand, it looks like you could easily move your hi-hat in closer and place it right next to the slave kick pedal? Would also bring your hi-hat in closer as it looks quite a way out left.

You could possibly take the top off the straight stand and swap it with the boom on the rack as that doesn't look like you've got much use of the boom on anyway?

Personally I always position cymbals last (excluding hats) as they can be placed pretty much anywhere on a boom stand, whereas your pedals and snare should be exactly where you need them - the gap between your 2 pedals is a little crazy.
 
Gibraltar has many videos on Youtube. I watched lots of them to get ideas. Peace and goodwill.
 
resqguy said:
I'm thinking about adding a side rack and a footless hi-hat stand.



This is what I've done - and you don't need a 'back leg' to the side rack either because your (now legless) hi hat performs that function. It will also allow you to rotate the front rack foot 180 degrees thus getting it out of the way of your snare. I went one further and attached another short section of rack tube to the front leg to secure a legless snare stand to. If you go this route you create a very stable 'triangle' which means you can also considerably shorten the length of your rack 'feet' without creating any wobble and the weight loss of that offsets the extra bits of tube you've added. Pics don't show it the best but hopefully you'll get the idea.......
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Do you play the kit the way it is currently setup ? I can’t see how you can be efficient and comfortable with the hi hat 30cm away from the slave bass pedal. In my opinion the first things to set are the pedals. Nevertheless, it seems easy to fix with the help of new clamps for the rack so you’ll be able to get rid of this cymbal stand.
 
I’d start by picking up the hi hat stand, moving it to the right so thay your left hand bass drum pedal is underneath the hi hat legs, and set up your hi hat and left pedal so they’re sitting next to each other. This would also make switching between the two pedals a lot easier. I’ve managed this with a fixed leg hi hat stand so with your rotating leg stand it should be no problem.
I’d then mount the splash cymbal using the same multiclamp arrangement you currently have but off the upright of the rack.
The large cymbal would stay on the boom stand you have but you could experiment with setting the base, for example, off to the left of your hi hat stand and adjusting the boom arm so that it is set ‘sideways’ to place the cymbal over your hi hats.
 
yeah there's a few things going on in your picture to try to fix.

1. You want to get the hihat and slave pedals right next to each other. Take a look at your hi hat legs. Some of them have a screw so you can rotate the legs on the stand. Turn them a bit if possible and get the pedals side by side. If they don't rotate, then yeah you should probably look into a new hi hat stand - 2 leg or no leg if you are going to attach it to your rack. This is your biggest problem to fix. (I'd go 2 leg myself)

2. Your legs for the base of the snare and cymbal stand are too wide. collapse them up a bit so they take less space but won't fall over.

3. While you are at it, cymbal stands are much more stable if one of the 3 legs is pointing directly towards the throne. it'll also get the other two legs out from in your floor space where you need it.

Doing this will help your setup a lot.

I'd try this before going out to buy anything first.
 
whiteknightx said:
yeah there's a few things going on in your picture to try to fix.

1. You want to get the hihat and slave pedals right next to each other. Take a look at your hi hat legs. Some of them have a screw so you can rotate the legs on the stand. Turn them a bit if possible and get the pedals side by side. If they don't rotate, then yeah you should probably look into a new hi hat stand - 2 leg or no leg if you are going to attach it to your rack. This is your biggest problem to fix. (I'd go 2 leg myself)

2. Your legs for the base of the snare and cymbal stand are too wide. collapse them up a bit so they take less space but won't fall over.

3. While you are at it, cymbal stands are much more stable if one of the 3 legs is pointing directly towards the throne. it'll also get the other two legs out from in your floor space where you need it.

Doing this will help your setup a lot.

I'd try this before going out to buy anything first.
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I agree-spot on. Your slave will fit right beside the hi hat pedal. I'm not much with double pedal (an understatement) but having the pedals so close I would sometimes play the hi hats with my toes on chain and use my heel on slave pedal. So I could play both simultaneously. The snare stand and other observations spot on too.
 
Looking at your hi hat legs more from the picture, it does look like they rotate and aren't in a bad spot at all to squeeze the slave right next to the hi hat pedal. Extend the slave shaft out more to the left.

also, I would cut about 12" off the rack leg on that side and get a Gibraltar SC-RMAA. That lets you put a cymbal stand top right into the top of the leg.
http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/product/sc-rmaa/

That would allow you to eliminate the cymbal tripod completely since you already have a rack right there.
 
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