M
Matt Bo Eder
Guest
I know, this is the 'funny' title. But I wanted to point out something legitimate - tilting the toms actually work for me, since I'm shorter than normal.
For years, since I played a regular four-piece, I've always set my single rack tom to a slight angle because I can get it low enough to my snare where it's pretty playable.
But now that I have the big 6-piece Reference Pure kit, I was wondering why I've been feeling even shorter when I play behind that kit. I discovered that I've kept my old tom angle, applied to two toms, and raised them both so they're over the 22" bass drum. What this also did was make me raise up the snare drum about 2 inches, and my throne about two inches, which affected everything else going up about two inches. I suppose if I was 5' 6" this wouldn't be a problem. But it is for me.
So in my 'DOH' moment, I went back to my kid days when my teacher was sitting with me while I set up my drums (which was a 5-piece Slingerland at the time). I remember he had me put the bass drum pedal on the bass drum first, then set up my snare before anything else. He helped me adjust my throne to where I was comfortable, and the snare drum was actually dropped all the way down. That felt comfy. Then he set up my hi-hat stand and we put those cymbals where they were comfortable in relation to the snare and bass drum. THEN we added the toms, and I remember back then, we were at a much more extreme angle then my current "almost Stewart Copeland" tom angles.
I did all of this again, like I've never played a drumset before, and laughed at the re-discovered epiphany. I feel like a dork. I'm no longer trying to sit 'over' the set, but I'm sitting comfortably behind it. Like when you watch Jeff Porcaro play, he's comfortable behind the drums. Stewart Copeland is comfortable over the drums. I had to move away from Stewart (I'm not 6-feet tall anyway) and get closer to Jeff to be comfortable.
Maybe I'll even play better now. Go figure!
For years, since I played a regular four-piece, I've always set my single rack tom to a slight angle because I can get it low enough to my snare where it's pretty playable.
But now that I have the big 6-piece Reference Pure kit, I was wondering why I've been feeling even shorter when I play behind that kit. I discovered that I've kept my old tom angle, applied to two toms, and raised them both so they're over the 22" bass drum. What this also did was make me raise up the snare drum about 2 inches, and my throne about two inches, which affected everything else going up about two inches. I suppose if I was 5' 6" this wouldn't be a problem. But it is for me.
So in my 'DOH' moment, I went back to my kid days when my teacher was sitting with me while I set up my drums (which was a 5-piece Slingerland at the time). I remember he had me put the bass drum pedal on the bass drum first, then set up my snare before anything else. He helped me adjust my throne to where I was comfortable, and the snare drum was actually dropped all the way down. That felt comfy. Then he set up my hi-hat stand and we put those cymbals where they were comfortable in relation to the snare and bass drum. THEN we added the toms, and I remember back then, we were at a much more extreme angle then my current "almost Stewart Copeland" tom angles.
I did all of this again, like I've never played a drumset before, and laughed at the re-discovered epiphany. I feel like a dork. I'm no longer trying to sit 'over' the set, but I'm sitting comfortably behind it. Like when you watch Jeff Porcaro play, he's comfortable behind the drums. Stewart Copeland is comfortable over the drums. I had to move away from Stewart (I'm not 6-feet tall anyway) and get closer to Jeff to be comfortable.
Maybe I'll even play better now. Go figure!