bobdadruma
Platinum Member
I would say that the vote would be fairly even if we polled drummers about tom placement preferences. Just look through the Show Your Kit threads.
khanedeliac
Senior Member
As to not having options with low-sounding toms, you can mount say, a 14" angled toward you next to your bass drum in place of a rack, and then have a 16" as your floor (ive seen this with the drummer from Two Gallants).
Do many of you seriously play out with more than 2 toms? Its just inconvenient unless you have the means to transport/setup easily (or have a tech to do it all for you!), whether its an extra rack or floor that you're taking.
Do many of you seriously play out with more than 2 toms? Its just inconvenient unless you have the means to transport/setup easily (or have a tech to do it all for you!), whether its an extra rack or floor that you're taking.
bobdadruma
Platinum Member
I think that most drummers play three or more toms. I play using three toms more often than not.
I find the third tom very handy.
I do play with two sometimes. I don't have a problem with that.
Its nice to have that third tom to go to.
diosdude
Silver Member
I don't get the 2 on the floor to one side thing. I gues i'm just too fat to twist my body all the way to one side to get comfortable. I use 2 floors but i've got 4 or 5 rack toms across the front and use the bigger floor on the left side, left of my hi hat. As far as set up for a show, I've got a small rack that i can have in place in sixty seconds from off stage with the help of one of my band mates. All of the toms and cymbals are in place and I'm ready to play my double bass 9pc kit in 8 minutes flat. To me, it's not a preference, it's who I am.
Fiery
Silver Member
As most drummers around where I live, I started with a standard two up-one down setup, and played that for the first couple of years. I then switched to a four piece (one up-one down) for a few months as an experiment. The ride placement felt very good, but the middle tom also felt very good once I placed it back in the setup. Nowadays I play the four piece with one band and the five piece with the other. I use bigger cymbals with the first band, and a lot of the stages we play on are very small, so it started as a space saving solution, but I also feel the switching between the two increases my creativity.
My preferred setup would include two toms up, but in front of the snare instead of on the kick drum. (I don't use such a setup now because I always play on rented drums which don't have the option.) I haven't really had a chance of playing on more than one floor tom though.
My preferred setup would include two toms up, but in front of the snare instead of on the kick drum. (I don't use such a setup now because I always play on rented drums which don't have the option.) I haven't really had a chance of playing on more than one floor tom though.
Garvin
Pioneer Member
Thanks for the info Harry, hopefully your post doesn't go overlooked in the thread as you provide some valuable historical perspective regarding the rail vs. flange mounts. I never would've thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense.
bamdrummer
Senior Member
It's a personal preference I think. I need my ride cymbal where my right rack would be but I have a "two to the left of the bass drum" set up. There are great players with 1 rack and there are great players with 7. (and then there's bozzio)
A lot of people, especially for jazz and rock, like to move the mid tom and put a ride there so it's easier to access. I personally don't like that and rather just have the ride over my floor tom(s) but, that's why a lot of people do it.
Nothings WRONG with doing that. Drums is a skill, meaning however you play is what's write. ^^
alparrott
Diamond Member
I started out with rack toms across the bass drum, but decided to center my set around the basic 4-piece configuration. With a large setup like mine, I often have to scale down when playing smaller clubs.
But I have never really grown out of my large, 4-up, 2-down kit. Just all my rack toms are to the left!
But I have never really grown out of my large, 4-up, 2-down kit. Just all my rack toms are to the left!
harryconway
Platinum Member
And thanks for the kudos.
cathartic_j
Senior Member
Ride placement is exactly why I've been paying just one-up, one-down for the past four or five years. My teacher at the time suggested I try it, and it really made things considerably more comfortable for me. Of course, never since I've never been one to stay entirely content, I've been thinking about tinkering with a two-up, one-down arrangement again.
I'm also pretty firmly in the camp that sees a second floor tom as being too far out of the way to be practical for my playing. In fact, it would take a pretty big kit for me to think about adding a second floor tom; I think I'd have three up before adding a second floor.
dwdrummerky
Senior Member
Depends on the situation for me. My main kit is a 6 pc DW with about 9 cymbals all on a rack. I have this thing memory locked in every way, stripped down to the smallest and shortest rack tubing (I built my rack from a Tama and Gibraltar pieced together), and in transport to gigs/studio all of the tom mounts and cymbal booms stay in place on the rack, which is roughly 2.5 sides. Takes up less space than most 5pc kits with stands, and barely more than my 4 pc Gretsch Jazz kit.
I use that kit for about everything because it has the versatility I need. When I dont need a big kit I bring out the 4 pc with 3-4 cymbals. Its comfy, classy looking, and I can get many sounds form it but sometimes more is more. I can't picture myself playing some of the 70's esqe fusion and Tool covers on a 4pc Gretsch with an 18" bass drum and 3 cymbals, although it would be interesting haha
Comes down to the player, the gig, the sound you are after, and how you learned to play. Its all drums to me
I use that kit for about everything because it has the versatility I need. When I dont need a big kit I bring out the 4 pc with 3-4 cymbals. Its comfy, classy looking, and I can get many sounds form it but sometimes more is more. I can't picture myself playing some of the 70's esqe fusion and Tool covers on a 4pc Gretsch with an 18" bass drum and 3 cymbals, although it would be interesting haha
Comes down to the player, the gig, the sound you are after, and how you learned to play. Its all drums to me
Aeolian
Platinum Member
Since the majority of the time is playing beats behind songs. As opposed to fills or solos. Ride placement is 1st priority for me. It's all about hat, snare, kick and ride. Everything else is just part of the contraption for making incidental noises. And I put it wherever there is space working down a priority list. Exception being that I picked up putting the cowbell on the left from a great latin drummer awhile back as I learned patterns that involved hitting it with either stick.
Back to the toms. Typically I just play a four piece. As a couple of people pointed out, there isn't that much pitch difference apparent to an audience between a 14 and 16 (or 16 and 18) floor tom. I had a 14 and 16 for awhile and the 16 was down in the mud with the bass guitar and the kick. You could do things with it against the kick that sounded double pedal like, but that was about the limit of it's usefulness. For the most part, anything that would be played across both floor toms, could just as well have been played on only one of them.
When I want a third pitch for effect, I will either mount the 8 that came with my kit to the left of my typical 10" up top and tune it up near timbale range to separate it from the 10. Or I will hang the 12" tuned down from a cymbal stand on the side. It doesn't take up that much room or move the floor tom back very far. Then I'll tune the floor tom fairly low to get 3 distinct pitches.
From an audience perspective, unless you're doing some extended solo without anything else going on, but rather doing a fill in the middle of a song, most folks can hear a fill shifting from a snare, to a tom or the kick. But running a set of toms tuned 3rds or 4ths apart just sounds like the same drum to most folks. At most there's a sort of pitch bend, but it's not like distinct drums until you've gone from fairly high to fairly low. All the stuff in between is there for your own ammusement, not the tune.
Back to the toms. Typically I just play a four piece. As a couple of people pointed out, there isn't that much pitch difference apparent to an audience between a 14 and 16 (or 16 and 18) floor tom. I had a 14 and 16 for awhile and the 16 was down in the mud with the bass guitar and the kick. You could do things with it against the kick that sounded double pedal like, but that was about the limit of it's usefulness. For the most part, anything that would be played across both floor toms, could just as well have been played on only one of them.
When I want a third pitch for effect, I will either mount the 8 that came with my kit to the left of my typical 10" up top and tune it up near timbale range to separate it from the 10. Or I will hang the 12" tuned down from a cymbal stand on the side. It doesn't take up that much room or move the floor tom back very far. Then I'll tune the floor tom fairly low to get 3 distinct pitches.
From an audience perspective, unless you're doing some extended solo without anything else going on, but rather doing a fill in the middle of a song, most folks can hear a fill shifting from a snare, to a tom or the kick. But running a set of toms tuned 3rds or 4ths apart just sounds like the same drum to most folks. At most there's a sort of pitch bend, but it's not like distinct drums until you've gone from fairly high to fairly low. All the stuff in between is there for your own ammusement, not the tune.
Pass.of.E.r.a.
Gold Member
RogerLudwig
Senior Member
Before the early 60s virtually every drummer played with only one rack tom. Louie Bellson had two between his double bass set-up, but It wasn't until Dave Clark started using both a 12 and 13 rack in the mid-60s that "two up" became popular. AS a side note, he had the 13 on the left and the 12 on the right.
The set up was unique and marketed as the Rogers Dave Clark Londoner. They dropped the Dave Clark part after a couple of years, but continued to market the "two up. one down" as the Londoner. At the same time they were selling a whole lot of kits with oneup and one down....Like the Buddy Rich Celebrity kit, or the Cozy Cole kit.
In the end, it's all about what works best for you.
I used to play a Londoner, now I play a oneup, twodown Ludwig....it's all about preference. Like Aeolian, I prefer the ride to be close and low, hence no second rack tom.
The set up was unique and marketed as the Rogers Dave Clark Londoner. They dropped the Dave Clark part after a couple of years, but continued to market the "two up. one down" as the Londoner. At the same time they were selling a whole lot of kits with oneup and one down....Like the Buddy Rich Celebrity kit, or the Cozy Cole kit.
In the end, it's all about what works best for you.
I used to play a Londoner, now I play a oneup, twodown Ludwig....it's all about preference. Like Aeolian, I prefer the ride to be close and low, hence no second rack tom.
Skitch
Pioneer Member
Nothing and if anyone in the band starts complaining, tell them to go tune their guitar.
For me it depends on the gig I am playing....if it's a retro gig with decades of music, I tend to play with 3 toms 2 on the bass drum and a floor tom. Same for Country. if it is a really casual gig or I know I won't need the extra tom to sound authentic, a 4 piece is the way I roll.
Mike
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bonzolead
Platinum Member
I played a trad. 5-piece for years(2 toms mounted on the bd w/ 1 ft) but all i've played the past 10 or so years is a 4-piece because I like the ride closer,one less tom too haul, & everybody can see how good I look.LMAO
but i'm more comfortable with a 4-piece which is the main reason.
Keep Swattin"
Bonzolead
but i'm more comfortable with a 4-piece which is the main reason.
Keep Swattin"
Bonzolead