How to slowly evolve my drum kit

V

varsh

Junior Member
Hi all,
I am a advanced beginner (for lack of better terminology) and recently bought my first drum kit and practising hard. I now want to slowly keep adding to my kit as and when budget permits. Right now, I have the basic five piece plus hi-hat, crash, and a ride.

I wanted to buy a double bass pedal but thought I will first get good at the single pedal before getting onto the fancier double bass pedal. what next should I invest in? Should I get more cymbals? Should I buy brushes? Or should I look into getting a better snare or better hi-hats and such?

If someone can suggest a line of purchases that I should make in a particular order, I will save up accordingly. Thanks.
 
I think you should buy what you need.

For example, if you start to get into jazz, buy brushes.

If you feel the need to have more sound options crash-wise, buy another crash.

If you play in different band or room situations, maybe buy a ride that fits.

Etc. So essentially, it's kind of the other way around than your suggestion.
 
No I think you should definitely get a double pedal. It won't slow up your single foot progress.

But the (other) next good step is a crash for the right side of your kit. I have all that and a 2nd set of hats for the right side... And I find anything else on my kit is unnecessary and makes it feel crowded.
 
what kind of kit do you have? what kind of cymbals? you may just need the right head for the snare to make it better.
 
varsh said:
Hi all,
I am a advanced beginner (for lack of better terminology) and recently bought my first drum kit and practising hard. I now want to slowly keep adding to my kit as and when budget permits. Right now, I have the basic five piece plus hi-hat, crash, and a ride.

I wanted to buy a double bass pedal but thought I will first get good at the single pedal before getting onto the fancier double bass pedal. what next should I invest in? Should I get more cymbals? Should I buy brushes? Or should I look into getting a better snare or better hi-hats and such?

If someone can suggest a line of purchases that I should make in a particular order, I will save up accordingly. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I wanted to buy a double bass pedal but thought I will first get good at the single pedal before getting onto the fancier double bass pedal.

Depends what genre of music you're playing.................some types of music, a double pedal isn't necessary, but for others, it is extremely important

what next should I invest in? Should I get more cymbals?

Yes

Should I buy brushes?

Yes, if nothing else, learning brushes will make you a more diverse player

Or should I look into getting a better snare or better hi-hats and such?

yes

If you can afford it, it is nice to have different "options" when it comes to gear

But, take my recommendations with a grain of salt, as I have been diagnosed with a severe case of G.A.S.
 
I have heard cheap drums sound good with new heads and proper tuning (something I highly recommend new drummers work on). What cannot be improved upon is poor cymbals. Bear in mind I am a huge cymbal snob, but I will always tell a drummer to invest in quality cymbals. You can get professional level cymbals on the used maket at great prices and they dont devalue very much over time (unless you break them).

Best investment you will ever make: Lessons! Highly recommended for beginning drummers.
 
I would observe what most professional or working players who play the same genres of music that you play have in their setups and base any plans for drumset expansion on that. For example, if you play mostly alternative rock, you may not need any more toms, but you might want some more (or larger) crashes, and maybe a china or EFX cymbal. A cowbell or tambourine is always a great (and usually inexpensive) way to diversify your sound.

In the end, it's going to come to what kind of music you like to create and what tools you figure you will need to make that happen. I do agree with the previous posters, though, that upgrading your cymbals to the best-sounding ones you can afford is a wise decision. Beyond that, learn to tune and make even your current drums sound as good as they can. Heads and tuning make a lot more difference than the quality of the drum.
 
I say get what you need to get the job done that you want to do. Once you start hauling the
equipment to rehearsals and gigs you will find out quickly to take only what it is you really want to have with you. The only constant is change so everything will keep slowly evolving no matter what.
 
before getting double pedal, another snare, cowbell, brushes...etc. ask yourself:

Are your starter cymbals good?
if not pro level, slowly replace those one by one, and buy used. You cannot change the sound of a cymbal, so get good ones. It makes your kit and playing so much better.

Are your heads all in good shape?
If not, replace those, it adds up $$ for a whole kit. Even a starter kit sounds way better when it has new heads that are tuned well.
 
Without knowing a whole lot about your needs, I would just give this general list

Heads
Cymbals
Upgrade hardware if needed
Get a few "wants" i.e. cowbell, additional cymbals, extra toms if needed, whatever else gets you going

I would personally recommend going with a nicer single pedal if your budget is low. You would be surprised what you can do with a good pedal with some practice. I do double pedal type stuff a lot with a DW 5000. It isn't especially hard, it just takes practice. If you do want a double pedal, I would recommend waiting and saving longer and getting a quality one. The lowest line I would recommend would be Iron Cobra Jr. or DW 3000 pedals. Good pedals and cheap, no need to go buy a pdp double pedal or sp pedal. Not bashing them, just talking terms of quality and durability.

Practice is most important though, don't neglect it.
 
For a beginner, I'd recommend putting more of an emphasis on purchasing gear that will make you more proficient. A fancy ride cymbal will look and sound beautiful, but will it help make you a better drummer? I don't think so. Not that having nice gear doesn't motivate some people to play and practice more, but I don't think it's necessary for you so early in your venture. I'd put your money towards a quality snare and hardware before anything else.
 
slowrocker said:
Without knowing a whole lot about your needs, I would just give this general list

Heads
Cymbals
Upgrade hardware if needed
Get a few "wants" i.e. cowbell, additional cymbals, extra toms if needed, whatever else gets you going
Click to expand...

As somebody with less than a year's playing under his belt, I'm pretty much target market for this question.

Putting heads on a beginner kit is the standard advice, but it might not be good advice, and here's why: If you're playing a really basic kit, putting good heads on the kit is like trying to polish a turd. Skip this step and go straight to adding good quality cymbals. Then, look out for a good deal on a mid level kit. They come up fairly often. I'm thinking Pearl Export or equivalent. And put new heads on that kit.

If the kit you're starting with is a mid level kit (or better), then it's worth replacing the heads.

(And you can't polish a turd, although you can roll it around in glitter.)
 
JustJames said:
As somebody with less than a year's playing under his belt, I'm pretty much target market for this question.

Putting heads on a beginner kit is the standard advice, but it might not be good advice, and here's why: If you're playing a really basic kit, putting good heads on the kit is like trying to polish a turd. Skip this step and go straight to adding good quality cymbals. Then, look out for a good deal on a mid level kit. They come up fairly often. I'm thinking Pearl Export or equivalent. And put new heads on that kit.

If the kit you're starting with is a mid level kit (or better), then it's worth replacing the heads.

(And you can't polish a turd, although you can roll it around in glitter.)
Click to expand...

I know nothing about the poster's kit, but he was talking about adding to his set. With that in mind, I assumed he was at least moderately satisfied with how it sounds. I would actually agree with you that I would step up a kit if it was a beginner set, but I don't know what he has and so I don't want to give bad advice as far as that goes.

If the set is only worth about $100-$150 new I would definitely sell it and use the money for a new set. I do not see the point in the heads being worth more than the set. I only based my comment off of what I could see in the original post.

People talk about buying a nice snare. That is not a bad thing, but if the snare isn't junk, you can make it sound fine with new snare wires and heads. I have never bought a snare. All of mine came with sets, but my snare sounds great. It is not a "high end" snare, but with proper heads and tuning, it sounds good. Having said that, if the set is like sound percussion of percussion plus, I don't know that you will get a great sound out of anything on the kit.
 
A surprised remark concerning all the buy more cymbals suggestions; am I the only one that plays a basic hats, crash, ride set up out of choice?
 
Stella said:
A surprised remark concerning all the buy more cymbals suggestions; am I the only one that plays a basic hats, crash, ride set up out of choice?
Click to expand...

No, that's my setup, and I think you'll see a lot of that here.(check Bonham threads, or for instance this thread among others). Though I do put one over the ride for this one guy I'm working with. Not that I shop much for cymbals, I only just started noticing they were putting these huge holes and ovals into cymbals, so I guess it's an exciting time to go to the drum store
 
Get the double pedal. It opens up a whole new world of PLAYING that adding more toms, cymbals, etc. wont. Start doing rudiments with your feet. Your foundation (bass, snare, hi hats, ride) will grow, where as with anything else you just have more targets for your hands. Add those later when you feel the need for a new sound, not just because you think you need more.

Pretty sounding cymbals are nice, and so is a huge kit with multiple targets, but you need to fully understand how and when to use them first. Don't get them just to have them.
 
Personally the gig or playing circumstances have always dictated the evolution of my kit. Some gigs required a tambourine or cow bell, so I went out and got them. Others required hand percussion, so I got those. Others again required none of those things so I stopped flying them off my kit. Whether it be bigger cymbals in order to be heard, smaller cymbals in order to pull off quiet acoustic situations, deep snares, shallow snares, metal or wooden snares, or even the size of the kit itself has always been determined by the gig. By what specific sound, tonal qualities I needed, or how many things I needed to hit in order to get the job done at any given time.

If it were me, I'd let my playing needs dictate.....and if you're not playing, then get out amongst it and let practical playing scenarios help you figure out what you need next. For mine, you'd be better served just playing and taking the next step from there.
 
varsh said:
Hi all,
I am a advanced beginner (for lack of better terminology) and recently bought my first drum kit and practising hard. I now want to slowly keep adding to my kit as and when budget permits. Right now, I have the basic five piece plus hi-hat, crash, and a ride.

I wanted to buy a double bass pedal but thought I will first get good at the single pedal before getting onto the fancier double bass pedal. what next should I invest in? Should I get more cymbals? Should I buy brushes? Or should I look into getting a better snare or better hi-hats and such?

If someone can suggest a line of purchases that I should make in a particular order, I will save up accordingly. Thanks.
Click to expand...


You have everything you need to play and practice. You didn't say what kind of 5 piece kit and what kind of cymbals you have though.
The advice about getting better cymbals is based on the assumption that you're using some kind of entry level set.

If you're OK with your kit and cymbals, I'd say just to keep practicing until you decide you really want to try something. If you get a double bass pedal you can always disconnect the second pedal and use it as a single for a while.

Personally, I wouldn't get along well without brushes. There are a few others here who use brushes a lot, but I'm pretty sure we're in the minority.
I couldn't recommend them for you because I have no idea what your priorities or goals are.
 
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