Drum Terminology

MoreBeer

Silver Member
When exactly did the Drum Set become the Drum Kit? Isn't a kit something self contained in a box to access when needed, such as a first-aid kit? Going forward I'm sticking with the old-school term Drum Set. Sorry.

On another note, I was brought up using the term Bass Drum and not Kick Drum. Yes, one does use a pedal to strike the drum with although its not actually kicked. Therefore, I'll only be using Bass Drum when referring to the drum with the pedal clamped to it.

Hey....I'm old. :)
 
when doing live sound or recording a band i need to write brief labels that are easy/quick to identify. so there's a bass and a bass drum. its just much simpler to just call it a kick.

however when i talk about drums with people I always say bass drum.
 
Shouldn't that be Percussion Nomenclature? :)

The kick-bass differentiation came from studios, where one fader was marked 'bass' for bass guitar, and the bass drum had to be labeled differently. The term 'kick' was undoubtedly already in use in some circles, and became more commonplace during the '70s.

You probably also say "ride tom" :)

If not, then I'm older.

Bermuda
 
when doing live sound or recording a band i need to write brief labels that are easy/quick to identify. so there's a bass and a bass drum. its just much simpler to just call it a kick.
.

Exactly where the term "kick" started.

It was labelled as such by studio engineers when close micing came to the fore, so as to separate it it from the track marked "bass" which was designated for the bass guitar.

EDIT: Beaten to the punch by Jon, I see......quickest fingers on the forum!!
 
i never was a fan of "ride tom". for me its either labeled as tom and floor or T1, T2, T3 and so on in the case of multiple toms.
 
I prefer bass drum to kick drum. I don't like the terms "hit" and "kick" when referring to percussion. I prefer to talk about taps or strokes or notes. Kicks and hits don't sound like musical things to me. Also, people who don't play the drums use those terms a lot, especially when they're trying to sound like they know what they're talking about. It just has a negative connotation for me. I guess I have a hang-up about it.

I didn't used to have a problem with "kit," but I've developed an aversion to the term lately. I prefer drum set.

I'm old, too.
 
When exactly did the Drum Set become the Drum Kit? Isn't a kit something self contained in a box to access when needed, such as a first-aid kit? Going forward I'm sticking with the old-school term Drum Set.

"Kit" is the old term. Before we had drum sets as we know them today percussionists played a "trap kit" that a collection of all the percussion instruments available at the time. Depending on who you ask, the term is a shortening of conTRAPtion or referring to how the kit was "trapped" together or "trappings". Like this beauty.

9342495.jpg


I have also seen instruction books from the 50's and 60's that call the rack/ride tom the "small tom". This being back when a 4 piece was the standard.
 
Potato, Po-Tah-to, Tomato, To-Mah-to.......

Let's call the whole thing off.
 
Call it what you like.

I used to say 'bass drum' a lot, but I spend so much time in the live and studio environment these days that it has to be kick - as others have already stated.

And is it a drum set or a drum kit? Either is good for me.

Personally, I'm a big fan of don't worry about pointless things, go practice instead!
 
And while we're on the topic, you will never catch me referring to my drums as tubs and my bronze as pies. Kick drum is the cooler of the terms.
I use both terms depending on my mood.

Now everybody off the lawn!
 
I'm gonna have to agree with you there, Larry. Tubs and pies... now there's some dreadful terminology!
 
And while we're on the topic, you will never catch me referring to my drums as tubs and my bronze as pies.........

Or a guitar as an axe.

Or a harmonica as a blues harp.

Or trumpets, trombones and saxes as horns.

Or bored, intolerant, old men as tired, crochety, old bastards ready for pasture. :)
 
Or a guitar as an axe.

Or a harmonica as a blues harp.

Or trumpets, trombones and saxes as horns.

Or bored, intolerant, old men as tired, crochety, old bastards ready for pasture. :)

Where is that confounded pasture? I'd be happy to be pasteurized! Now where are my drums and my bronze! I want to set them up in my pasture! And while I'm at it, get the hell out of my personal pasture!

:p
 
I prefer drum set.

A drum kit gives me the impression of something lesser, like a lady's beauty kit she keeps in her clutch so she can powder her nose and what not.

A drum set is a setup and a setup sounds like it's planned with an alibi and premeditation.
 
Its a drum kit. I am British so its always been so. Its a Bass Drum not a Kick, you dont kick it. To write out for recording its "BD", easier to write than kick. Also its a drum stool, its got three legs and usually a top with no back, thats a stool. A throne is a huge ostentatious high back seat that Royalty sit on.

While we are all in rant mode the diameter of a drum is before the depth. If you are buying a new head you dont ask for a 6.5" snare head, you ask for a 14" cos thats the drum size, its stated first. Nurse.
 
Its a drum kit. I am British so its always been so. Its a Bass Drum not a Kick, you dont kick it. To write out for recording its "BD", easier to write than kick. Also its a drum stool, its got three legs and usually a top with no back, thats a stool. A throne is a huge ostentatious high back seat that Royalty sit on.

While we are all in rant mode the diameter of a drum is before the depth. If you are buying a new head you dont ask for a 6.5" snare head, you ask for a 14" cos thats the drum size, its stated first. Nurse.
Here here!! :)
 
Yeah, I don't really get why people/places/websites show the depth first. You don't care about the depth once you've bought it, and the diameters are still more important anyway.
 
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