Floor Toms for Dummies (ok, me)

For anyone thinking they don't need a floor tom, and even those who think they only need one, this video is proof you need THREE FLOOR TOMS!!!

 
so, it would seem that I despise floor toms in that for both my country band and jazz band, I don't use mine...

in the country band, I go kick, snare, hat, and 3 cymbals <--- this came out the need to fit in or on very small spaces

in the jazz band, I use brushes 100% of the time, and the floor tom just doesn't react to the dynamic we play at, so I just use kick, snare, 13x9 rack tom, and the same 3 cymbals

with my rock kit, I have 2 floors...one left and one right, as well as all 3 toms up top
 
"But look at any 'bop' or mini kit and there's the floor tom. I'm clearly missing something."
Okay, I read that you're missing something. Perhaps you should have said "What am I missing?", you know, as in an actual question.
The answer to which would be, nothing. There are no rules. You can play without a floor tom. You can play without hi-hats. You can play without a bass drum. Do whatever let's you do your thing. Just don't expect everyone to dig it.
 
What he said. I've actually learned to play the ultimate minimalist kit. I'm the world's first professional air drummer. Drums? We don't need no stinking drums. (Takes a bow)
 
Sweet looking - the bronze and wood have the same golden glow. Jealous of the T bars on the bass too. Can find any to fit my Stage Custom - the rods are too long.
Like to know how you get on. What DO you play?

What type of music? Pop stuff mostly, with a huge lean towards late-70’s/early-80’s sounds.
 
so here is a great example of floor tom love, ans also -to me - a KILLER song groove and texture-wise...

 
For anyone thinking they don't need a floor tom, and even those who think they only need one, this video is proof you need THREE FLOOR TOMS!!!

It's so funny to me when people like Tony Williams and Gergo Borlai have 3 floor toms on the right like that. They have all this open space on the left, but nooooo, gotta cram them on the right so their dominant hand can do ALL the work. ?
 
It's so funny to me when people like Tony Williams and Gergo Borlai have 3 floor toms on the right like that. They have all this open space on the left, but nooooo, gotta cram them on the right so their dominant hand can do ALL the work. ?

Dennis Chambers as well.

 
We all tend to play what we're comfortable with. If we don't like the results of hitting a specific drum, we do it less. It's a feedback loop.

I went for a while not using crash cymbals as much, because I didn't feel I was "good" at it as I could be. Therefore I didn't use crashes as often.

You should set up a floor tom (and no rack tom). Force yourself to incorporate a floor tom in your playing for a while. The better you get at playing the floor tom, the more likely you are to play it.

You may realize that maybe it was because the mechanics of reaching down and to the right isn't second nature to you yet. Your timing of that movement isn't honed in yet, or you don't like playing on low tension heads as much. All of this can be fixed with practice!
Definitely force yourself into something you're not used to. It'll come around. I use my floors more than the mounted now.
 
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