Mounting Your Rack Toms

Joe Morris

DRUMMERWORLD PRO DRUMMER
Ok guys and ladies I have given out a ton of advise on this forum. Now I am going to pose a question to you about something I have been struggling with for a while. I for a very long time have mounted my toms off my bass drum. If you have seen my video's you will see I always have my toms 8--10--14--16 and I always use a 13" snare. I like my drums punching and tight to me. Well I do own 6 kits and yes I use them all. On some of the kits the 8 will not tune down low enough simply because each kit is different. So I don't feel I am getting enough depth out of my kit. So I have been toying with the idea of going back to having a 10 as my first rack and dumping the 8. So I would have the traditional 10-12 rack combo. When I just replace the 8 with the 10 of my current set up in short it just screws everything up. Its amazing what just a couple inches can do to your set up. I am thinking that if I mount my toms off stands that I will have way more versatility with my set up than mounting them off the bass drum. Your thoughts.
 
I checked out one of your YT videos. It looks like you have 2 curved Gib racks for your cymbals. Get the long curved bar in front, a couple (or few so you can keep the 8 on there) of clamps and memory locks and your set.
 
I checked out one of your YT videos. It looks like you have 2 curved Gib racks for your cymbals. Get the long curved bar in front, a couple (or few so you can keep the 8 on there) of clamps and memory locks and your set.

Nope. I don't want to mount toms off a rack. I'm a Gibraltar endorsee so trust me I can get as many racks as I want. I have already mounted my toms off my rack and I hated it. Plus 3 up front will push my hi hat over. My racks are not curved that's just the impression that camera lens gives. Actually they are straight with only cymbals on them so I can plug that rack set up into any kit.
 
Why not use both? A Horizontal rack bar on a stand?

Nope. I don't want to mount toms off a rack. I'm a Gibraltar endorsee so trust me I can get as many racks as I want. I have already mounted my toms off my rack and I hated it. Plus 3 up front will push my hi hat over. My racks are not curved that's just the impression that camera lens gives. Actually they are straight with only cymbals on them so I can plug that rack set up into any kit.

I mount all my toms off (not from, but as in 'not on') the kick. All toms are suspended.

For the last 15+ years I've had a 10 and 12 in the front, and 14 and 16 on the side.

I use Gibraltar exclusively - and recently (last 3 years) I've been mounting a curved bar onto a cymbal stand. What a difference for me its made.

I like things close - toms close enough to the snare to just barely not be touching it.

Recently I went to a 3-tom front set up... having added an 8. It was easy peasy - I just moved the 8 to the curved bar and slid everything down one slot.

Here's a couple of shots of the before (2 toms front) and now (3 toms front.)

I love having the bar mounted on the floor stand - makes the rig absolutely the same placement every time when I have room, and nearly the same placement every time when I'm cramped for space.

-Ken


Old Config
highres_11340266.jpeg




New Config
Rack-Tom-Detail.jpg
 
mine are hung off cymbal stands over a virgin kick....and I'd have it no other way

img0285lx.jpg
 
I've always thought it was more ergonomic to have the toms on a stand next to the bass drum rather than on the bass drum. This also allows the bass drum to be slightly angled, which is in line with the natural shape of how our feet extend off our legs.

It was noted in an article I read many years about that drummers who have a two up over double bass have naturally more ergonomic set up than a traditional 5pc, so I adopted that set up, but leave the 2nd bass drum out of it.

DW_close.jpg
 
I've always thought it was more ergonomic to have the toms on a stand next to the bass drum rather than on the bass drum. This also allows the bass drum to be slightly angled, which is in line with the natural shape of how our feet extend off our legs.

It was noted in an article I read many years about that drummers who have a two up over double bass have naturally more ergonomic set up than a traditional 5pc, so I adopted that set up, but leave the 2nd bass drum out of it.

DW_close.jpg

Right on.

I play the same way - with the kick angled out. My kick never faces the 'front' of the stage when I'm on a riser playing with others, and when I'm with my guys, I sit at 90-degrees as I do most of the singing.

One time I was playing at the Whiskey - the sound guy came out and saw my angled kick, he said, "oh, a power player...."

I'm not, but it made me smile.

I don't get the kick flat forward thing. I end up twisting myself and moving everything so it's as if its angled... but facing forward (if that makes any sense at all....)

-K
 
Hi Joe,

I read through your post and I looked at your site. I am an engineer by day and a drummer at all other times so that's where I am coming from. I am not surprised you want to drop your 8. There are a lot of threads on here about the difficulty in tuning 8's and ultimately, they are never easy to tune because the reflected waves from the rim are fighting the outbound waves from the stick strike. The long story short is that 8's are a pain in the butt.

You might want to give your 10/12 idea more time. If you can hit the sweet spots on an 8 and a 10 then the 10/12 should come around. I mount a 12/13 off my bass drum with a 16 on the floor. My band practices at a local high school and the kit there has a 10/12 up with a 14 and 16 down. I find it a little odd at first, but I can play all my normal fills. I will admit, for solos it's a little weird, but if I played it daily, I'm sure I would get it. I find it much harder to get to the back floor tom on a 2-down than I do to switch the rack tom sizes.

Good luck and let us know how you fare!
 
mounting them off stands makes way more sense- mounting from the kick gives you really limited options and I've never felt comfortable using a set up mounting from the kick (hence why I played with only 2 toms for the last 6 or 7 years)

Anyway here is my Yamaha MCA- both racks mounted off the crash and ride stand respectively

556329_10151479828560301_788860300_23425975_665280146_n.jpg
 
mounting them off stands makes way more sense- mounting from the kick gives you really limited options and I've never felt comfortable using a set up mounting from the kick (hence why I played with only 2 toms for the last 6 or 7 years)

Anyway here is my Yamaha MCA- both racks mounted off the crash and ride stand respectively

556329_10151479828560301_788860300_23425975_665280146_n.jpg

very close to how mine are set up
 
Re: Why not use both? A Horizontal rack bar on a stand?

I have to say that is a tight looking kit. I love the way your rack is set up. You play with the toms a bit off. I play with my 10 right in front of me. But the bar off the cymbal stand gave me some ideas. How is it setting up your rack in the first picture. It looks like it would be a pain to get the stuff where it goes for easy set up. Especially I see you mount your snare and hats off the rack. Just wondering, but I really like the way your kit looks.
Thanks for the pics.






I mount all my toms off (not from, but as in 'not on') the kick


All toms are suspended.

For the last 15+ years I've had a 10 and 12 in the front, and 14 and 16 on the side.

I use Gibraltar exclusively - and recently (last 3 years) I've been mounting a curved bar onto a cymbal stand. What a difference for me its made.

I like things close - toms close enough to the snare to just barely not be touching it.

Recently I went to a 3-tom front set up... having added an 8. It was easy peasy - I just moved the 8 to the curved bar and slid everything down one slot.

Here's a couple of shots of the before (2 toms front) and now (3 toms front.)

I love having the bar mounted on the floor stand - makes the rig absolutely the same placement every time when I have room, and nearly the same placement every time when I'm cramped for space.

-Ken


Old Config
highres_11340266.jpeg




New Config
Rack-Tom-Detail.jpg
 
Yes that was my plan exactly, as many of you have posted. Some of the other guys that mount the 10 and 12 on one stand your toms are off a bit if you know what i mean. I like having my 10 right in front of the snare. Not there is anything wrong with that mounting. its just not for me. I like my toms straight away.

I'm trying to simplify my drum set, lol and it seems everytime I try and just end up with more ideas which leads to more stuff. LOL




mine are hung off cymbal stands over a virgin kick....and I'd have it no other way

img0285lx.jpg
 
I have a single mount 13 on my bass drum (Pearl) and a 16 on the floor. When I finally get a 10 inch drum for this kit, I'll just swing the 13 over to the right side and hang the 10 off of the cymbal stand. This way I can control the spacing better.
 
Re: Why not use both? A Horizontal rack bar on a stand?

I have to say that is a tight looking kit. I love the way your rack is set up. You play with the toms a bit off. I play with my 10 right in front of me. But the bar off the cymbal stand gave me some ideas. How is it setting up your rack in the first picture. It looks like it would be a pain to get the stuff where it goes for easy set up. Especially I see you mount your snare and hats off the rack. Just wondering, but I really like the way your kit looks.
Thanks for the pics.

Hi Joe!

Not sure what a bit off means - but that sounds right. This is the driver's seat pic.

The flying curved bar (top pic) - all stealth rack set up was a blast. I loved that rig (the 3 tom rig from 2009). I'd likely still be playing that today, except a few times a year, someone else will also play my rig (it'll be set up at an event, for example).... and it was impossible to customize of move anything. It was perfectly set and rock solid - snare, immoveable. HH, immoveable. Toms, immoveable. (just as I like it....)

I went and saw a band that I love, and the drummer had floor stands (I was going through an anti-floor stand stage in 2009...hence the wildass racking with the Stealths) - and after I saw these guys, I started re-thinking the whole floor stand idea.

Today, I have a hybrid. Still 100% heavily modified Stealth on the right, and simply two floor stands with curved bar mounting everything else.

All memory locked, all marked on my carpet, 100% the same place night after night. But, when the time calls for it, minor customization is available.

Driver's seat shot below.

-Ken


Drivers of 100% Stealth 2009 (funny how much clearer the cymbal logos were back then!)
highres_11340269.jpeg



Drivers of new rig - hybrid 2012
Easter-Kit-3.jpg
 
Do you have the room or thought about 2 ten inch toms, one tuned higher than the other. I use a rack with 8, 10, 12 but recently have dropped the 8 because of persistent tuning issues. Just a thought.
 
What about 9'' toms? Are those available? Or on a custom only basis? If 8'' toms are hard to tune/get a good tone out of I guess the industry should be aware of the demand people have and provide a solution.
 
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