YouTube video: The Golden Rule of Setting Up a Drum Kit

Bruce M. Thomson

Gold Member
I am very flat footed and believe me when I tell you it has an effect on your back as well as your feet and legs.
I have my hi-hat almost directly left of my snare in order to play it properly so it only makes sense that it should be the same for the bass drum.
Is it practical regardless of venue or are there some exceptions that you would consider or is it even something you would contemplate??

 
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Just imagine you have a double bass setup and position the single bass accordingly, as I do.
There are people locally who set the kick straight ahead on. It doesn't make as much in sense to me, but one guy has a minimal kit that isn't uncomfortable because it's so compact.
 
The reason why I prefer virgin bass drums with a separate stand for the toms - to have them directly in front of me. One can draw a straight line between the center of the seat, the center of the snare stand and the tom stand. Bass drum pedal and the center between hi hat pedal and left foot pedal are nearly perfectly 22.5° to this line. The lens is adding some distortion but you get the idea. So yeah, in live situations I either am not facing towards the audience directly or I have my bass drum at a slight angle - depending on the stage and/or riser.

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Pretty much every concert I've been to, the single bass drum has been centered. I never gave it a half ounce of thought till I realized it was a big deal to everyone here based on previous threads.
 
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It's absolutely baffling to me that people can't inherently see that the snare drum is the center of the kit, with the pedal positions flanking it. People complaining about the ergonomics of adding a double pedal and spread just make me scratch my head, because it's literally the exact same setup as before, with the caveat of the high hat being further away by the span of a footboard's width.

Double kick drum players basically have the right of it. Remove the second bass drum, and why would anything change (excepting giant bass drums requiring obscene spans between pedals)?

Perhaps it's because audiences are usually presented the bass drum as the focal point, so maybe there is some kind of conditioning going on there.
 
I'm pretty sure I get the center of the kit part, but most every band and pro concert I've seen with a single bass drum, the BD was centered. If two, they were centered on the riser. Not sure I've ever really thought about the centerline or cared that much. If I'm pushed stage right, I angle my BD toward the audience. If I'm center left, I angle toward the audience. If centered, I've lined up the BD with center stage. Never thought it was unusual, but I have preferred the bass player to my left when centered, for the whole twisting too much argument.

It's just odd I've never seen this being a big deal, except here.

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The big flaw in the argument is that players aren’t facing forward all the time when the kick is facing forward. Sorry but I don’t like the look of angled single bass drums, and the fact that buttloads of drummers using the forward bass setup don’t have back problems, makes me think people are smarter than Drum Dog gives them credit.
 
I could care less whether I'm facing forward towards the audience or not. I'm still centered with my snare drum that's what matters. Moving my kick drum to the side doesn't change my angle it only changes the angles that the crowd is seeing me from. If I turned around backwards so my back is towards the crowd I'm still centered at my drum set.
 
I'm with Jimmy - a forward facing bass drum has absolutely no bearing on how the kit is set up or how the drummer addresses the kit. A drummer angled slightly to the side in order to properly address the kick will go unnoticed by the audience.

It's true that I've seen some horrible, un-ergonomic setups, but I don't think the cause was a forward-facing kick, in most cases.
 
I've always set up my bass drum at an angle for this reason. I set up my kit as if it was a double bass drum set up, even though I'm (almost always) using 1 bass drum.
 
I've now for last several years set my kick at that angle because my feet naturally point to right (kick) and left (hats). I started doing that after watching videos of my playing at gigs and noticing how - if kick centered - my body was naturally pointing to right to compensate.
 
Hi Hat positioning is pretty important too for being centered on the drum set. The more your feet are parallel the more centered you'll be. I see this a lot. This hi hat is position is causing the body to twist to the left. This isn't too bad but some set up I see are extreme.
 

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Hi Hat positioning is pretty important too for being centered on the drum set. The more your feet are parallel the more centered you'll be. I see this a lot. This hi hat is position is causing the body to twist to the left. This isn't too bad but some set up I see are extreme.
A good point. It's not like you can't move it to a spot that's more comfy if you prefer to be facing a little more forward with the kick pointed center. I just go for parallel and natural feeling and I can face more forward. Not that I care that much when I'm drumming but I do sing, too :D I'll agree that angling the kick works for some drummers, though. Nothing wrong with it if that's your thing.
 
I like to look forward when I play, not at the wall on my left, but I'm usually playing someone else's kit which is almost always facing straight forward. So I play with my foot at an angle to the pedal, with my heel resting on the floor, not the heel plate.

The solution for me would be a kick pedal that sits at an angle to the bass drum. Then I'd have the best of both worlds. The kick drum would be facing the audience, which looks best, but I would also be facing the audience, which I think looks a lot better than a drummer who's constantly looking away. It's kind of nice to see the guitarist on my right once in a while, too, to see what he's up to. Especially since 9 out of 10 bassists (at least) can't keep time worth beans and most guitarists can.
 
Two things bug me...the angled bass drum look and the ones that put two toms to the left of the BD. It's like a corvette with the steering wheel in the center of the car...i want the normal one 😃. I'm so set in my ways and old school that ergonomically speaking I'm unteachable. Like the ones that wear loose fit 👖 for comfort..jeans were meant for 😎 not comfort..
 
I'm actually stunned that the few degrees off center you are angled (or the bass drum is angled) is an issue for anyone.

But then, I rarely understand peoples' priorities.
 
I'm pretty sure I get the center of the kit part, but most every band and pro concert I've seen with a single bass drum, the BD was centered. If two, they were centered on the riser. Not sure I've ever really thought about the centerline or cared that much. If I'm pushed stage right, I angle my BD toward the audience. If I'm center left, I angle toward the audience. If centered, I've lined up the BD with center stage. Never thought it was unusual, but I have preferred the bass player to my left when centered, for the whole twisting too much argument.

It's just odd I've never seen this being a big deal, except here.

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I think that's the most important part of your statement: Every band and PRO concert you've ever been to has the single bass drum front and centre to give the band logo/ artwork the highest visibility rather than maybe what the drummer prefers.

Sure the drummer only has to turn his head a few centimeters (because he's slightly "off-angle") to face the audience so it's not that big a deal...
 
The reason why I prefer virgin bass drums with a separate stand for the toms - to have them directly in front of me. One can draw a straight line between the center of the seat, the center of the snare stand and the tom stand. Bass drum pedal and the center between hi hat pedal and left foot pedal are nearly perfectly 22.5° to this line. The lens is adding some distortion but you get the idea. So yeah, in live situations I either am not facing towards the audience directly or I have my bass drum at a slight angle - depending on the stage and/or riser.

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same here..i did not get a virgin bd for any sound difference...it is way more flexible for set up purposes
 
Bass drum angled or you angled.
Choose 1.
Or just turn your foot a bit ? Unless you've nailed your shoe through the heel plate.......... Human ankles are famously pliable! 😁
 
I think it's a good video, well presented, and I like the snare sound.

I believe the important thing is not really whether the bass drum is centered or not on stage,
but where we sit relative to the drum kit. When I set up, I always keep in mind what direction
I will be looking at once I'm playing, and I will place the kit accordingly. But I have no problem
setting up "straight" (bass drum centered) for a classic look but sitting a bit "off" myself then.
 
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