4 piece vs 5 piece kits

[plaid sabbath]

Hard to Play “ Tom Sawyer” on a 4 piece kit , it seems you are limited based upon what sings you need to play

 

[Rolltide]

Excellent effort fir sure

 

[Jasta 11]

The best part for me about a 4 piece ( or a 5 with 2 floor toms ) is my ride cymbal placement. No stand and it goes righth were the second rack would be, very comfortable positioning.

 

[jda]

there's a difference between a 5 piece twin tom set and a 5 piece twin floor set

(Thank you Captain Obvious
In the old - when we first 'awoke'- days we called a "2 up 1 down" set a "twin tom" set.
I think a 1 up twin floor set was called a....umm... err.... a BR? or 'a Krupa Sing Sing?"

~~

But there's a "playing" difference between the two/ discuss if you want)
Ok I will.

A four piece with an extra floor tom plays more like a four piece set.
A "twin tom" set (2 up 1 down) plays like a different "animal..

Maybe because that extra small tom in a 2 up 1 down- - is directly- in your eyesight and at reach easily/ quickly +/-

a 1 up two down is more like a four piece set with an extra.. errr....stick rack? err...Buddy Rich towel rack?...err.... I dunno.
discuss.

I don't know (...) if it's even "legitimate" or traditional to call a --four piece with an extra floor tom a 5 piece
because it's essentially a four piece
(much more so than a "twin small tom" set..
Figure it out..

can I blame late 1990's Guitar Center anywhere for the terminology somewhere?
or was it the Ludwig "aerial tom" catalog of 1980?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

you see. There's a big difference when you were born mid- Century.
- half of your knowledge base applies to- is rooted in 20th Century- and the other half - is in the 21st Century after it..

 

[toddbishop]

Adding another tom tom sound doesn't make a whole lot of difference. It's either a not-quite-as-high sound, or it's a lower low sound, or if it's a 10", a bongo sound-- that's the most distinctive sounding drum to add. It still doesn't make a lot of difference, they're all still in the role of a high sound or a low sound, and most of the time the gradations are inaudible. Maybe if you're playing at home, or you get featured as a soloist a lot, or you play a lot of a certain kind of tom fill.

 

[jda]

"it's spatial"..

 

[timmdrum]

The best part for me about a 4 piece ( or a 5 with 2 floor toms ) is my ride cymbal placement. No stand and it goes righth were the second rack would be, very comfortable positioning.View attachment 139069

My ride cymbal is positioned close to yours, where a middle tom is commonly positioned, yet I still have 10" & 12" rack toms. I simply don't position the toms centered over the bass drum, but further left, where my 1st tom is right in front of me and the snare. This shows them on a rack in my gig rig; my rehearsal kit has them in the same position, clamped to a cymbal stand: https://www.drummerworld.com/forums...your-pov-drivers-seat-pics.54951/post-2012866

Adding another tom tom sound doesn't make a whole lot of difference. It's either a not-quite-as-high sound, or it's a lower low sound, or if it's a 10", a bongo sound-- that's the most distinctive sounding drum to add.

I've never heard a 10" tom sound like a bongo... not even an 8" either. That thing must've been cranked into the stratosphere! (If meant literally)