Did we move to shorter toms for practical reasons only?

May I just say don't concern yourself with what your drums look like (12x8's look like toys), instead find the sound you want to capture with the gear you have and don't worry about breaking any drum laws. Do it.
I know... but when I take my drum out on stage, it's an extension of me, an expression of my personality. A drum set says a lots of things about you and your band before you even play a note. So yeah, I obsess over looks, I probably have too much free time lol.
 
I know... but when I take my drum out on stage, it's an extension of me, an expression of my personality. A drum set says a lots of things about you and your band before you even play a note. So yeah, I obsess over looks, I probably have too much free time lol.
Now you’ve hit a raw nerve. I can say nothing against your synopsis, it is absolutely true. I imagine at least 99% of pro/gigging drummers also agree.
 
I have seen a few different charts offering different definitions of what are "FAST, standard, traditional, etc" tom sizes. My OCD yearns for clarity (surely there is an ideal, golden diameter-to-depth ratio?!?), but I guess there is none to be had, yet. As others have mentioned, it probably also depends on ply number and thickness and wood type and hoops and bearing edges and and and. For me, I have 12x9 and 13x10 toms mounted on my 22" bass drum and I wish they (or at least the 13) were an inch shorter (and I'm 6'2"). If my bass drum was 20" these toms would fit better for me, but likely look too big.

I have a 16x16 FT and I agree with ArtStar--what's up with that?

I do hear more and more drummers preferring shallower bass drums. I think 22x18 will become an increasingly rare size as manufacturers catch up to trends.
 
I buy drums that I'm comfortable playing but first they must sound good. There are sizes I like and some that I don't.
My ideal sizes in a kit would be.......
22x16
10x8
12x9
16x16

None of my 3 kits have those exact sizes. LOL
This are almost the size I play and I dig. 22x16 is the perfect in between.
My toms are an inch deeper.
 
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Those were probably at Bob Gatzen’s shop they were the Star Series - short stack single ply steambent toms with an 8 ply bass drum .
Here is a video of Chris Whitten playing his set .

Where was his shop, Northampton?
 
Drum sizes being "in style" or not doesn't have much to do with what sounds "good," it has more to do with what fits the current musical mood. Now we're in a place where everything sounds modern and vintage all together so we have shallow toms with deep bass drums. In the 80's the Phil Collins big tom sound became popular and people wanted toms that sound like that.

Regardless of what's in vogue, everyone has their own tastes. For me a 12x8 rack tom and a 20" kick drum feels like home. Most people like 22" kicks, or they play them because that is what's readily available. I don't care about what someone else is telling me to play because I prefer a 20x16" and with the right tuning it sounds deep and boomy, and with the right playing it sounds good anyway. I'm a gear head as much as the next guy but at a certain point it doesn't matter to the people listening in the audience.

Another thing is people seem to care much more about sizes than tuning. A 12x10 tom found in a basement that hasn't been tuned for years and whose heads have craters in them won't sound anywhere as good as a new 12x8 drum. Does the size matter? Not nearly as much as the tuning. And it's hard to talk about tuning because everyone's ears are different and some are more developed than others, so we revert to talking about sizes because that's concrete and easy to define.

This weekend I cut down my Pearl Export power toms to 12x8 and 13x8. The 13" tom is a bit of an experiment but I believe with the right heads and tuning I'll be able to have enough of an interval between the drums and still be able to position them where I want them. I normally play 8x7, 10x7, and 12x8 over a 20" kick drum so needless to say the power tom depths had to go!
 

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Slightly deeper drums or regular "power" toms (not deeper).. always sound better to me .

DW still offers power toms on their kits and I think they look fine.

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Fashions come and go. Drum companies invent things to persuade people there is something shiny and new they should invest in.
Here's your answer. Drum fads come and go, and usually come back again.
 
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My current kit has 20x16 bass drum, 12x10 tom, 16x14 low tom, with a 6.5x14 snare. Wood types and shell thicknesses vary.

It gets it done.
 
Standard toms are difficult to find in stores these days.

That's what I like.
I dislike playing 10"x7.5"/8" tom. Every store I walk into these day. First top tom, 10".
All but the most but the most cheapest POS kit.

Preliminary searches suggest, I can obtain "standard" size toms from Yamaha in their current Recording Custom range.

12"X10", 13"x11", FT 16"x15", 18"x16". Bass 22"x16"
 
I wonder in a blindfold test could we hear the difference in front live between kits in each configuration? Now behind the kit I believe blindfolded players would likely identify/distinguish a power from a fast with some accuracy-but in audience I'm not so sure. But I wouldn't be surprised blindfolded that even seasoned drummers would be fooled playing the kit.
 
The longer depths got the more problems I had. It all threw me for a loop for a time. I stuck to my guns and near preached traditional depths. Now this is ME. It all came back around and when John Good razzle dazzled everyone with why shorter depths did what they did he was preaching to the choir. I guess (he) needed to say it to get drummers on board as I may have been to...well Bozozoids just crazy.
 
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