Drum angle

Cmdr. Ross

Platinum Member
Over the years of me drumming, I've had many a fellow player come up & comment on why my kick is angled away from center. I've tried to explain but many stay on the advise of "You should square up the front head to the audience & face them too. It's just how respectful musicians do it".

Yeah...just like that.

Below is why I angle it away. I did the "square-to-the-audience" thing for a good while & I can now say I'm much more comfortable.
Thoughts?

Drum Angle.jpeg
 
I've always had mine angled as in #2, I'm square with the audience, not the kick.
I've met opinionated pricks like that, 'why don't you tell your momma' seems to silent them, then they leave.
I've only commented on another drummer's setup once and that was because he kept changing it, sometimes he had really high mounted toms, sometimes the toms were flat at floor level sometimes the cymbals were sky high, so I told him that instead of constantly changing his setup (for looks as told by him) to pick one setup that worked the best for him for ergonomics and that by constantly changing he was stunting his own progress due to having to get used to a whole new setup every time he played. He listened and was actually glad that someone had pointed out something that he had not considered. but I will never care if my drums are parallel with the audience, I set them up for my comfort not for looks. yes #2 is how I always had my kicks.
 
Travis Barker was my first inspiration for doing this. I could see the "square drum/face left" deal if you have a custom band reso to show off.
Otherwise, I'll angle it how it works for me.
I could always do this "vent hose" deal & kill 2 birds with one stone! :LOL:
Alex kit.png
 
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I've only commented on another drummer's setup once and that was because he kept changing it, sometimes he had really high mounted toms, sometimes the toms were flat at floor level sometimes the cymbals were sky high, so I told him that instead of constantly changing his setup (for looks as told by him) to pick one setup that worked the best for him for ergonomics and that by constantly changing he was stunting his own progress due to having to get used to a whole new setup every time he played. He listened and was actually glad that someone had pointed out something that he had not considered. but I will never care if my drums are parallel with the audience, I set them up for my comfort not for looks. yes #2 is how I always had my kicks.
It is really good to help someone that obviously needs steered in the right direction. When I started 60 years ago, every older, more experienced drummer that I met, gave me tips on playing and drums, like it was a duty.
I'm not a confrontational person except in the area of my drums where I don't need no phony pro to tell me nuthin' and, sometimes speak my mind when, I could have explained the inappropriateness of their advice in a more friendly manner, I'd had a drummer loudly criticize how I put my hi-hat stand together, from the audience. I had put the rod in without taking the top tube off, which worked for me.
 
#2, my ankle doesn't rotate like #1.

I'd had a drummer loudly criticize how I put my hi-hat stand together, from the audience. I had put the rod in without taking the top tube off
He's the same fwit that gives everyone a lesson on the golf course while proceeding to shoot a smooth 100. I hate that effin guy.
If I want your advice/ input/ opinion, I'll ask you.
 
#2. The kick pedal needs to be at same angle as your foot. Bothe feet angle out, so you adjust kick drum and hi hats to fit the angle. On backline kits that I don't really have opportunity to move around a lot and they're parallel with audience, I adjust my body and hats accordingly, so my body isn't pointed straight at audience.
 
I would argue the 'respectful musician' idea.

The real way to disrespect the audience is to select form over musical function unless your main focus is some sort of 'appearance over music' approach and the audience is expecting that.

I set up like #2 as well though I ride the snare much closer(legs less spread) so the angle from straight 'forward' is less.
 
I do diagram 2, but I don't need the angle between the knees to be so wide.

I pretty much always set up like I'm playing two bass drums, even on a four piece. The snare is the center of my kit, and so body is centered to it. Everything else follows from there.
 
You can always move your throne to the right and get the same geometry. That said, I don't see a lot of the planets top drummers setting up like #2. Some how they manage. LOL. What ever works for you.
 
I set up like #2 as well though I ride the snare much closer(legs less spread) so the angle from straight 'forward' is less.
Yeah, when I was playing two bass drums, I could nearly get the beater side rims to touch with where my feet rested. I don't see the need for such a severe spread.

I realize that not everybody is going to have the same leg length and proportions, but sometimes it seems excessive.
 
I’m a number 2...have you guys seen my Pearl Export double bass set up? :unsure: 😂 (y)
I always had Al pegged as a number two kinda guy.

I set my kit up "traditional" because that is all I had ever touched before. My kick is angled (#2), so I am not wrenching my ankle.
As far as "feel"...I don't really have a "feel" yet. I do like my stuff close to each other...just because.

Still a work in progress.

I did buy a PDP two-leg hi hat stand to bring things in a tad. (and gave Rox my stock one and hats).

And I am NOT gonna show you folks my "tom angles".
 
The above examples are obviously extreme for effect, but I'm always amazed that position #1 is ever even adopted by anyone. Apparently there are enough doing this that there is a market for pedals that have footboards that angle for such players, but it just doesn't make sense to me. It has to be even more awkward than it looks, I would imagine. I'm not that concerned about my shoulders being perfectly square with the front of the stage, especially considering that since my legs hug the snare far more than the examples above, my shoulders don't angle that much to the left and my torso doesn't have to twist much, if anything, to the right to reach anything.
This is a better representation of how I (and most drummers, I had always thought) sit at either single or double bass kits.
View attachment 104763
The top example is how I play. It looks more "correct" to have the bass drum square with the front of the stage, but I'm sitting at an angle for ergonomics.
 
Like Stroma and some others, I’m #2 but all rotated slightly left. My bass drum faces the audience and I face slightly to the left.

Also, my feet are closer together, so there's less angle overall.
 
Lol.. I would tell the guy, if he's that concerned about audience viewing the drums, I'd tell him to 'get the %$&#! out of the way and put me stage front - in front of the singers and especially you!' Sorry - pet peeve of mine - I hate it when the guitars, bass and singers crowd around in front of the kit and completely block the audience from seeing the drums.. I mean that's what the audience is there for right??

As far as position goes.. for me it depends on the kit. If I can't get the toms low enough - I'll shift them to the left (on a stand) and angle the kick to the right. Otherwise I face the kick straight out and angle the rest to the left like the pic above.. whatever the case both legs-knees-feet are aligned straight.
 
From an aesthetic perspective, I prefer my bass drum to be squared w/ the front of the stage, but that means I have to face left more than I want, making it a further stretch to look to my right where the keyboardist and guitar player are. I've come to accept that for me to face forward directly, my kick is going to be at an angle to the audience. If I used two bass drums, no one would notice anything "weird."

BTW, I've always thought of the #2 position as "sitting 45°." I don't know if someone said that to me once or I just came to the term on my own.
 
These will be the same morons who went to an Elton John concert sat to the right of stage and complained that he faced away from them while playing a grand piano?
Would you rather he looked out stage centre and the lid of the piano blocked your view instead?
 
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