The Fascination with 4pc

classikdrummr said:
I played a 4 pc in High school when EVERYBODY had 7 -10 piece Kits. I was miserable, but thats all i could afford. The fewest i ever play now is a 5 pc. i have 2 7 pc kits each with 6-8 cymbals. I use EVERYTHING all the time on those Kits. But Im also not playing pure back beat stuff like country or bluegrass. When i gig its always 5 pc kit, an extra snare , hats and 4 cymbals.
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I am the same....but I was lucky enough to play on a good Ludwig from the 50's growing up. Still have it. (It was my dad's). Also had hi hats and one crash ride. Grew up learning Rush, Kansas, Styx, Iron Maiden, Queensryche; Van Halen etc on that little kit. Sort of a challenge

I bought my own first kit in 1994. A 6 piece Pearl Master Custom Maple. By that time, I had collected about 9 cymbals. At 24, i had my dream kit. That is my main kit currently for all rock, metal etc that I play.

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And the 4 piece is my kit for jazz, country and rockabilly (actually seen here asa 3 piece b/c of space consideration)

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I definitely am a big kit guy first. When I was younger, I thought little kits were for old men and and mediocre players

I obviously grew up and out of that mind set....probably b/c I am an old guy who is a mediocre player.... :cool:
 
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AudioWonderland said:
I am not advocating for Neil Peart style kits by any stretch... That said, the undying devotion to 4pc kits is also baffling... Would a 6pc kit kill people? I get the stage space argument but studios and practice rooms don't have such limitations.. Lets live a little!
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I always prefer 4pc.
 
When I was learning to play, the four piece set was the standard everywhere you looked. As the '60s progressed, you started seeing drummers using two rack toms, double bass drums, and then, sets got bigger and bigger, with multiple toms and lots of cymbals. Ginger Baker, Keith Moon and Louie Bellson come to mind. I tried two bass drums and lots of toms, but always came back to four drums. We are all products of our influences, and most of mine, either in rock or jazz, used four piece sets, maybe with the addition of a second floor tom, like Krupa and Rich. My true favorite setup is one up, two down, but most of the time, I use a four piece set, usually due to space restrictions. If I have the room, I'll bring the second floor tom. I only own three sets that contain two floor toms. The rest are all single FTs. My Ultra Oyster White DW set is actually a six piece. I almost always left a tom or two home. I never really liked two rack toms mounted on the bass drum, because I need my ride cymbal close.

Of course, there's a certain amount of laziness involved also. I don't want to carry more gear than I need to at this point. I'm sure many of us feel the same way. And there's just something classic about a four piece drumset that's visually pleasing to me and many others. I spent a lot of time as a kid staring at drum catalogs and pictures of drummers on four piece sets. That stuff stays with you.

If Ringo, Charlie Watts, Dino Danelli and Buddy Rich accomplished what they did on four drums, that's good enough for me. Buddy usually used the second floor tom for his towel.
 

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Danny Carey was my inspiration growing up so I always wanted 2 rack Tom’s and 2 floor Toms. But I played my ride in the same position as a 4 piece.

I played that way for years and years.

But over the past 3 years I’ve slowly evolved into a 4 piece player. It truly did make things less complicated for my brain and made my fills more purposeful. It changed the way I play. Having a setup like Danny Carey made me always want to play like Danny Carey but this 4 piece setup is the classic setup. Jazz Guys use it, hardcore guys, rock guys… you can do so much with it and it just feels natural to me now.

I do like a 2nd floor Tom now and then and I do have one if I need it. But my fills are much more creative for what ever reason.
 
I play one up two down, always. I also play at home, always.

I just like the aesthetic.

Truth is I can spend the next 30 years and not master a 4-5 piece kit.

Drumming for me is about the challenge of overcoming what I can’t do today. Much less is it about playing in clubs or bars or wineries. I can’t go very long before discovering something else that needs refinement.

I love the monster kits I see, but… perhaps in another lifetime.
 
I started out with a 4 piece Slingerland Stage Band kit back in the mid 1970’s. First, it was a gift from my parents. And they weren’t very well off. I worked jobs in restaurants to help pay for matching drums to add to my original set up. And more recently I acquired my dream. A 7 piece kit. 3 up 2 down. But the bands I’ve been playing with lately have been very much blues focused. And for that stuff, a 4 piece is not only sufficient, but it allows me to focus more on groove rather than flashy and lengthy fills. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to cart, set up, break down and cart home. But, more importantly, I find sitting at a smaller kit can be quite liberating. And many of the bands I’ve seen lately the drummers have been playing 4 piece kits. I’m talking about Eric Douglas playing for Kevin Burt’s Bill Wither’s tribute, Nate Smith with his band at The Blue Note, and Gene Lake with Blues People. Also, I’ve not really noticed excessive focus on 4 piece set ups.
 
I keep it varied….to keep it interesting foremost….but also different songs I might experiment with that particular week. It’s not too difficult or time consuming to swap it up. So, some stretches 1 up 1 down….others 1 up 2 down….or 2 up 2 down.
 
timmdrum said:
I won't assume you meant this so literally, but this is a commonly spoken (and typed) misnomer- that anything more than a 4 pc. is a "big, complex rig". The "middle" is often not acknowledged. Maybe some would consider this complex, but I wouldn't- it's still just a 5 pc. with an aux snare:
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Also, another piece or two doesn't make the pocket less tight- lack of discipline does (which is probably what you meant). Not everything has to be hit in every song. If I'm playing a song that's just backbeat or spang-a-lang or stir-the-soup throughout, with no toms, it doesn't matter to me how many are there- I don't hit 'em.
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Okay, that works for you. Enjoy it. I prefer a leaner set up. Merely gave a personal point of view on my personal preference. I’m playing in my garage to an audience of none. By no means am I an expert on anything, The thread is a discussion on 4 pc kits. I shared my 2 cents.
 
As time goes on the 10" tom doesn't sound as necessary. The 12 or 13 is and it's steering me to the Jimmy Chamberlain setup.
 
The difference in setup/teardown between a 4 and a 5 is negligible, in my case. It takes more time to take the tom out of the case than it does to set it on the mount. And sure, another minute hooking up the mic. (Same argument I have with the extra cymbals I use, I have a second arm on each of my cymbal stands, takes 20 seconds to fold them into place, and maybe another 30 seconds to place the cymbal.)

The footprint can be more of an issue. Both rack toms instead of one, in my case, doesn't really take more than a few inches of additional space. I don't use two floor toms, that would certainly take more real estate.

All that having been said (and my internal justification, lol) I kinda want to trim it back, occasionally. I have a love/hate relationship with my 13" tom, as well, which might actually be more justification in dropping it than any other. (I cannot get a good resonant tone out of it lately, to save my life.) I am such a creature of habit, I'm not sure how well I would like trimming it all back. I like the different "notes". Still might happen, tho
 
Several have already said it but I let the music I'm going to play dictate what size of kit I use.

If I'm playing out I do try very hard to make sure that my kit has exactly what I need and nothing I don't. Sometimes that means a 10-piece kit, and sometimes that means a four-piece kit.

I will say that lately I've been playing a lot more "big kit" music, and part of me is missing the feel of grooving on a smaller setup.
 
I play plenty of gigs only bringing a 4-piece, mostly due to space limitations, but I also am constantly playing on different configurations to avoid locking into only one setup. That said, my preference is a 6-piece (offset 2up/2dn) with "smaller" drums (10, 12, 14, 16, 22) and 5-piece with my blue bomber kit (13, 16, 18, 26). Regardless of the 4- to 6-piece arrangement, my ride is always in the same place (trad 4-piece location).

The only exception is in our rehearsal space, where this a trad 5-piece with 2 toms on the bass drum and ride offset to the right. I leave that kit setup that way to make sure I can play that configuration comfortably if the need arises (backline, etc.).
 
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