The Fascination with 4pc

Bandmate: "The stage is small...what kit are you bringing to the gig?"
Me: "No worries man.....just bringing my 5 piece kit"
The kit:
ZPWddgK.png
 
Here's a thread about kit size that was started almost 20 years ago, went on for over 800 posts, where everyone stayed calm and rational, only logical arguments were made, no one took anything personally, no one said anything offensive, no posts were edited or deleted, no one was banned, many people listened to opposing points and graciously changed their minds, everyone thanked everyone else, and we all came to a single conclusion that we all agreed on.
 
Thomas said:
Here's a thread about kit size that was started almost 20 years ago, went on for over 800 posts, where everyone stayed calm and rational, only logical arguments were made, no one took anything personally, no one said anything offensive, no posts were edited or deleted, no one was banned, many people listened to opposing points and graciously changed their minds, everyone thanked everyone else, and we all came to a single conclusion that we all agreed on.
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Seth Meyers Lol GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers


;):ROFLMAO:
 
I started playing drums in the early 80's. Back then, you weren't cool unless you had a 9 piece monstrosity.

Then one day I saw a video of Charlie Watts playing a 4-piece like a hot knife through butter. I was hooked. I never looked back.
 
I think the 4pc is popular for practical reasons, i.e. it's a bit more affordable and takes up less space, both on stage and during transit.
My first kit was a 4-piece, but only because it was a Ludwig special edition without any add-ons available. I cut my teeth on a 4-tom (6-piece) electronic kit, and enjoy multi-tom melodic players such as Keith Moon, Simon Phillips and Phil Collins, so I sold the Ludwig due to the limitation.
 
I've owned and played pretty much every configuration. Big kit player in my youth and now in the 'too old to lug it all around category' so I have settled on one up two down as ,for me, it's the perfect compromise. I have enough toms to do the hero fills some of the covers I play call for. I have my ride in a comfortable position. It's not horrendous amounts of gear to schlep and I love the aesthetic. It's also easy to drop a floor tom if space dictates without changing what I play too much.
As others have stated - one of the coolest things about drums is the almost endless possibilities for set ups.
 
I use 3 or 4 piece. Sometimes I leave the floor tom home.

I've played backline kits that were 5 pieces with 10/12 racks and a 14 or 16 floor. Those sometimes mess me up because the 10 is, well, a 10. It's smaller. Greater chance of accidentally hitting rim. But that's just me.

Here is a pic of me playing a backline with a zillion pieces. It was like being in the cockpit of an airliner or the Space Shuttle lol. It was permanently set up as house kit for a house band. Except for special gigs like the charity gig I did, there was only one drummer using the kit. It was sorta permanently installed.



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I got inspired after reading this thread...
I have played a 4p in the past, but more recently have been playing on an 8/10/12/16/22 kit, and wanted to shake things up, so I sat down the 8 & 10 for a while, and after the initial physical readjustment, I think I'm sold... for me I think it is more of the sound that I am looking for.

So yesterday I went ahead and special-ordered a 14" rack tom to replace the 12", and plan to add an 18" FT after that.
My wallet thanks you... :rolleyes:
 
4 piece kits are fine, and I have fun playing them, ...but, I just like having more floor toms too much to only use ONE.
I use 3, as my default for everything. I utilize the left side FT a lot.
I have one rack tom, but I wouldn't have a huge issue not having a high tom.
 
I've got to say I like the main rack tom on the left, in the 1st tom position of a typical 5-piece. And I like it to be at least 12" (ideal would be 13") so you can only get it with a 4-piece, unless you fly off higher toms on a cymbal or snare stand. Which may be what I'd do eventually after I've got more drums...
 
AudioWonderland said:
If you can make more out of fewer, why weren't you making more out of what you had? This is one of the concepts I struggle to understand around this topic.
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Maybe I wasn't clear. Having 3 or more toms close together makes it too tempting to treat your drums like notes in a scale rather than individual sound sources. An eye opener for me, many years ago, was playing bongos in a jam session (I'm not a hand drummer). I took turns trading 4's with the drumset and other soloists, and I was surprised by how much phrasing I was able to come up with using only 2 sound sources, having never done it before. I think that's what motivated me to take a tom out of my kit and give myself some time to develop my musicianship with a traditional 4 piece setup. Hope that answers your question.
 
I seem to work best with 6 (eventhough i’m a groove drummer).

I could work with 4, and even up to 7 (if the 8” is added) or even 10.

Yet 6 always seem to be the starting/relax factor.

Sometimes with two floors, sometimes with three racks.

More than 2 toms is also more like melodic painting for me.


That is why I like shorter floors in that setup too. So they blend better with the rack toms to paint that picture better.


Also.

6 takes up just as much space as a 4 unless you are in a corner.
 
For me, it comes down to space when gigging. I personally HATE 2 up 1 down set ups, so those are immediately out. I would much prefer to play a 1 up and 2 down configuration, but most stages do not allow for that much space for the drums. As such, a 4 piece (1 up and 1 down) is the best I can do.
 
Maverick10 said:
But I think the more you gig and transport these things yourself, the more you see the benefit in a 4pc and a couple of cymbals.
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This is the meat & potatoes of the whole thing right here. I was in a pretty popular cover band for about a year & of the 100+ songs we could choose from, 95% of them could be played on a kit of this size. It really didn't matter to the audience as long as I kept their bodies moving. And that I did well. ;)
 
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