Tuning Jazz kit for Metal

Hi,
I was just curious as to what difference does a jazz/fusion/pop kit make, if you play heavy metal on it. From what I understand, the jazz/fusion kits have one major difference from the standard kit i.e., the toms. Normally, jazz/fusion kits have smaller toms, basically 10" & 12" rack toms whereas a standard kit has 12" & 13" ones. I am talking about a 5-piece kit. Of course, in any genre you can add as many toms of any size you wish like. But, suppose I want to play Heavy Metal more precisely Thrash/Death Metal on a Fusion kit, can I tune down the small toms to make them sound heavier? Or will they sound totally absurd for Metal?
From what I have heard and believe is that you can possibly play any genre on any kit. You can have the same gear and transcend the boundaries of your genre anytime.
Well, I tried Thrash Metal on my fusion kit (with 8", 10", & 12" rack toms), and it kinda sounded funny. Does anyone know how can I make them sound more heavier, if possible? Also, is there any Metal band out there whose drummer uses smaller toms?

Thanks,
Dave

a drum is a drum is a drum

hit 'em

why not?

I recorded fusion sizes on two Metal releases. Two ply batters of your choice for a fat warm tone. You can EQ in the studio to your heart's desire; trigger if you want.

Lots of metal drummers use smaller toms, particularly in extreme metal. I think it's often to reduce the amount of sustain so as to make fast parts sound more punchy, and possibly also for ease of setup in bigger kits.

Chris Adler uses a 10 & 12 rack tom set up - works for him. Just tune the drum to the sweet spot. You don't need to tune drums to JAW for it to work. If you need to lay down a deeper sound that's what your floor toms are for. I play a lot of metal on a fusion kit and it sounds fine. My toms are tuned to 3C, 2A and 2F - they work great, especially for faster or more intricate work.

Actually, I seem to have forgotten that I am actually in the studio right at this minute recording a metal album and we used 10" 12" and 16" toms. So it's definitely fine!

An innovator is just a guys who breaks the rules. And is good.

Nodiggie said:

Two ply batters of your choice for a fat warm tone.

Click to expand...

I play metal and use small drums. 10" rack, 14" floor. 20" kick. 13" snare. I love them.

I have played pretty much all genres with my 8"/10"/12"/14"/16" setup over a 20" kick. It's about tuning and touch, not about sizes.

Thank for the responses guys,
Yeah, some more tuning down worked for me. They are sounding much better now.

Is the jazz kit happy to play metal? What if it wants to keep playing jazz? Has anyone bothered to ask? Not to mention that it effectively means that a metal kit somewhere is now out of a gig too. Surely there's unions to safeguard against this type of practice?

I mean, all good suggestions guys, but surely asking the kit in the first place is only proper, no?

Pocket-full-of-gold said:

Is the jazz kit happy to play metal? What if it wants to keep playing jazz? Has anyone bothered to ask? Not to mention that it effectively means that a metal kit somewhere is now out of a gig too. Surely there's unions to safeguard against this type of practice?

I mean, all good suggestions guys, but surely asking the kit in the first place is only proper, no?

Click to expand...

That was pretty much the kind of response I was going to give.But if you try to play metal on a jazz kit...will it make any noise at all?Kind of like....if a man says something,and there's no woman around.......is he still wrong?

Just something to ponder.Cheers mate.

Steve B

Now I'm really gonna mess with your head.

How about a "Metal" kit for Jazz?
haha