BASS DRUM: This is the BIG drum on the floor, in the middle. It
has a pedal attached. You will place your right foot on that pedal. It has
the deepest tone of all the drums in the kit. (BD)
SNARE DRUM: This is the small drum on a stand by itself. It
has wires underneath it called 'snares'. Those wires may be made of wire,
or they may be made of nylon. The 'snares' (or wires) give the Snare drum
its snappy sound. The Snare is the central most drum in the kit and
it will sit between your legs. You will play on top of it with either hand or
sometimes both hands . . . depending on the rhythm you are executing. (S)
HI-HAT: The hi-hat normally sits to the left of the Snare drum. It
looks sorta like a hat. You will see two smaller cymbals that clap
together by means of a foot pedal on a high stand. Your left foot would
go on the footboard. You will see that you can work the pedal and make
the top cymbal 'clap' or 'connect' with the lower cymbal. It makes sort
of a 'chic' or 'clang' sound when you clap the two cymbals together.
We normally play on top of the hi-hat with our right hand . . . while
the two cymbals are closed together. Most (many) of the beats in my
course will have you playing on top of a closed hi-hat with your right hand.
Drummers tend to play on top of a closed hi-hat . . . when the singer of the
band is singing. It helps us to play quieter! Singers usually don't like
too much noise coming from the drummer during the softer parts
of a song . . .(HH)
RIDE CYMBAL: This is usually the biggest and thickest cymbal
in the drum set. It may be from 18" to 24" (inches) in diameter. We
sometimes move our right hand over to this cymbal when we want to
play louder . . . like when the singer has stopped singing and as the
louder (guitar & other) instruments are playing. We play our beats
pretty much the same as if we were on the hi-hat . . . but by moving
the right hand over to the 'Ride Cymbal', we will discover a variety of tonal
changes that tend to fill up the music and create a little more
excitement as the band plays. (Ride, or C)
Tom Toms: Toms may range in size from 6" to 18" (inches) in
diameter and the may also come in many depths, ranging from 3"
to 16" (inches.) Usually, the larger a tom tom is . . . the deeper its
tone will be. So, we arrange our toms in a clockwise (circle) fashion
around the kit. The largest tom (Floor Tom) will be on our far right and
all the smaller toms will be arranged in order according to size . . . leading
around to the floor tom. (T1, 2, 3, etc.)
FLOOR TOM: The Floor Tom is an abnormally large Tom Tom and
it usually has legs on it. It stands (or sits) on its own legs. It usually
isn't attached to the bass drum as some of the smaller tom toms may be. (FT)
CRASH CYMBALS: Crash Cymbals may range in size from 4"
or 5" inches up to 18" in diameter. They come in all sorts of weights
and thicknesses. We use them as punctuation in the music . . . crashing
occasionally to 'emphasize' certain parts of the music that needs special
accents or kicks.
Crash cymbals are usually placed on adjustable stands by
themselves but every drum set manufacturer may try to come up
with many, many different types of stands to make their drum sets
seem better than drum sets made by the competition. (Crash)
There is no specific size or number of drums that make up a
complete drum set. You may have as many tom toms or cymbals
as you wish. Some drummers may use two bass drums. We all
like to try to be different. The more drums we have, the more tonal
variations we have to choose from as we play. More is better . . . if you
have the money . . .
BUT,
For learning purposes . . . we can get by with just a Bass, Snare and maybe one
cymbal. This would be the absolute MOST basic drum set. Usually
it is best if we can start out on a set with two or three Tom-toms, a Hi-hat,
Ride Cymbal, a Crash and (of course) a Bass drum.
Now . . . go to the following URLs . . . (lessons.)
The following four lessons will get more into detail about when and what you
should buy, plus how to assemble and tune them, once you have them at home.
DRUMS: WHEN TO BUY.
DRUMS: HOW & WHAT TO BUY . . .
HOW TO ASSEMBLE A DRUM SET . . .
HOW TO TUNE YOUR DRUMS . . .
By the time you have completed the above four lessons,
you will know exactly what all the drums look like, where
they should be placed and what they should sound like.
International copyright secured @ Bill Powelson 1994 all rights reserved.
School of Drums