Drum kit

A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is mostly a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a drummer, usually for jazz, rock, or other types of contemporary music.

The drummer uses drum sticks to strike the drum skin and to create a vibration. Drum sticks come in all different weights and sizes.

History

A drum kit from the player's perspective, showing a crash cymbal, hi-hat, high tom-tom, ride cymbal, snare drum, floor tom-tom and bass drum.

Early drum kits were known as trap kits (short for contraption) and are one of the most contemporary members of the membranophone family. They usually consisted of a bass drum, a snare drum on a stand, a small cymbal and other small percussion instruments mounted on the bass drum or a small table, all played with drum sticks or brushes except for the bass drum. The bass drum was sometimes kicked to produce a sound, and is occasionally still called a kick drum, though bass drums are now nearly always pedal-operated, and sometimes even played with two pedals to allow for greater speed. Trap set survives in the term trap case still given to a case used to transport stands, pedals, sticks, and miscellaneous percussion instruments.

Modern kits and components

The exact collection of components to a drum kit varies greatly according to musical style, personal preference, financial resources, and transportation options of the drummer. At a minimum a kit usually contains 4 basic "pieces":bass drum sitting on the floor and played with a pedal, a snare drum on a stand, one tom-tom, mounted on top of the bass drum, and a floor tom (on the floor - hence the word "floor tom"), a hi-hat (sometimes known as a 'sock' cymbal) comprising two small cymbals played by means of pedal usually with the left foot for a right handed player. The set may also contain "crash" and "ride" cymbals.

Kit additions and variations

Kit variations come along with different playing styles and levels of playing. Some drummers may add a second bass drum (played by whichever foot that controls the hi-hat), double bass pedals (a single unit setup employing two pedals hooked together and two beaters fixed up to a single bass drum, which is played with both feet), additional toms, auxillary drums, more cymbals, tambourines, wood blocks, cowbells, electronic pads that trigger sampled sounds, or any of a whole galaxy of accessory instruments. Some drummers, such as Billy Cobham, Dave Lombardo, Virgil Donati, Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Keith Moon and Mike Portnoy have gone to extreme lengths and built massive kits including features such as ranges of tuned tom-toms, allowing them to contribute melodically as well as rhythmically. These huge kits reached their zenith in the arena rock of the 1980s, and the trend since then has been towards a smaller instrument such as John Bonham's five-piece set.

Electronic drums

The first electronic drums were used in the early 1970's (and recorded by Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer) with the development of the synthesiser, it was inevitable that the drums would eventually be incorporated into the electronic sound. During the early 1980's drummers such as Bill Bruford of King Crimson incorporated large electronic setups within their acoustic setups and in Bruford's case almost completely diminished the need for acoustic drums. These drums were primarily made by the now defunct Simmons company and later by Tama of Japan. Although many criticised the use of electronic drums; there is a wider level of acceptance now and indeed some drummers such as Akira Jimbo and Tony Verderosa incorporate electronics into their sets in an interesting and innovative way.

Yamaha, Roland and many others have created electronic drum sets which use pads or triggers (mounted on acoustic drums) to play sampled or synthesized sounds (see DTX). The trend in electronics since the late 1980s has been away from overtly electronic sounds and more towards an intensified acoustic sound.

Not only has the sound of electronic drums changed considerably towards a more naturalistic approach, indeed the 'feel' of electronic pads has also changed. With companies like Roland and Pintech offering their popular 'Mesh' or 'V-drum' pads; designed to emulate the 'feel' of a real drum head. Yamaha offers rubber pads also designed to mimic the feel of 'real' drums. Originally, the feel of electronic pads was very hard and unforgiving and as a result many drummers suffered from wrist pains and other related injuries. On the plus side, these surfaces offered a high level of rebound, making it easier to play double stroke rolls up and down the toms. Some drummers looked down opon this, while others took advantage.

Rick Allen, drummer of hard rock band Def Leppard, had a custom electronic drum kit made after a car accident in 1984 in which he lost his left arm. A later kit was made, one that played back the sound of the pre-recorded components of his acoustic drum kit whenever he struck each respective pad.

Omar Hakim (Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Maria Carey, Madonna, David Bowie, etc) was one of the first mainstream drummers to really take the electronic drums seriously. He toured to promote Roland's vDrum line of electronic drums for several years, and continues to promote them to this day.

Drum set notation

Notation of drum kit music once commonly employed the bass clef, but a neutral staff of two parallel vertical lines is usually preferred now. Many different conventions exist for the notation of different elements of the kit on the stave, and it is usual to label each instrument and technique mark the first time it is introduced, or to add an explanatory footnote, on any score to clarify this. Below is common convention. Most variations follow a similar style.

Drums

Bass drum: low A. Snare: E. Floor tom: C. Middle tom: high F. High tom: high G.

Cymbals

Hi-hat with foot: low F with X. Hi-hat with stick, mallet, brush, or hand: high G with X. Ride cymbal: high A with X. Bell of ride: circle high-A X. Crash cymbal: high B with unfilled-in diamond. China cymbal and splash cymbal: high B with filled-in diamond.

Other

Mounted triangle: leger-line high C with X. Maraca: high-B with "+" replacing notehead. Mounted tambourine: high-B with "x" through notehead.

Techniques

Rolls: diagonal lines across stem (or above whole note); a roll is played by leting the stick bounce on the skin before playing the next stroke. Open hi-hat: o above high-G X. Closed hi-hat: + above high-G X. Rim click: X in E snare space. Stick shot: diagonal slash through note head. Brush sweep: horizontal line (replacing note head) in E snare space with slur to show brush is not lifted.

Dynamic accents

Light: -- (tenuto). Medium: >. Heavy: ^ (marcato).

Anti-accents

# significantly softer than surrounding notes: ( ) (note head in parentheses)# also known as "ghost notes" on the drum set.

External links

*Drumming Community- Large drumming community and manufacturer resource.
*Rock Drum Lessons - Source for free rock drumming sheet music in PDF, and lesson articles.
*Drummerworld.com - A site full of videos and pictures of famous jazz and rock drummers. Also includes a forum.
*DrumSoloArtist.com - Extensive Resources for Drummers including over 1000 drummers biographies lots of drum techniques, drum forums, and musicians community portal.
* Drum lessons eBook - 45+ Page Drum Lessons eBook in PDF
*DrumTips.com- Over 1000 Drum Related Tips.
*Tab Hall - Drum Music
*Assemble a Drumset - How to Set Up a Drumset
*Pearl Drummer's Forum - Includes tips, lessons, and an open chat. Run by Pearl but free to use for anybody using any brand.
*The Drum Forum - Friendly forum dedicated to drums, with a lounge-type atmosphere.
*Indianapolis Drum Forum - A drum forum based in Indianapolis, IN, but with members all over the world. Members have yearly regional get-togethers and a mature forum environment.
*Drum FAQ - Common questions about drums, hardware and cymbals
*Drums at Wikiot.com - A music based wiki contain drum tabs and tutorials.
* Tomás Howie Drumming Web - The articles and exercises are intended to help you become a better drummer.

Drum kit: Encyclopedia BETA

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