Show us your tiny kits

Heya Polly,

At the moment i'm doing some acoustic folk/blues with it, but it's got great potential to do some drum and bass I think.

Folk/blues sounds like an ideal fit for that kit to me, Trop. Are you going to do a Jim Keltner and ride the tambourine or shakers as you play? That can well in folk numbers.
 
Heya Polly,

Yeah, i do like to use a shaker in my right hand with a brush in my left - the tricky bit is changing back to two brushes!

Yep, swapping implements is hard. We have a song where I move from bushes to sticks. Last rehearsal, you hear the noise of the brushes hitting the carpet when I swap. Real classy - not :)
 
Yep, swapping implements is hard. We have a song where I move from bushes to sticks. Last rehearsal, you hear the noise of the brushes hitting the carpet when I swap. Real classy - not :)
When I listen to Jazz recordings with headphones, I hear things like that frequently.
 
Introducing the revolutionary drum kit with more practice practicality that even a rhythm traveller kit.

traps-drumset-shell-less-lg.jpg

traps_kit_sunlight.jpg


Yes, those are acoustic drums, no true shells.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkSGZwV9aE0
 
Yep, swapping implements is hard. We have a song where I move from bushes to sticks. Last rehearsal, you hear the noise of the brushes hitting the carpet when I swap. Real classy - not :)

Put a towel on the floor
 
Mine added to this thread. 18 x 16 Bass 12 rack, 13 floor, 5 x 14 snare
 

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Introducing the revolutionary drum kit with more practice practicality that even a rhythm traveller kit.

traps-drumset-shell-less-lg.jpg

traps_kit_sunlight.jpg


Yes, those are acoustic drums, no true shells.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkSGZwV9aE0
I sampled the Traps kit before I bought my Rhythm Traveler. I played, and compared the two kits side by side.
The Traps snare sounded good. I would still never play it at a gig. Even exchange with the RT snare.
The Traps bass drum was just OK, nowhere near as good sounding as the Travelers bass drum.
The Travelers toms blew away the Traps toms by a long shot. The shallow wooden RT toms have some tone.
Bigest downside of the Traps kit is the weight! It weighed what felt to me to be twice as much as the Traveler.
The Traps kit cost a lot more that the RT.
 
Introducing the revolutionary drum kit with more practice practicality that even a rhythm traveller kit.

Yes, those are acoustic drums, no true shells.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkSGZwV9aE0

BD, when I was playing keys and were auditioning drummers a guy came in with a kit like that. The lack of resonance produce an attack-heavy sound that didn't gel with the music, even though the guy was a decent drummer.

GD, good idea, a bunched up towel would help.

Bob, glad I'm not the only one. I start the song sitting on the sticks (pointing sideways!) but once I swap, there's no going back. Be a bummer if I wanted to play brushes again later on; if I had a floor tom to use as a table it would be easier ... but I have a tiny kit :)
 
Here's my tiny kit that I use at smaller (usually coffee shop and quiet restaurant) gigs. It's a 1920s Slingerland snare, a 1960s Rogers 16"x12" marching tom converted to a bass drum, a pair of super-light vintage Zildjians, and a 20" K Con Light ride. This is a kit that sounds SO sweet and has a lot of complexity, but doesn't get very loud. This is the kind of kit that inspires you to play differently, for sure...

(EDIT: sorry, the first picture is "flipped". I'm not a lefty...)
 

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Thats a little beauty caddy! Nice conversion of the marching drum.

She is an absolute beauty! I didn't do the conversion on the bass drum, though...I bought it
"pre-converted". The thing is cherry, and sounds just as sweet as one. Also, the snare is of particular interest, because it was a "Tone Flange" model that somebody took off the flange, removed the screws, and carved it down and cut the bearing edges (that's why the tension rods on top are so short). Nice 80+ year old single-ply mahogany shell with the first-ever version of a sparkle wrap, which looks like a golden sand. Drummers always ask me about it at gigs because it sounds so amazing and looks so unique. Not to brag or anything... :D
 
How exactly did a Tone Flange work?
I have never seen one up close.
 

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How exactly did a Tone Flange work?
I have never seen one up close.

Slingerland used to make banjos, so picture a snare with a very dry and snappy sound. The advertisements for the Tone Flange snare actually said something about drying out the "annoying overtones", or something like that. I've only heard one, and it had the original calf heads in bad condition, and it sounded really awful, like a terrible-sounding cheap snare not even tuned just above wrinkling.

But, mine sounds GREAT!!! :D
 
Caddy, I agree with Bob - your little kit is ideal. The bare essentials and nothing else. Even though I've been gradually adding extra bits to my kit over the past year I could do without all of the additions, except the djembe - a single piece that adds a whole extra dimension for the band.
 
Caddy, I agree with Bob - your little kit is ideal. The bare essentials and nothing else. Even though I've been gradually adding extra bits to my kit over the past year I could do without all of the additions, except the djembe - a single piece that adds a whole extra dimension for the band.

Sumtimes I add a floor tom or a crash or splash. It changes the setup alot!
 
Just packed up to go to it's new owner. Stagg Jia Deluxe. Quality unreal! Die cast hoops, all Maple ply shells. Sounded deadly when mic'd up but 18 x 14 bass drum didn't punch its' weight acoustically. Wished I could have kept it as a spare but no room/ needed cash. The cymbals on this picture were Paiste PST5 but I upgraded to Alchemy Pro 20" Power ride, 14" Power hats, 16" rock and sweet crashes with a 8" splash I found and a £25 Wuhan China. I've now bought a bigger kit a Mapex M-Birch Tourer with the two floor toms.
 

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Sumtimes I add a floor tom or a crash or splash. It changes the setup alot!

Caddy, u r so wiked. "alot" ... th "word" tht rimes wit "shalot" :)

That's the thing about small kits, the addition on one extra piece creates a whole new dimension. Then there's the temptation to just add that extra piece again ... and again ... I think it takes commitment to having a small kit to have a small kit otherwise the natural trend is to renovate.
 
Here is my tiny custom bebop kit from the Global Drum Company... 14X16 virgin kick, 12X14 floating floor tom, and a 10X12 rack tom. Everything is triggered electronically so that i can play at my condo, and it fits up in my tiny loft next to my bed! I wake up to this beut every morning...
 

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