Keeping stands/drums in the same position

Zero Mercury Drummer

Senior Member
I recently ditched my drum rack for stands, but having issues keeping things positioned (I have a five piece kit with five e-pads). I always tell myself it will be easy to get it right at the show, but always find myself with stuff in odd positions.

Turns out there are a lot of variables, like how far the base is extended and what angle it sits at, in relation to the drum seat. I have found the angles to be horribly off when I go to play (I invariably have limited time to set up).
I have a feeling there are cumulative little errors that make for a big error once they add up. Anybody have some good techniques? I am putting multiple things on one stand, like drum pad, cymbal pad, acoustic tom and drum brain for example.
 
Combination of memory locks and marks on the stands for most people.

I have no locks, but I use a sharpie or even some tape to marks on the stands. I have all the heights marked, got all the angles notched, I make sure to do a "mock" setup backstage so that most of the settings are already done before anything hits the stage.
 
I agree with the Good Doctor. I used to find my set configured differently every time I set it up (my setup was much larger then, though) until I started marking my stands with Sharpies. I'm not talking about grotesque black marks all over my hardware. In fact, unless you looked for them you probably wouldn't notice them at all. But when I set up now I simply align the small dots and dashes and every thing is always the same. The only things not marked are the memory locks. They are self-explanatory.

GeeDeeEmm
 
silly question, ss
newbie;) i find myself moving stuff around a lot ( but im new ) '
any guess how long that is till i kinda find a feel for the items before i mark into a spot .lol
i like stands , dont think i would like a rack at all
 
Markers on the stands is a great idea, as others have mentioned. I believe over time, the more you setup your kit the more you become accustomed to the way it should be when you have finished putting it together and you develop a 'feel' for setting it up the way you like it. It just takes time.
 
Eventually you reach a point where you briefly position things and you say to yourself, "Yep, I can hit that!"
It will happen :)
 
Combination of memory locks and marks on the stands for most people.

^this.

Black nail polish also works well to mark stands. It won't rub off, but comes off easily enough with nail polish remover.

It also helps to have a long coffin style case for stands so you don't have to break them down all the way.
 
Also, duct tape "sockets" on your carpet so you know roughly where to put your stand bases are a godsend. I like the Tama MCA63EN boom attachment because you can take out the boom easily and leave the clamp attached, transport the stand like that, and then you only have to deal with one variable when putting the boom back into the clamp (that being the rotation of the boom, but that's not super hard to deal with). I never collapse my stands further than folding their legs when I move, but if I had a short hardware bag that required that, I would probably just use Sharpie.
 
Part of me thinks it would be exciting if your set-up was different every night. I wonder if Billy Cobham ever tells his tech, "Surprise me".

There's an old story where Buddy Rich needed a kit set-up for him at Capitol Studios, and Bob Yeager (from ProDrum) went over and set the whole thing up backwards.

Apparently, Buddy recorded the entire album that way because when Bob went back to pick up the kit, it was exactly how he set it up!
 
And if, like me, you change your setup from time to time (but gig infrequently) remember to check that your sharpie index marks are still correct before you tear your kit down.
 
So, how do you do the Sharpie method? Write a line on the smaller tube, then one on the larger tube that the small ones goes into? and match them up? I am using a Stealth Rack and I don't think I really like it. everything is connected, which is nice, but when one thing feels off, the whole rack move in one big mass, making tweaking one thing tricky. I think the sharpie method would allow me to at least get some the angles down.

One thing, do you guys mark your rug at all? If so, how? I think that would fix most of my problems. Duct tape on the rug? Chalk?
 
Tape on the carpet where the stand and bass drum feet go to get started. Thin colored tape for marking stands. Peel it off if you change things. Many methods.
 
I have everything Memori-loc'd and use DW Dogbones. I can eyeball everything for the most part because it's all about setting angles, not heights or tilts.

If you gotta mark something use a paint pen. Sharpie wears off too fast.
 
Back
Top