it hurts and that is why I am posting

evolving_machine

Silver Member
For a few months now, about once every two weeks I hit my finger on the rim of my floor tom. I feel like this is a phase, like dropping sticks, or breaking sticks. The only problem with this phase is that it hurts and that is why I am posting this thread.

Perhaps I have the floor tom at the wrong height relative to the snare height. Maybe I am just being relaxed when playing and not really paying attention to where the floor tom is in relation to the rest of my kit.

Do the rest of you have an angle on your floor tom, or do you keep it level with the ground? Right now I have my floor tom tilted toward my snare and the part of rim nearest the snare is about 1.5" below the snare rim.

Has anyone else run into this problem?
 
If you are consistently hitting the FT hoop with your finger then you should make a setup adjustment.
The reason why a drum kit is fully adjustable is to allow ergonomic adjustment for the player.
 
" Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Albert Einstein.
 
In most cases it takes a small kit adjustment of just a few millimeters to correct an issue like the one that you have.
 
In most cases it takes a small kit adjustment of just a few millimeters to correct an issue like the one that you have.

I have been adjusting it to try to prevent this from happening. I used to keep it flat and at the same height as the snare. Was interested in what others have their floor tom set to relative to their snare. I have been playing for years and did not have this problem. Like I said it started a few months ago.
 
The height is probably not the issue. The floor tom is either too close to you, or you're arms are too long (or your sticks too short) and your reach goes too far into the tom. In either case, move the drum a little farther from you - just 2 inches - and you should eliminate the problem.

That applies to any other ergonomic pitfalls around the kit, catching a knuckle on the hats is a common occurrence. Ouch! Solution: move that stand away from you so you're hand is out of the "zone".

Bermuda
 
The height is probably not the issue. The floor tom is either too close to you, or you're arms are too long (or your sticks too short) and your reach goes too far into the tom. In either case, move the drum a little farther from you - just 2 inches - and you should eliminate the problem.

That applies to any other ergonomic pitfalls around the kit, catching a knuckle on the hats is a common occurrence. Ouch! Solution: move that stand away from you so you're hand is out of the "zone".

Bermuda

Bermuda,

thanks for the suggestion, I moved out the floor tom. I think it will work. I did not think of doing that, maybe because I had the floor tom real close to my knee for so many years, I did not even consider that to be what I needed to do. It does seem strange to have the floor tom so far away, even though it is only an inch or so further out.
 
Personal setups are a funny thing. I think Bermuda's spot on with the distance issue. I like things a little close, but my knuckles will quickly let me know if they're too close. Keeping hands out of the zone is a must!

Sometimes when I'm staring at my kit from the front, I'm surprised that the angles of things seem to appear out of whack, but when I sit behind the kit, everything plays just right and looks ship-shape. Weird. A friend of mine, who was helping me schlep my drums into a gig, remarked that my floor tom looked unusually low after I set it up. I looked at it and agreed (it was higher than my snare) but when I went to sit behind it for sound check, it felt right so I didn't mess with it.

I've been noticing Dave Weckl's floor tom angle in recent years as it seems to be angled away from him awkwardly, though I have no doubt it feels right to him.
 
I agree. My thinking is that if your hand is hitting the rim, the drum is too close to you for where you naturally want to play. If you're hitting the rim with the sticks it's too high. If you're making dents in the head it's either too low or too angled.

I always use a flat floor tom, at the exact height as my snare, pushed practically right up to the bass drum. My snare is at the height where I will naturally do a rimshot. The rack tom is just in front of the snare, as low as the bass drum allows it to go and slightly angled towards me to align with the angle my stick naturally goes to when playing at that height. Works for me, and I never hit my hands on the rims.
 
I've been noticing Dave Weckl's floor tom angle in recent years as it seems to be angled away from him awkwardly, though I have no doubt it feels right to him.
I've heard Weckl has become a big champion of kit ergonomics and suggests drummers close their eyes and place drums where the sticks reach them comfortably, as opposed to setting them so they "look cool."

I have to agree with that approach.

I think the reason Dave tilts away is traditional grip. I've noticed Jojo does the same thing.
 
I agree. My thinking is that if your hand is hitting the rim, the drum is too close to you for where you naturally want to play. If you're hitting the rim with the sticks it's too high. If you're making dents in the head it's either too low or too angled.

I always use a flat floor tom, at the exact height as my snare, pushed practically right up to the bass drum. My snare is at the height where I will naturally do a rimshot. The rack tom is just in front of the snare, as low as the bass drum allows it to go and slightly angled towards me to align with the angle my stick naturally goes to when playing at that height. Works for me, and I never hit my hands on the rims.

This is solid setup advice, keep your cymbals and toms as low as possible/comfortable on the kit. You'll use less energy since you don't have to lift your arm as high or far to play and you can play faster since you aren't moving around as much.
 
I have been setting the floor relatively in the same spot for a heck of a lot of years, like 43 years. Wow, I do not even believe it has been that long.

What I used to do was have the floor close to the same height as the snare, but just a tad lower. I used to keep the floor close to the bass and close to the snare, leaving just enough room for my leg to play the bass drum.

I am now playing around with moving it out as bermuda suggested, and trying to come up with the right place, and angle. But, I think I must have changed the way I am playing the floor tom, because I was not smacking my hand on the rim before. I think I am just a little looser when playing it and not paying attention to the rim.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I will take them into consideration.
 
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