Drummers who play in bedrooms, garages, attics, and small stages!

Hello all!

For my thesis i am designing a new kind of drum kit! Cool right?! I cant tell you too much about it yet except that it is to do with the ammount of space a drum kit takes up. So i need to know your opinions on something to get the ball rolling.

Are you confined to a bedroom, garage, attic to practise in? Or any small space in fact?

Do you find that your kit is too big for the stages that your band plays on?

I want you to tell me any and every little annoyance and problem you have with setting up your kit in these small spaces! Leave nothing out!

You never know, i might end up solving your problem!

Thanks a million

Al

PM me if you would like my opinion.

Is it going to be something like this:

Not really, that one still requires a lot of hardware for cymbals and extras and stuff. Thats a pretty cool little kit though.

The bass drum almost looks like a mini fridge.

I think you're trying to solve a problem that is already solved. You should check out the Traps 400A drum kit that's already made for this (http://drums-percussion.musiciansfri...Set?sku=491112) . Another option is something like the Nesting Penguin kit by Whitney Drums (www.whitneydrums.com). Also, go into the "Your Gear" section of this message board, and you will find some designs that people on here have already made. It might give you some ideas of how to go with it. All of those, along with stuff like using a cocktail kit, using a Sonor Jungle Kit, using a HipGig kit by Yamaha, and using hand drums like a cajon are used by drummers all across the nation to solve this problem.

I'm still interested to see what you come up with...just saying, there are already a lot of options out there.

Mr. Serpent said:

The bass drum almost looks like a mini fridge.

Click to expand...

People ask me if my cajon is a fridge all the time. They think I'm sitting on it to keep drinks close!

Yeah dude, everything's been done...electric kits, portable kits, everything. Of course, you're teacher doesn't have to know that =D

Most of my gear is already set up in a venue I play every weekend, so I only have to lug my cymbals and 5 stands around, but it's still a pain.

Last weekend I had to set up on a stage with very little room. I usually have 2 crashes, 1 ride, and hats, plus 1 bass, 1 rack tom, 1 floor tom, and a snare, but the space was so small and I had very little time to set up, I went with only 1 crash. I was only playing 1 song, but it had to be right and sound right. The small space coupled with absolutely no time to set up caused some excitement but I managed to pull it off. But I had to play with my cymbals not in perfect playing position

That is probably my 1 gripe - drummers not allowed enough time to set up when you have to share a stage with others and the program keeps moving along, so you move your gear on and after you play, move it off and someone else takes up the space. I was told I'd have 5 to 10 minutes to set up. It was more like 30 seconds, but that was the nature of the venue, so I adjusted as best I could and didn't bitch because they liked what I did and how I played so much so that they want me back again for the holiday season. And this opportunity will likely lead to more opportunities that pay. So I took one hit of inconvenience and chalked it up to "Lessons Learned".

Hope that helps your research.

Oh, one time I had to play at my synagogue's picnic, and they made me set up my drumset on this big plastic sheet of wood, on top of playground mulch.

It sucked.

The end.

Look at cocktail kits.

Rather than something smaller I want something that I can use on my regular acoustic kit to quiet it to, say, the volume of a loud TV but retain the tone.

Nobody in my band ever complained about the space I took up on a stage... except the base player. All I had was a four piece with a rack so a smaller footprint than tripod stands. He griped I had too much stuff! I told him it's my instrument and his bass has too many strings!

Der Februar said:

Look at cocktail kits.

Click to expand...

Im going to keep in the vein of a standard 4 or 5 piece rock kit. A cocktail kit is getting away from the point a little. But thanks for the suggestion. All this feedback is really helping!

Heres a further question, do you get annoyed with the ammount of effort it takes to transport a kit around? Say you are playing a gig in a bar, you need to have a car or van, you need at least two people to unload etc. What do you not like about getting your kit around??

Ya, I get annoyed with lugging all the stuff around. And I get really annoyed at the cost of good quality transport equipment, such as drum bags, stand boxes, etc. It seems the cost of good quality transport gear is almost the same as the cost of the drums themselves.

But probably the most annoying thing about playing drums out at gigs is that nobody thinks to help the drummer unload and then load back up And then those same people bitch and gripe because it takes the drummer "too long to set up and take down". Well, duh?! If we had some help it wouldn't take so &^%$#(*& long!!

A handful of people have helped unload and load and I am extremely grateful to those individuals. These are usually older guys who've been gigging for while and know the pains because they've done it themselves over the years. These folks unload their guitars and then ask if they can help unload the drums because in their opinion a band is a group effort - you share in the successes and failures and you help each other out whenever you can.

But for the most part people just stand around and gawk....

I'm sorry to challenge the legitimacy of your idea... but hasn't this issue been addressed before?

Penguin Kits

Cocktail Kits


Traps Kits

I don't usually transport my kit anywhere but cymbal placement can be a bit tedious for me since it's hard to get all the cymbal stands in the right places without all the legs crashing into each other. Maybe i should just buy a rack or something.

AlColdtrigger said:

Im going to keep in the vein of a standard 4 or 5 piece rock kit. A cocktail kit is getting away from the point a little. But thanks for the suggestion. All this feedback is really helping!

Here's a further question, do you get annoyed with the amount of effort it takes to transport a kit around? Say you are playing a gig in a bar, you need to have a car or van, you need at least two people to unload etc. What do you not like about getting your kit around??

Click to expand...

Yeah, loading & unloading is a drag, but TWO PEOPLE to unload?? Yeah, if you're LAZY or a wimp!! It's nice to have help, but I certainly don't NEED it, even if I was toting a huge kit.

And the idea of a portable kit has well been done, to no great advantage other than portability.



NONE of them sound like a REAL drumkit.
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__________________
Most respect the badge, but all fear the drum.

AlColdtrigger said:

Hello all!

For my thesis i am designing a new kind of drum kit! Cool right?! I cant tell you too much about it yet except that it is to do with the ammount of space a drum kit takes up. So i need to know your opinions on something to get the ball rolling.

Are you confined to a bedroom, garage, attic to practise in? Or any small space in fact?

Do you find that your kit is too big for the stages that your band plays on?

I want you to tell me any and every little annoyance and problem you have with setting up your kit in these small spaces! Leave nothing out!

You never know, i might end up solving your problem!

Thanks a million

Al

Click to expand...

This is a timely post. I am heading to Iraq in a month and I am trying to figure out what I can bring. I will probably have a little office space to play. My issues are, I have to carry anything I bring. Too much stuff is a hassle. I am not sure if I can safely stash gear in a Milvan and retrieve it on the other side.

Electric kit, would work, can use head phones to practice, not sure of the power source. Extreme temps might hurt the electronics.

DW practice pad kit, no power needed. Cheap, hard to break. No cymbals for target practice.

One other option is I might just bring a snare in a case and practice rudiments for a year. But being a new drummer, I am afraid I am going to lose motivation and progress.

Any thoughts from the group appreciated.

My preference is to get a Yamaha Electronic kit but I am afraid it will get damaged.

These kits are cool looking though. I looked at Traps in the store yesterday. Although bulky, they are pretty cool.


John

aaajn said:

This is a timely post. I am heading to Iraq in a month and I am trying to figure out what I can bring. I will probably have a little office space to play. My issues are, I have to carry anything I bring. Too much stuff is a hassle. I am not sure if I can safely stash gear in a Milvan and retrieve it on the other side.

Electric kit, would work, can use head phones to practice, not sure of the power source. Extreme temps might hurt the electronics.

DW practice pad kit, no power needed. Cheap, hard to break. No cymbals for target practice.

One other option is I might just bring a snare in a case and practice rudiments for a year. But being a new drummer, I am afraid I am going to lose motivation and progress.

Any thoughts from the group appreciated.

My preference is to get a Yamaha Electronic kit but I am afraid it will get damaged.

These kits are cool looking though. I looked at Traps in the store yesterday. Although bulky, they are pretty cool.


John

Click to expand...

you should talk to trkdrmr he's in Afghanistan right now. As for an electronic kit modern electronics can put up with quite a but maybe you should ask the company or something since i'm sure they will have done tests.

AlColdtrigger said:

Heres a further question, do you get annoyed with the ammount of effort it takes to transport a kit around? Say you are playing a gig in a bar, you need to have a car or van, you need at least two people to unload etc. What do you not like about getting your kit around??

Click to expand...

Moving drums around is just part of being a drummer. To be honest I've never given it much thought. I have a routine that I always follow, the order in which parts of the kit are packed up and loaded, and that order is reversed for unloading and setting up.
I really don't like people helping me move my stuff, because it messes up my routine. When i do it by myself I know where everything is and the whole process is quick and efficient.