Why aren't more people playing BIG bass drums?

i play 18 ''. easy to carry, easy to car.

small bass drum big mic and big woofas. that's the ticket.

j

I play an 18 by 18. I agree, you can mic it up to sound any way you want.

Plus, an 18 inch drum gives lots of articulation. The larger the diameter of drum, the less articulation it will have, compared to an identical smaller drum with the same heads and same tuning.

My drums are solid ironwood. A 26-incher would be like moving a desk. My 18-incher sounds like a larger drum and weighs as much as a larger drum, but it takes up less space.

Still, though, there's something about huge bass drums - even 28 and 30 inches - that just looks hell of cool on a stage.
 
Hello,
I am hardly an expert, so feel free to slam me back to reality.
No need for that, you're not a jerk. Are you? o_O

If tuned right (Thanks Karl!!!!), they just sound amazing.
Absolutely, I find tuning them far more forgiving than smaller kick drums which have to be tuned pretty damn good in order to "speak" with the most tone and projection.

Even for bluesy stuff it sounds great.
EVEN for bluesy stuff?? I find they are PERFECT for bluesy stuff, the sound hearkens back to the days of Krupa, Rich, and others in the Big Band era where the bands would SHOWCASE a blues in their repertoire and the tone of their big a$$ed kits could be heard above the din of a 12 to 15 piece band.

Rock and Metal it sounds fantastic.
Like with:
Bonham?, Van Halen?, Lee? Appice?, DeRosier?, Paice? Ward? Banali? and even Bun E. Carlos!!!

I was playing "Since I've Been Loving You" from Zep the other day with my guitarist and it sounded good even when just "tapping" the bass drum.
I think a 26 gives you the ability to play more dynamically. It sounds great at low volume, but it has LOTS of headroom if you REALLY wanna dig in. With smaller bass drums they might be full out and leave you wanting more OOMPH!! I also find I can fill a room without beatin' the beejeesus out of it. With a smaller kick I have to play harder to get the same work done.

=I can see not wanting to play one because of two reasons. One, it is big and harder to more around than a smaller kick. Also, tom height can be an issue.
I have a want for a certain tone. I don't think sacrificing tone for convenience is anything I'll be doing any time soon. As good as a a smaller kick can be, for my main band I'll use my 26 inch kicks, unless they're on the PUP list. (percussively-unable-to-perform)
Set up too high to reach?? Fortunately, I can JUST get a 14x10 to where I can easily play it on top of a 26in kick. My new kit will have a 13x9, so I'll have no problem. That to me would be the only reasonable answer for not using one even though you love the sound. If you can't physically play the kit, that WOULD be a problem!! L0L!!

I have owned many kits, and really, a 26 sounds special and cannot be duplicated with a 22.
No, it certainly can't, BUT bear in mind, as hard as it is to believe, there ARE people who LOVE the sound of a smaller bass drum. :O
For them, THAT is the sound that makes them pumped and jacked.

But, other than that, why don't more people play them? I am just curious as to why.
Actually, all kidding aside, (and I've done a bit of kidding in this lengthy post) there are quite legitimate reasons why drummers would choose a smaller bass drum over a 26.
  • They really HATE the sound of a 26in kick.(it happens)
  • They really LIKE the sound of whatever size it is they already have.
    They don't want a bass drum that leads the kit, some people want the balance to feature more snare than kick.
  • They can't afford a bigger kick, just the heads alone will cost more not to mention the larger initial cost of the drum. And getting a case for such a monster will cost more too.
  • Transportation could be a problem, if it doesn't fit in their ride, it's a LONG LONG walk to the gig carrying a bass drum!!
  • Stage room might be an issue, a small kit might be perfect for the band they are with. My band is a 3 piece power trio, it bodes well for a 26 inch kick every day of the week!!

Epilogue:
I use a 26 in bass drum because I love the sound and volume it puts out. Some drummers say there's no appreciable difference in sound from the larger kick drum, I beg to differ, it's an ENORMOUS difference in tone and a pretty substantial difference in volume also. I own kick drums from 20in to 28in and there's no confusing the 26 for anything else but the 26, there's no 22 that "will come close" that's just a fact.

Sure I've made the sacrifices it takes to play a huge kick drum, the heads, the kick drum case and I own a pickup truck with a lid because a car just wouldn't do it. But because I love "that" sound so much, I found it was worth it.

I play a LOT of gigs with just stage volume, nothing mic'd but the vocals. When I first joined the band we USED to mic the entire band but we found it we have better tone and balance and a better grip on the volume of the band if we just let it rip from the stage unmic'd. It's nice to know I won't be left behind because I can't compete due to using small drums. Even in some bigger venues we have better sound as we're not TOO loud as it's just stage volume. The club owners who used to complain about the volume of the band when everything was mic'd don't say a word when we run JUST stage volume. The added bonus is that the extra time it takes to mic the band is now that much quicker we can pack up.

Using that big a$$ed kit lets me play for tone, not for the mics. If it sounds good to me, it'll sound good out front as there are no soundman to ruin it.


Just my 2 cents . . . errr . . 50 cents. L0L!!


.
.
^^
Boy, that'sa long'a post . . .
 
I currently have both a 28x16 and 26x16 and love them! I use the 28x16 as my main kick and while it's for me, I can see why most people don't play them. Due to all the reasons mentioned previously, but for me finding a hardcase for my 26 was hard, and the shipping was insane. I don't want to even think of the cost of a case for my 28 with shipping at the moment. I'll deal with lugging it around, because I love the sound and power of it though.
 
"Why aren't more people playing BIG bass drums?"

They're too damned heavy and take up too much room. Especially for us older guys.
 
I always find it funny that for me it wasnt bonham who made me want to play big kits,
it was Buddy.

I went through a phase where i wanted a big kit like his, luckily i didnt have the money so i waited. I realized that i really wanted a smaller kit, hence i got my Club Jazz with the 18" bass.


I bought my used ludwig with a 22" even though i really wanted a 20".


I think once i get a job and start saving up some real money, I might try out a big bass drum, I dont know how my back is going to feel about this hahaha
 
Personally, I prefer to sound of smaller bass drums.
My 22" was a little too much for me by way of migraine shaking boom.
I like the sound of larger BDs on OTHER people's kits, but my style flows better with an 18" or 20".
I also play BDs that are deeper than they are wide.
The kit I'm building soon will have a 20" x 21".

It's really all just personal preference mixed with a bit of necessity when it comes to transportation and money.

I also think that I get a better response from my pedals, but that could just be psychological.
 
I like a tight, poppy sound, so I prefer a 20" (and have thought about switching to 18"). I find that I can tune it deep enough, especially since I'm usually mic'd up, which means that we have all kinds of options to make it boomier if that's what we want.

A 22" bass drum still works for me, but I would hate playing a bigger bass than that. For the sound, as I mentioned above, but also for the placement of toms, etc.

There's certainly nothing wrong with it, but it's not for me.
 
It seems to me that around 14" is the ideal depth for a bass drum, be it 28", 22", or 18" in diameter. I like the 18"x12" Jazzette bass drums, though. 26"x16" bass drums that I've played didn't sound too bad either. The local drum shop had a bass drum (used) a while back that I didn't get the dimensions of, but I think it was 26" diameter by 60" deep (?). It was huge! Sounded as odd as it looked...
 
Good thread and great posts too.
Vipercussionist made some great points in his post.
I think people will gravitate to a certain type of sound and feel myself, and luckily with the availability of custom sizes, people can get what they want out of their kit if they want something different.

I've had 20(1), 24 (2), 26 (a bunch) & 28" (2) bds.

Personally, I love the 26.

I love the feel, the sound and the look of it.

I've never had a sound person NOT like my larger drums or complain about it.
BUT, I was also willing to put in the time to get it up & running right, & I'm also willing to pay the extra amount & order the heads, the case, type of vehicle to haul it around...because I love the sound and the feel, and the look.

HOWEVER...I have also played many smaller bass drums that sounded great though the PA, and felt pretty good, but, they didn't make me feel as good when I played them.

Smaller drums can feel easier to play certain things, but I think it's more in how a person would naturally play anyway in what type kick they'd desire.

The points Mikei and Viper made about the bigger drums sounding great played softer, and if you need to, to really be able to drive the thing is really true.

Bun E. Carlos is a great example of the bigger kick working.
He uses a 26 these days, but he used a 28 in the past (Budokan kit, and a Maple kit in the 90's on CD and on DVD).
They sounded fantastic and worked great for the myriad of songs that Cheap Trick does.
They also record great, and aren't "difficult" to work with--they just sound different than a "regular" drum.
If you go in knowing it's GOING to sound different, then there's no problem.

I can do anything I need with my 26, but, I'm also playing rock, and not Jazz, so I can use a bigger drum.

Smaller bass drums/toms just became "the sound" for a lot of Jazz, and it can just sound "wrong" with a bigger kick--it's been pulled off, but 99% of the time, it just sounds "right" with a 18-22" bass drum.

The limited availability of bigger drums is one reason that a lot of people really don't even think about getting a larger kick, but since it's being offered by a few companies, it's become a little more common--especially with a 24 which isn't a tiny drum either.

Companies like Ludwig used to offer 22, 24, & 26" kicks with sets, but people stopped buying such big drums because PA's got better--and drummers didn't have to compete with guitar player on 10 with a double Marshall stack!!! ...and it is easier to carry a smaller drum....

Sales dropped, so companies dropped or limited the offering on 26's.

With a 22 --which NOW with the 18" deep shell has really become more a good compromise between the big sound it can get (if someone wants to tune it that way), and the sound of a bigger drum.
Is it the same kind of "big" sound?
No, but it still has power through a PA (if needed), and it's less money for the drum/heads/case, easier to carry/load in a car...and maybe someone doesn't need or want that big a sound...maybe they're just a pansy...hahahaha just kidding!!!!
Ease of multiple tom placement over a smaller drum is just obvious, so if you like a lot of toms, yeah, a smaller bass drum is more in line with that.

I never had a problem with 3 toms over my 24 though.

I really loved my 20x28" kick, and I used it for 10 years, but it finally became too much of a pain to transport.
I have a mini-van, and a case with wheels for it to make it easier, but it was not as desirable to me anymore just to have the bigger drum, when the 26 had all the qualities I wanted too, so I pansy-d out and went with the 26 :)
 
simply because its harder to transport, and its harder to mount toms for many...
i play with a 24x18 (Mapex Pro-M) but, I find it really difficult to mount my toms, but i love the sound.
 
I wish I had a big 14x26 bass drum. I played one at an old mom and pop store. It was on a Vintage Ludwig. But I'm stuck on my little 18x22 for now.

Big Drums are the greatest!



Don't bash le Ringo
 
I wonder what a 26x26 bass would be like, in double bass form.

Rolling thunder...

Vinnie Paul used to play 26x26 in Panterra, but he used a lot of processing to get "his" sound.

26 deep would start to sound like a single headed drum with only a little "oomm" at the end of the boom.

With it that deep, you would have to play it harder than the 18 or 20" deep to get a consistently solid sound.

It would probably sound decent, but the actual note of the drum would be pretty long, so doing anything other than AC/DC type kick patterns would get the attack, but less bottom end.
You could put the mic closer to the head a few inches inside the hole, but that defeats the purpose of having a deeper drum--other than for the looks.

With the 20x26 I can keep the mic AT the hole (not inside) and get a good solid, natural sound with a great balance of attack and nice tone.

I know Larrie Londin had some 22 & 24x30" deep drums for recording, but he was able to have a couple mics on the kick, and fool around with the distance from the head etc..
I have some pics of them--they were pretty cool looking.
He used a set for his Pearl promo pic before he went to DW.

Alex Van Halen used 28" deep 24's and 26" kicks live, but his always ended up single headed, so they don't count--unless you want to go single headed on a 26x26....
For rock or metal, it would look cool.

There was a guy in Detroit that used 2 30x30" bass drums custom made by Ludwig (Gunner Ross-Strut, Ted Nugent, Blackfoot...).
His drums sounded really huge though the PA, but like crap unmiked.
They didn't translate well over the radio either..lots of attack and hardly any depth, but in person, they sounded pretty dang cool.
 
personally im not looking for that huge sound.
id like to find an 18 or 20 to use. i like the sound of small punch.

Exactly that punchy tight sound is just perfect!

Besides I really like small sizes in general and I prefer a nice comfy small set.
 
Vinnie Paul used to play 26x26 in Panterra, but he used a lot of processing to get "his" sound.

26 deep would start to sound like a single headed drum with only a little "oomm" at the end of the boom.

With it that deep, you would have to play it harder than the 18 or 20" deep to get a consistently solid sound.

It would probably sound decent, but the actual note of the drum would be pretty long, so doing anything other than AC/DC type kick patterns would get the attack, but less bottom end.
You could put the mic closer to the head a few inches inside the hole, but that defeats the purpose of having a deeper drum--other than for the looks.

With the 20x26 I can keep the mic AT the hole (not inside) and get a good solid, natural sound with a great balance of attack and nice tone.

I know Larrie Londin had some 22 & 24x30" deep drums for recording, but he was able to have a couple mics on the kick, and fool around with the distance from the head etc..
I have some pics of them--they were pretty cool looking.
He used a set for his Pearl promo pic before he went to DW.

Alex Van Halen used 28" deep 24's and 26" kicks live, but his always ended up single headed, so they don't count--unless you want to go single headed on a 26x26....
For rock or metal, it would look cool.

There was a guy in Detroit that used 2 30x30" bass drums custom made by Ludwig (Gunner Ross-Strut, Ted Nugent, Blackfoot...).
His drums sounded really huge though the PA, but like crap unmiked.
They didn't translate well over the radio either..lots of attack and hardly any depth, but in person, they sounded pretty dang cool.

Vinnie used 26x26? In what album?

I thought he has only used 24x24 and 24x20
 
I went through a phase where i wanted a big kit like his, luckily i didnt have the money so i waited. I realized that i really wanted a smaller kit, hence i got my Club Jazz with the 18" bass.

Oh, i would love a club jazz kit with an 18" bass or even once played a 16" with 8 and 12 (i think) toms. Was so lovely and one day... one day...
 
Back
Top