Jack White's drum setup

I read in MD that his set up was 26x16 kick, a 16x5 main snare (weird size, huh?), a 14x12 Marching Snare, 16x7 Tom in front, 16x16 floor Tom, and a 18x16 floor Tom... Pretty weird, but somewhat inspirational to a persons setup!
 
Well I have a little theory about drummers with kits like this.

Maybe they started drumming at a very young age (7-10) and so ofcourse they had a lower kit so that they could reach everything. As time went on they kept practising and practising but not bothering to re-adjust there kit as they grew. So ofcourse they developed a way of drumming around a kit alot smaller than them and thats just how they grew up.

Just chuckin it out there :)
 
Hello everyone. I am new to drummerworld so thank you for having me. The topic of Jack White's kit... I personally play very flat and over top of my kit as well. This is the first time I've seen his kit and I am diggin' it. The benefit for playing like this (to me) is visual. I also like the way the kit looks like a machine on a drum riser when everything is flat. It's really not at all hard to get around. Like any setup, I find that once you sit down and get a feel for the layout, everything pretty much falls into place in a few minutes. I played in marching band on the snare line growing up, so maybe that had some influence on me, but like I said, it's really not difficult to play like this and it looks very "Rock n' Roll"! Check out other drummers like Vik Foxx and Michael Foster. These guys play the same way. You have to see the stick tricks and this layout works well for that also. Hope this helped.

CHEERS - Michael Lukers
 
When I think of any drum legend, their kits are setup nothing like this. I don't feel like getting in an argument about ergonomics and the optimal power point in strokes, but I'll just leave it at that.
 
bill bruford had a setup like that

10928bru.jpg


"Adopted a style of a classical timpanist, I decided to arrange the drum flat in a semi circle around me, out of pitch order, snare drum in the middle. A couple of cymbals on both left and right and I had a symmetrical kit mirrored on both left and right. Simple, elegant effective and this particular configuration would fall under the sticks, hopefully making my phrasing sound...well a little different." Bill Bruford the autobiography

Obviously, Bruford knows a lot more about his instrument than jack white but who knows.

There's only one row of drums here, that's different.
 


Well I watched and listened to the video link(s) provided and in regards to his setup and playing I think he can get away with this type of setup because the music isn't very demanding in regards to technicality or dynamics so there isn't alot of quick motions or dexterity required because the song(s) don't require them. They do sound very garage band to me. I am not trying to offend anyone with my comments, just stating an observation on my part and reflecting my opinion.
 
I too play with my high tom at almost the same level and angle as my snare... For me, it's about using the same technique around the kit. I try to play mostly with what I think is called "german grip" where my palms generally face the floor and I'm using my wrist joint the way it has the most dexterity.

When the 'high tom' is actually placed high and angled towards the drummer more, you have to use a different hand technique to play the high and floor tom. It just feels more natural to me when I'm playing 'down' into all my drums and cymbals rather than playing in front of me.

I agree with this. My snare is tilted slightly forward, and my tom is almost flat and a couple inches above the snare.
My floor toms are flat on both sides. This lets me use the same exact hand position for any drum surface on the kit. My cymbals aren't very high either. I ride and crash each one, so they are just in comfortable height positions.

I adjusted everything so my hand was relaxed, using the same motion on everything. I mainly use Moller.
My hands are the same height for snare and floor toms and just raised a little for the tom.
I play OFF the surface, and draw the sound out, rather than playing into it.

I play off the bass drum too, I don't bury the beater at all.
This also helps with playing on different kits on back line gigs.

Since I play off the head, the 22" size of a back line kit doesn't throw me off from my bass drum, which is a 26. There's a little different feel, sure, but it's not so much that it's distracting, and I forget about it in a few seconds.
With the toms, on a back line kit, I just deal with what I get put in front of me, and hopefully they are adjustable enough.
 
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