The ubiquity of smaller kits

D

Drumlove65

Senior Member
More and more drummers I've seen lately are opting for one kick, one rack and one or two floor toms. Most probably are using double kick pedals but it seems the era of 10 rack toms and two kick drums and two or more floor toms is a thing of the past. Any comments are welcome.
 
Yes I see the same trend. Especially with bands I see on TV. One benefit is that you can see the drummer better.

I have also noticed a lot a those little "baby" kits for sale at Guitar Center and other stores.
You know, the ones with the 18 and 16 inch base drums. They are so cute !
I don't have a desire to play them, I just want to hug them.
If they are in the stores, they must be becoming more popular.


.
 
Unless you're a drumming god like Neil Peart or Terry Bozzio, you really don't need that many drums. Back in the 80s the huge kits was just part of the style. Big hair, big shows, big drums. It was more for aesthetics.

I consider Dave Weckl to be in that elite drumming god echelon and he's downgraded his kit. Back in the 80s he had cymbals and toms galore, but lately I've seen him rocking a 5 or 6 piece with 2 floor toms and 1 or 2 racks.
 
Drumlove65 said:
More and more drummers I've seen lately are opting for one kick, one rack and one or two floor toms. Most probably are using double kick pedals but it seems the era of 10 rack toms and two kick drums and two or more floor toms is a thing of the past. Any comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

Lately or just all the time? Other than your common megastar using way too many drums, it's always been some form of the 4- or 5-piece kit since the inception of the drumset in the early 1910s.
 
Whatever the trend is now, it will change. That much seems almost certain. This stuff tends to be cyclical.
 
I love and prefer my 3 rack toms (8/10/12), 2 floor toms(14/16), bass (22) and snare set up. But for gigging and travel purposes, I stick to the 10/14/22 and snare set up. Sometimes 10/14/16/22 if I have room on stage. On very rare occasions do I take the whole kit out. For me, I just want to get setup quickly and have less to lug around, so I do play with a 4 piece kit. But if I had a drum tech setting up my kit every gig, better believe I would always be playing 3 rack toms, 3 floor toms, and a double bass kit!
 
More drums means more tonal possibilities.


I think if some pros had to hump their stuff they 'might' opt for smaller kits.

Altho IMO humping an extra tom doesn't affect the stage foot print, or cause any troubles in the vehicle with space.
 
You need data to say. Randomly access 100 youtube videos or 100 TV shows/appearances of bands and count up the statistics on 4 piece kits. Report back please.
 
I think it has already been said, but I'll say it again although with different words.

Trends are like a pendulum. If you want to stay trendy, don't throw your big kits away yet. They'll be back in style soon enough and we'll be talking about where all the cool smaller kits went.
 
Well - you've got to play large venues with lots of space for monster size kits to pay off.

I think smaller sets are here to stay for a whole variety of reasons.
But if someone want to have a gargantuan kit - more power to them.
 
I own a standard "Gadd" or "Weckl" kit. A black 6 pc Recording Custom.

I have it racked, and it doesn't move, but I use the 12 rack and the 14 floor the most, essentially its a cool looking and pricey 4 piece. Followed by the 16 floor, and I rarely hit the 10 tom.

So I have zero inkling for an 8, and I had an 18 but sold it to pay off some debt, but I want an 18 again. Most of the time I use the 18 as just a fancy looking little table like Buddy did.

I think the thing I like about larger kits is options. If I want to go out and play a hi hat and a snare I can. I create an 80's kit of death look if I want to hang 40 cymbals and put all the drums around. I can play a four piece.

If I just had the four, it would awful hard to shift into anything else.
 
Drumlove65 said:
More and more drummers I've seen lately are opting for one kick, one rack and one or two floor toms. Most probably are using double kick pedals but it seems the era of 10 rack toms and two kick drums and two or more floor toms is a thing of the past. Any comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

1 up and 1 down has been around for quite a while now. 2 up and 1 down as well. Not everyone is endeared to double pedals.

Two bass drums are talked about quite often, some want two identical bass drums side by side and tuned to the same pitch which is a real pain in the buttocks to actually do and keep tuned. Some folks have 2 different sized bass drums and tune them to an interval that can add yet another drum to the kit with its own quality and tuning. Some folks have humped enough kits around town to know that simple works and have gone for the 1 up 1 down, 1 bass, 1 pedal and a 3 legged hi hat stand, and 3 cymbals, 2 cymbals will even get the job done.

For general gigging duties what I have noticed is that the better kit wizards use the least amount of hardware.

What Jack does... Jack is my drumming buddy, he uses Fodor drums, he has over time collected 3 sets. They are extremely lightweight. In fact you can pick up the bass with the rack toms attached with one hand. They are loud, weather proof (he uses his work truck) and really are an excellent strategy for moving stuff around quickly without crackin' a sweat in the process.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top