Drum Buying Guide - Overview
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When it comes to playing the drums, the choice of instruments and accessories available is vast. Comprising individual drums such
as toms and basses, ethnic and tribal instruments like the popular bongo and of course full blown drum kits in true rock and roll
style, there is something for everyone.
Essential Drum Maintenance
As with any type of instrument, whether you are novice or a highly experienced drummer, there are some important aspects to
consider from first of all deciding how you are going to arrange your drum kit, to knowing exactly what to do when a drum skin
needs replacing.
Choosing a Drum Kit Setup
Check out the Nevada Music drum buying guides for practical information across a variety of drum related topics from maintenance
and tuning to finding the perfect setup for your band or music style.
How To Set Up A Drumkit
Setting up a drumkit isn't rocket science, but setting up your drums correctly can make them much easier for you to play. You'll
also find that your sticks and drum heads last longer and most importantly of all, your sound will rock!
Adjusting The Drum Throne
The first step is to set the height of your seat. A drummer should have an adjustable "drum throne" that's designed
specially for drumming - we don't advise using a picnic stool! Take to the throne with your feet flat on the floor. Place your
hand sideways on your knee (in a karate chop fashion) and place a drum stick between your hand and the top of your thigh. Now
raise or lower the seat until the stick is parallel with the floor. This should put you in the ideal position for playing the bass
drum and hi-hat pedals.
Foot Pedal Positioning
You want to make sure that the bass drum pedal is close enough so that your right leg isn't positioned straight down, but so
that your ankle is just a few inches in front of your knee. Now try using the kick drum pedal with your right foot and adjust if
necessary.
Once you are happy with the kick drum, put the snare drum on its stand and make sure the legs are open all the way and that
the drum is positioned between your legs. Raise or lower the snare so that the playing surface is just about at the same level
as your belt buckle. This will keep you from overextending your arms and ensure that you play in a more relaxed position.
You can set your hi-hat in the same the way you set your bass drum, except for your left foot.
Setting The Angle Of Your Drumheads
Now you need to set the angle of the tom-toms. You will probably want to set them at a radical angle (almost straight up) so
that you have to poke at them, but this will not give you the best sound. Take your stick and see where you naturally hit on
the snare drum, raising your arm in an arc motion. Adjust the tom-tom so that when you connect with the head, you're hitting
the drum with your stick at about the same angle as when you hit the snare. How far away should that tom-tom be? Well, when
you reach out to it, your arm should be relaxed and your wrist in a fairly neutral position.
As you can probably tell, this all takes practice since each adjustment will affect the others in some way. As you feel more
comfortable behind the set, you'll probably make little adjustments in your set up. Remember, this isn’t just a one-time set
and forget process!
