A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is mostly a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a drummer, usually for Blues, jazz, rock, or other types of contemporary music. The drum set drummer is the only musician who regularly plays multiple instruments at once.
The drummer uses drum sticks to strike the drum skin and to create a vibration. Drum sticks come in all different weights and sizes.
History
Early drum kits were known as trap kits (from contraption) and are one of the most contemporary members of the membranophone family. They usually consisted of a bass drum, a snare drum on a stand, a small cymbal and other small percussion instruments mounted on the bass drum or a small table, all played with drum sticks or brushes except for the bass drum. The bass drum was sometimes kicked to produce a sound, and is occasionally still called a kick drum, though bass drums are now nearly always pedal-operated, and sometimes even played with two pedals to allow for greater speed. The term survives in the term trap case still given to a case used to transport stands, pedals, sticks, and miscellaneous percussion instruments, still commonly called traps.
Modern kits and components
The exact collection of components to a drum kit varies greatly according to musical style, personal preference, financial resources, and transportation options of the drummer (See Breakables for more information about personalizing). At a minimum a kit usually contains 5 basic "pieces":bass drum sitting on the floor and played with a pedal, a snare drum on a stand, one tom-tom, mounted on top of the bass drum, and a floor tom (on the floor - hence the word "floor tom"), a hi-hat (sometimes known as a 'sock' cymbal) comprising two small cymbals played by means of pedal usually with the left foot for a right handed player. The set may also contain "crash" and "ride" cymbals.
Kit additions and variations
.jpg){kind=link}
Kit variations come along with different playing styles and levels of playing. Some drummers may add a second bass drum (played by whichever foot that controls the hi-hat), double bass pedals (a single unit setup employing two pedals hooked together and two beaters fixed up to a single bass drum, which is played with both feet), additional toms, auxiliary drums, more cymbals, tambourines, wood blocks, cowbells, electronic pads that trigger sampled sounds, or any of a whole galaxy of accessory instruments. Some drummers, such as Billy Cobham, Dave Lombardo, Virgil Donati, Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Keith Moon and Mike Portnoy have gone to extreme lengths and built massive kits including features such as ranges of tuned tom-toms, allowing them to contribute melodically as well as rhythmically. These huge kits reached their zenith in the arena rock of the 1980s, and the trend since then has been towards a smaller instrument such as John Bonham's five-piece set. To this day, Dale Crover epitomizes the use of the massive kit, using large 18" floor toms as rack toms, and bass drums for floor toms; As heard best on the Melvins "Bullhead" recording.
Electronic drums
The first electronic drums were used in the early 1970's (and recorded by Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer) with the development of the synthesiser, it was inevitable that the drums would eventually be incorporated into the electronic sound. During the early 1980's drummers such as Bill Bruford of King Crimson incorporated large electronic setups within their acoustic setups and in Bruford's case almost completely diminished the need for acoustic drums. These drums were primarily made by the now defunct Simmons company and later by Tama of Japan. Although many criticised the use of electronic drums; there is a wider level of acceptance now and indeed some drummers such as Akira Jimbo and Tony Verderosa incorporate electronics into their sets in an interesting and innovative way.
Yamaha, Roland and many others have created electronic drum sets which use pads or triggers (mounted on acoustic drums) to play sampled or synthesized sounds (see DTX). The trend in electronics since the late 1980s has been away from overtly electronic sounds and more towards an intensified acoustic sound.
Not only has the sound of electronic drums changed considerably towards a more naturalistic approach, indeed the 'feel' of electronic pads has also changed. With companies like Roland and Pintech offering their popular 'Mesh' or 'V-drum' pads; designed to emulate the 'feel' of a real drum head. Yamaha offers rubber pads also designed to mimic the feel of 'real' drums. Originally, the feel of electronic pads was very hard and unforgiving and as a result many drummers suffered from wrist pains and other related injuries. On the plus side, these surfaces offered a high level of rebound, making it easier to play double stroke rolls up and down the toms. Some drummers looked down upon this, while others took advantage. Drum pads are smaller than real drums, so the drummer can be more visible than behind a kit of traditional drums for greater prominence on stage.
Rick Allen, drummer of hard rock band Def Leppard, had a custom electronic drum kit made after a car accident in 1984 in which he lost his left arm. A later kit was made, one that played back the sound of the pre-recorded components of his acoustic drum kit whenever he struck each respective pad.
Omar Hakim (Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Mariah Carey, Madonna, David Bowie, etc) was one of the first mainstream drummers to really take the electronic drums seriously. He toured to promote Roland's vDrum line of electronic drums for several years, and continues to promote them to this day.
Drum set notation
Notation of drum kit music once commonly employed the bass clef, but a neutral staff of two parallel vertical lines is usually preferred now. Many different conventions exist for the notation of different elements of the kit on the stave, and it is usual to label each instrument and technique mark the first time it is introduced, or to add an explanatory footnote, on any score to clarify this. Below is common convention. Most variations follow a similar style.
Drums
Cymbals
Techniques
Rolls: diagonal lines across stem (or above whole note); a roll is played by letting the stick bounce on the skin before playing the next stroke. Open hi-hat: o above high-G X. Closed hi-hat: + above high-G X. Rim click: X in E snare space. Rim shot: diagonal slash through note head. Brush sweep: horizontal line (replacing note head) in E snare space with slur to show brush is not lifted. Flam: small slashed 8th note in E. Ruff: two small slashed 16th notes in E.
Dynamic accents
Anti-accents
- significantly softer than surrounding notes: ( ) (note head in parentheses)
- also known as "ghost notes" on the drum set.
See also
| Audio samples | ||
|---|---|---|
| Component | Content | Audio (Ogg Vorbis) |
| Snare | Unmuffled snare drum | ⓘ |
| Muffled snare drum | ⓘ | |
| Rim click on a snare | ⓘ | |
| Bass drum | Muffled bass drum | ⓘ |
| Toms | 8-inch rack tom | ⓘ |
| 12-inch rack tom | ⓘ | |
| Floor tom | ⓘ | |
| Hi-hat | Closed hi-hat | ⓘ |
| Open hi-hat | ⓘ | |
| Hi-hat being opened and closed by its foot pedal | ⓘ | |
| Crash | Crash cymbal | ⓘ |
| Ride | Hit normally | ⓘ |
| Hit on the bell of the cymbal | ⓘ | |
| Hit on the rim | ⓘ | |
| Beat | A typical rock beat on hi-hat | ⓘ |
| Typical rock beat on ride cymbal | ⓘ | |
| See the Drums category at Wikipedia Commons for more | ||
External links
- Rock Drum Lessons - Source for free rock drumming sheet music in PDF, and lesson articles.
- Drummerworld.com - A site full of videos and pictures of famous jazz and rock drummers. Also includes a forum.
- Drum lessons eBook - 45+ Page Drum Lessons eBook in PDF
- DrumTips.com- Over 1000 Drum Related Tips.
- Tomás Howie Drumming Web - The articles and exercises are intended to help you become a better drummer.
- Pearl Drummers Forum - Largest Drumming forum on the web with many educational resources and tips.