I have seen alot of great drummers out there. Some ,Neil Peart and Joey Jordison for example, have these huge kits with just about anything you can think of. Then you see some of the drummers out there playing the standard 4 or 5 piece kits and just shreading it (Buddy Rich for example). R.I.P. Opinions!!! Would you rather have more for a variety or keep it simple and be creative with what you have? Thanks!








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It's so important to make best friends in life!

Tama and Medicine Man Drums, Zildjian, Remo, Roc-n-Soc, DW and Pro-mark.

I like having a variety of things to be creative with. However, the most fun I've ever had at a gig was the one where my kit wouldn't fit on the riser and I had to scale down to a four piece with very few options for cymbals. I had to restructure my parts on the spot which made it very exiting and fun. So while I enjoy having a reasonable(notice I said reasonable) variety of sound, there's something about being creative with so little and achieveing such a great big sound that appeals to me. It's just fun.

In fact, I'm just going to go ahead and say that even though my entire kit fits on the stage for my next gig on Thursday, I'm going to set up my scaled down version just for kicks. Thanks for this post!








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I'm part of the brotherhood of like-minded individuals who like to bang on things.

Creative is always there. I like efficiency now. So it's a 4pc with one crash, one ride, hats and a cowbell. Talk about a quick breakdown!! Im out before the bass player.








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13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

you dont want too much, no more than 5 or 6 toms, and no more than 10 to 12 cymbals, i usually have less than those numbers but if you have too many then it gets to be too much.








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6 Peice Hohner
13, 14, 16, 16 inch toms
22x15 inch Bass
20 inch, 16 inch Sabian
20inch, 16 inch, and 14 inch Zildjian
Zildjian Hi-Hat

when you live in NYC and you have to get things to a gig by cab (or sometimes, by subway when you're really poor), you learn to be creative and play the least amount of items possible. granted, most places have a house kit (kick and toms only; no snare, hardware, cymbals, pedals or throne. and they are all beat to shit and sound like it, but hey, i don't have to figure out how to get an entire kit to a venue) but you still don't want to haul 10 cymbal stands around to a gig. so i found that playing the least amount of shit possible was the best option. which leads to a lot of nights with a hi-hat and ride/ crash; kick, snare, and floor. when you have less stuff you have to figure out how to make just as much noise as you would if you had those three or four other drums or cymbals. and i personally don't think there's anything more fun to play on than a three piece kit with two cymbals. and it makes that guy before you still tearing down his ten cymbal stands think about what he's taking to his next gig...








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drums: custom acrylic
16 x 24 bass
16 x 18 floor
5.5 x 13 snare
5.5 x 10 tama steel snare (left side)

cymbals:
13" hats
21" ride/ crash
20" china
6" zilbel

cowbell, jam block, ribbon crasher

djembe

i'm a less is more sorta guy.

i play a four piece kit and just had a "am i getting too crazy with my kit?" issue... and all i did was add a double kick pedal and one china (my previous set up was hi-hats, 2 crashes and a ride)

i think it takes a lot more skill to be creative on smaller kits.

i also think people have the tendency to hide behind huge kits and somewhere along the line, having real skill and ability gets confused with a guy that just has a lot of shit he can hit.

i would say 95% of the guys i see play with more than 4 drums / 4 cymbals (including hi-hats) don't need them.

i love guys that have 30 cymbals. it just doesn't make sense to me.

i just don't see the need for more than 3 or 4. unless, of course, wanking is your thing.

i love small simple 4 piece setups.. sure you cant have the big rolling rills that go through a multitude of sounds... but you can ride the pocket for ever with out ever feeling like your need to use something you dont really need.. im waiting for the day when some metal drummer decides he doesnt need toms and or any of that and uses a simple fusion set up with a double kick..

my set up is a 4 piece but i dont typically use the toms.. im a cymbal guy and nothing makes me happier then just hitting the right cymbal at the right time to finish out a phrase.. i dont need to be flashy or any of that i just want cymbals.. some day im gunna play a show with just my bass and snare and cymbals.. groove baby








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www.myspace.com/amonthold

amontholdDrums wrote:

some day im gunna play a show with just my bass and snare and cymbals..

I've always wanted to do a show like that. I came pretty close to something similar though. One night I wansn't feeling up to setting up my entire kit and I grabbed only my bass, snare, floor tom, and all my cymbals and stands. I set that up and played all night just like that. It was fun. Didn't really use the floor tom though, so I could have left that one out.








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I'm part of the brotherhood of like-minded individuals who like to bang on things.

i love everything....bells, splashes, chinas, and crashes add the explosion effect to my playing, the toms add the punch where it needs to be. i play a 5 piece with 9 cymbals right now and i dont intend on playing any less when im practicing by myself because i love having many voices to play around with.

i hate hearing people say that having more pieces equals a lack of creativity and talent because ive seen many drummers play large kits and have loads of creativity, and ive seen guys on 4 piece sets that are extremely boring to watch or listen to, its all preference.








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zen_drummer wrote:

Real life doesn't work that way, and one day he's gonna pull a stunt like that and they'll put a cap in him. At that point it won't matter that he was fat in high-school and couldn't get laid.

i like a good medium. a five piece kit, with the neccessities (hi hat, ride) and no more than two crashes, one china (althought two would be cool), and a couple of splashes for flare.

i've seen guys bring on two bass drums, an army of cymbals, and enough toms to do a full scale and play the hihat snare and bass drum the whole time.








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www.myspace.com/crimsonorchidband

www.crimsonorchid.com

i scaled down my six piece kit to a 4 piece a little while back and i love it. i still break out the other toms and cymbals once in a while but i'm really getting used to the faster setup and tear down.

Potatoe Snack wrote:

i like a good medium. a five piece kit, with the neccessities (hi hat, ride) and no more than two crashes, one china (althought two would be cool), and a couple of splashes for flare.

i've seen guys bring on two bass drums, an army of cymbals, and enough toms to do a full scale and play the hihat snare and bass drum the whole time.

Yeah same for me except for the splash. I have one but i don't use it, i prefer the sound of my china 18". As far as toms for me i would say max 4 toms. I have three toms right now 12",13",16", i don't need to put another one but if i had to i'd say maybe a 10" tom but not more...

I think creativity is better even if you have a huge set you should always try to be creative in your play...

drumsforlife wrote:

amontholdDrums wrote:

some day im gunna play a show with just my bass and snare and cymbals..

I've always wanted to do a show like that. I came pretty close to something similar though. One night I wansn't feeling up to setting up my entire kit and I grabbed only my bass, snare, floor tom, and all my cymbals and stands. I set that up and played all night just like that. It was fun. Didn't really use the floor tom though, so I could have left that one out.

I've done that. It's really alot of fun. Played the gig with kick, snare, hat, ride. And what was even cooler, I had like 3 drummers come up afterwards and say how cool they thought it was....go figure- leave the Dave Wackoff chops at home, play a shitload of groove, get big props for it. Bliss!








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13612
www.billraydrums.com
www.myspace.com/billraydrums

Thanks for the replies! Peace.








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It's so important to make best friends in life!

Tama and Medicine Man Drums, Zildjian, Remo, Roc-n-Soc, DW and Pro-mark.

The pros pay people to set them up. If Peart had to play the airport lounge to make ends meet, he'd be using a 4-piece set.
I play mostly improvised/experimental music, so for me, it's about bringing as many sounds out of one drum, cymbal or toy as possible. For most of my gigs, I bring a snare, one or two toms(usually a 6"or 8" and a 13" or 15") and maybe a bass drum(16" or 20") if I have the energy for another case to carry.
If we want to be regarded as artists and musicians, and not just time keepers, we should know our instruments well and be able to pull out as many sounds that our instruments can give us. It's much harder for a drummer to sound fresh or innovative on a small set when they haven't practiced enough to pull-out all the wonderful nuances.

Christopher