Kniferide wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:53 am I will say that the more drums a kit has the more boring the drum playing gets.

I agree. I like the saying, "when everything is possible, nothing is interesting."

penningtron wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:41 amThis thread is for figuring out how many toms I need to throw away so I can better fit in.

I guess one thing worth noting is the larger kits you see more, erm.. working man bands playing are generally cheap garbage, as a nice kit of that size would cost thousands of dollars, not to mention head maintenance on a kit like that being significant as well. So there's inevitably (unless you're rich) a quantity vs. quality factor as well.

penningtron wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 10:57 am I guess one thing worth noting is the larger kits you see more, erm.. working man bands playing are generally cheap garbage, as a nice kit of that size would cost thousands of dollars, not to mention head maintenance on a kit like that being significant as well. So there's inevitably (unless you're rich) a quantity vs. quality factor as well.

This.
There are several "metal" drummers using large kits that I admire, but for most applications I feel like one up one down is the correct configuration. I've tried two up or two down, and the ergonomics didn't seem right... navigating a small kit is plenty for me.

I've been one up, one down for the last decade or so, with no complaints. It's probably my personal ideal now.

I've enjoyed having more toms in the past with prog/math rock/metal bands, not for blistering fills, but because I really enjoy the musicality of toms - making them part of a riff when it fits. If I ever found myself in a band like that again, I think a three up, one down tom setup would be a lot of fun.

Voting sky's the limit, though. Let your freak flag fly, kids.

The correct answer is to have about 20 toms, and then to play rudimentary beats and almost no fills.

Wood Goblin wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:27 pm The correct answer is to have about 20 toms, and then to play rudimentary beats and almost no fills.

What the?

Ryan Zepaltas wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:48 pm

Wood Goblin wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:27 pm The correct answer is to have about 20 toms, and then to play rudimentary beats and almost no fills.

What the?

holy chit meng

Geiginni wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:42 pm
Nobody dances anymore anyway. Every show I've been to in the past 25+ years is a bunch of dudes standing around with pint glasses, nodding.

If the nodding is somewhat rhythmic, I'll take it!

I share the low tom count bias here (not a drummer though). Even seeing Nomeansno live a lot when I was growing up, it definitely wasn't the fills across JW's three rack toms that moved me about his drumming.

Wood Goblin wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:27 pm The correct answer is to have about 20 toms, and then to play rudimentary beats and almost no fills.

Epic. HOF material. That's it for me...

So many ways that clip hits the mark.



the answer to the OP question is "how many did Max Roach need? That many, then".