tim wrote:scott wrote:One of the best drummers I've played with actually angles his snare *forward*. So it's higher up near the drum throne than it is near the kick drum. I thought that's pretty crazy, but he really is one of the best drummers I've played with, so... this isn't so odd. i've seen it a bunch. think about traditional left hand stick grip. the old timey way. with this grip, having the snare angled forward is the only realistic way to do rim shots.i do it too, although i use 'regular' grip. it's so that i can get rim hits without having to have my snare too high. i like my throne at a moderate height but the snare kind of low. actually, the snare is usually oriented so that the highest point of the rim is where my right (cymbals) hand comes down to hit it, with my left (snare) hand hitting at the point at which the snare is kind of level, if you can picture that. i'm a pretty decent drummer but i do have a tendency to get my sticks caught up with each other if the snare and hihat are too close, so having the snare like this enables me to keep them the furthest possible distance apart. it allows me to get rim hits on pretty much every snare hit, if i want.for the rest of it, toms slightly angled (maybe 10-20deg), cymbals similar. i generally only really use a floor tom and a ride (other than snare/kick/hats). knee bent at about 90deg, maybe slightly more (so that my kick foot is very slightly in front of my knee).it struck me a while ago that the better the drummer, the flatter the drum orientation. i just kept noticing that whenever i saw a really good drummer, their toms and (to a lesser extent) cymbals were usually kind of flat. conversely, really bad drummers always seemed to have their rack toms at 45deg or even more. i'm pretty sure that it's the skill of the drummer that causes the flatness of the drum orientation and not the other way around. i guess that you have a wider array of tones available when the drum is flat (eg: getting a rim hit on an angled drum would be pretty difficult, which would explain why bad drummers who probably get lots of accidental rim hits would angle their drums more). as i've become a better drummer over the years i've noticed that all of my drums have flattened out, without any conscious thought from me.

I sit pretty high and keep my drums and cymbals low and flat. That's probably due to a lot of concert percussion playing in my younger days, plus watching The Kids are All Right too many times. Mechanically, I like the feel of my kick drum leg at about a 60 degree angle. It feels stronger and more solid to me than if I have a 90 degree bend at the knee. There's also less movement at the foot for an equivalent flex of the knee, so that feels better to me, control-wise. Also, there's probably a psychological thing about sitting higher and being more visible to band/audience. Sitting low makes me feel a little walled-off.

MrWarandieBoy wrote:it struck me a while ago that the better the drummer, the flatter the drum orientation. i just kept noticing that whenever i saw a really good drummer, their toms and (to a lesser extent) cymbals were usually kind of flat. conversely, really bad drummers always seemed to have their rack toms at 45deg or even more. i'm pretty sure that it's the skill of the drummer that causes the flatness of the drum orientation and not the other way around. i guess that you have a wider array of tones available when the drum is flat (eg: getting a rim hit on an angled drum would be pretty difficult, which would explain why bad drummers who probably get lots of accidental rim hits would angle their drums more). as i've become a better drummer over the years i've noticed that all of my drums have flattened out, without any conscious thought from me.You do see a lot of metal drummers sitting low with very angled drums. It's probably a better setup for very fast movement between pieces on the kit.

Trying different things for yourself is probably the way to go here. Changing things, even subtly can have a huge impact on the way you play. What works for one person won't necessarily work well for someone else. I will say that I've noticed the following seems to offer me the greatest economy of motion:- Throne set so that my thigh angles slightly down toward the bass drum from horizontal.- Snare set high enough so that the stick contacts the head slightly before my forearms hits horzontal from my elbow forward. I usually angle the snare slightly toward me as well to keep rimshots from happening unpredictably.Everything else gets placed around those two things. I have the hardest time getting the high hats in a comfortable place, but it seems to make less of a difference to me than having the bass/snare out of place.

I have a technical/physical question if anyone can help.I've been playing drums for almost 18 months. In the last couple of months I've noticed I'm having a few problems with pulls in my right calf muscle. For context I'm right handed and play soccer at least twice a week but it is the excessive use of my foot/leg on the bass/kick drum that is the root of the pulls. I'm regulating how often I practice now in order to avoid overdoing it but I'm wondering if an adjustment to posture could reduce the problem. I have the stool set at a level so my knee is slightly over 90 degrees, playing mostly heel up on the pedal. If it play more heel down, there is less stress on the calf but I prefer heel up for control/power.Has anyone had similar experiences and can offer advice?Thanks

losthighway wrote:...As for shin, ankle troubles on the kick pedal: I do find for playing rock music that some lifting of the knee takes stress off the ankle. I'm not sure if it's the way some hotshot guy in a drum clinic would show you, but I also find some muscle strain if I lock my heel down and don't lift my knee much. I do plenty of flams and even some constant eighth note heaviness on a single pedal and can hit plenty loud without getting tired or sore by subtly lifting my knee so that my foot works the way your hand does: the elbow/forearm creates some movement which enables your wrist to do more of the work and flow- same relationship between your leg and ankle.Thanks, I'll try lowering the stool to facilitate extra knee lift.

Couple of things I've noticed:Some drummers in the 90's explained to me that the way a tom sounds best is when it's nearly flat and on a stand that's clamping it loosely. I'm still not 100% sure if either of those are true, but it's how I play now. I do notice that when dudes who put crazy angles on their toms come in to the studio they have way more dents in the heads.I like my cymbals medium high. Mainly because when you're playing more dynamically it helps to strike the cymbals are variety of ways to get different sounds. When they're too low you're pretty much stuck with a narrow tip hit, whereas sometimes I like to get more contact with the body of the stick and the outer couple inches of the cymbal. It creates less ping, and a slightly slower blooming crash sound. It works well when you want to crash without getting tons of overtones.I noticed the drummer from Yo La Tengo keeps her cymbals radically angled away from her which I find very strange. It looks incredibly difficult, but she plays well.As for shin, ankle troubles on the kick pedal: I do find for playing rock music that some lifting of the knee takes stress off the ankle. I'm not sure if it's the way some hotshot guy in a drum clinic would show you, but I also find some muscle strain if I lock my heel down and don't lift my knee much. I do plenty of flams and even some constant eighth note heaviness on a single pedal and can hit plenty loud without getting tired or sore by subtly lifting my knee so that my foot works the way your hand does: the elbow/forearm creates some movement which enables your wrist to do more of the work and flow- same relationship between your leg and ankle.

To massage/warm up hands/limbs and have some fun here's a crazy little feature that I have recently discovered. Grab a piece of a metal chain (some 5-7 ft. long) and try passing waves/snakes with it. How much you can take out of it - you wouldn't believe it!The weight of the chain may vary (I guess mine is some 6 lbs.; the size of its links is may be 1x2'' and their width is some 1/5'') - you could find what fits you best by trying various sizes in the nearest tool shop. You can adjust the length on the fly, by wrapping some rings around your wrist.I have found this trick to both help me kill time and warm up, as well as find some inner balance and of course impress casual visitors. Drummers and guitar players shall love this. I've shown this trick to friends, and they love it. (Some even end up spending hours on it, wasted.) I am also considering matching my chain with another one and try waving a pair.While waving, take care to not hurt anyone and yourself - this kind of playing assumes having a plenty of room around you. A pair of gloves shall also come in handy. Have fun!

Do you guys have any tips for keeping the snare from walking all over the place? I've been having that problem a lot. I think Grohl used sandbags, but that seems like a little much. I was thinking of connecting zip ties, one connected to a lug on the kick, the other connected to the base of the hihat stand. I feel like there's an angle/stand position combination that should take care of it without going to those extremes.