These things seem to happen in waves. The 80s/90s assumption that two rack toms and a floor were essential was refreshingly cut down to single rack tom. Now that two tom kits are ubiquitous I almost want to see someone good put an extra tom to work. The single floor thing seemed edgy for the first few acts, but feels a little too limited to my ears now that it's more common.
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 6:26 pm
by Owen
I'm a novice, but I love having a 6 piece. 12, 13, 16, 18. The 18 looks cool and when you need to thud its their. I am also a fan of just the 13 and the 16.
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 7:24 pm
by numberthirty
I guess that I am "Sky's The Limit..."?
I don't think that I have ever once watched this film, and thought to myself "The nerve of this lady..." as far as the amount of toms in her kit. -
(The same goes for The Missing Link's "Invasion" tour kit...)
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 7:54 pm
by MoreSpaceEcho
But then of course there's this:
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:23 pm
by biscuitdough
Mason wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 4:10 pm
For me it's about drum/cymbal ratio as much as quantity. I would way rather see a relatively balanced Neil Peart-scale kit (I am thinking of our FM Neal_oclocker) than someone with a normal four-pc kit but 10 "FX" cymbals that have 1-inch holes all over them.
Irrespective of the taste/needs of whoever the drummer is in a situation, I think:
- You can't have more cymbals than drums (the hi-hats count as one cymbal, so for a 4pc kit you top out at say, hi-hat, two crashes, and big separate ride).
- smaller kits are better for econo/laziness reasons (smaller vehicles, fewer mics and input channels) and therefore imo kind of globally more cool than a huge kit that means more effort and more budget.
The rest is up to taste etc. Some people want double rack toms and the cymbals with the holes in them I guess. Not my problem! I love it, keep it up.
Obviously even these universals are fake and made up too, like anything. We're just having fun on here. And it is in that spirit that I say anyone with more cymbals than drums is lower than a dog to me.
So let me get this straight. You don’t like Wailin’ Smash (Drum God)?
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:53 am
by Kniferide
Tom's are cool. Go for it. I will say that the more drums a kit has the more boring the drum playing gets. When someone rocks the fuck out of a tiny kit, it rules way harder than Rush
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:36 am
by Nico Adie
Personal preference - 1 rack, 1 or 2 floor, with one of the floors being to the left of the snare
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:28 am
by kicker_of_elves
I played a crap ton of 90s and early 00s gigs with two up/one down, but after I split a head during a first set and ran with one up/one down for the rest of the show, I never went back. I had a 20' crashride, an 18" crash and a 16" crash. Occasionally I'd ditch the 18. Haven't drummed a gig in years, but near the end economy was king.
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:56 am
by twelvepoint
I haven't had a steady rock band in 3 years and I played my last pickup gig 2 years ago. The next time I play in a rock band writing original tunes (whenever the hell that will be) I wanna approach it more non traditionally, looking at beats more as ostinato patterns that incorporate components in less of a kick/snare/hi-hat way. I'd be interested in challenging the whole 4-piece punk drum kit thing I've always done. Definitely don't want to get into Tool territory though.
Re: Tom Toms: Acceptable Quantity
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 9:41 am
by penningtron
twelvepoint wrote:
I haven't had a steady rock band in 3 years and I played my last pickup gig 2 years ago. The next time I play in a rock band writing original tunes (whenever the hell that will be) I wanna approach it more non traditionally, looking at beats more as ostinato patterns that incorporate components in less of a kick/snare/hi-hat way. I'd be interested in challenging the whole 4-piece punk drum kit thing I've always done. Definitely don't want to get into Tool territory though.
Yeah.. if you're gonna get into the huge kit territory, why not accentuate the melody of the toms and play patterns as hooks. I don't understand having a huge Peart/Carrey drum kit with fuckin' deadened pinstripe toms. It just sounds like they're banging on layers of plastic most of the time.
