Drummists:

What is the general rule of thumb for you? Do you sit up high or down low? Is your leg at a 45 degree angle or 90 degree angle to the kit. What's the benefit of either? Toms and snare flat or angled? Cymbals up real high or down low. How does your seating affect how get the most power and consistency into your playing?

mr.arrison wrote:Drummists:

What is the general rule of thumb for you? Do you sit up high or down low? Is your leg at a 45 degree angle or 90 degree angle to the kit. What's the benefit of either? Toms and snare flat or angled? Cymbals up real high or down low. How does your seating affect how get the most power and consistency into your playing?

Hello, good friend

I would do what feels good.

That said, I play with the seat down because I owned a shitty seat and it wouldn't clamp into position properly and I got used to it. I like my crash cymbals high because I only use the edges and having them low feels like I am "pushing" into them. Your mileage may vary.

An excellent drummer I used to play with looked like he was sitting on a hardtail scooter when behind the kit...he used an old metal folding chair as a drum throne. It looked weird, but he was great.

As body types differ significantly, I don't think there are any hard and fast rules here...

My knee joints would be *much* closer to a 90 degree angle than 45! Maybe 100 degrees at the back of the knee or something. So sitting just a little higher than what would give a 90 degree angle.

If I sat any higher, I would need to raise the snare drum for sure, cause I don't want to hit my left leg with my snare hand.

I like my rack tom angled at maybe 45 degrees-ish. And the cymbals, too, I like them angled a bit so I'm not smashing into the edge, nor am I hitting them flat.

I have my snare almost flat, but not quite. It's angled at maybe like 5 degrees or so, with the lowest point being where my left hand stick hits the rim. I've never had another drummer approve of that setup, and they always end up repositioning the snare how they like it, which is usually more flat. 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...

Do whatever is comfortable for you, so long as no highly-knowledgeable guy tells you that it's medically dangerous or something like that.

For me, if my seat's too low, my legs are gonna not feel so good. But if it's too high, I'll have to raise the snare up or else I'll hit my leg with my left hand every time I go to hit the snare. The ideal position kinda dictates itself to me.

I know I have everything set up just right if when I play, my right hand knocks my glasses off my face if I wear them, but if I don't wear them, nothing hits anything.

i've started to play with my seat a bit higher, i find it more comfortable in the long run. i have found, since putting my seat up, that i have less bruises on my left thigh from hitting the snare.
i quite like a 4 piece set up because i can get into the ride without having to reach, you know, ride it, sit on it.
i like the snare a bit lower so i can swing into it more, but now that my seat has gone up it's a little bit higher too. angled towards me, but a little toward the middle of the drum kit so i can still get a reasonable crack with the rim/skin shot on my left hand
i find hats level quite important for comfort, may be about 4 or 5 inches above the snare. also wherever the hat pedal fits in is essential, i often find that it is not pointing at me, a little to the left, as long as i can stomp it
cymbals i like to be kind of a medium height, high enough to get a good swing at, but not so much that i have to over reach, because that gets really fucking tiring really quickly
partly the lenght of set that your band typically plays will be part of it, if the set is short you might want to have more of a swing at the cymbals and a whack at the toms. if you're playing for over an hour you'll probably want things a bit closer so you can conserve energy.

i play quite loud (which helps cover my innaccuracy) so i like the toms with a reasonable spread between them, and quite a few inches above the snare. the floor tom is usually about the same level as the snare on the inside and a few inches higher on the out

hope you find the comfy spot

ryan

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.

In my old band, I used to sit very low, but my thigh muscles got very tired having to pull my leg up and drop it (and then my shin got tired from "releasing" so to not bury the beater in the head). So since I've quit playing drums for a band, and switched to recreation-only, I've changed my style and my positions.

I like my snare flat, and someone who had been drumming much longer than me told me it should be level with my navel. When I made this change my arms got a lot less tired. FT same hight as snare and also level.

I keep flip-flopping with the rack tom between level and slightly higher than snare or angled slightly.

I also raised the hat as far up as it'd go. I play a 4 piece, so my ride/crash is kinda high, and flat, or very slightly angled, and if i play with "crashes" (usually just more ride cymbals) then they're a little higher than eye-height, and also level.

I hate the sound of wood smacking-flat against cymbals, so I don't tilt them and hit the edges.

When I made a conscious effort to switch styles like that, I also learned the fine fine art of hitting cymbals much lighter than hitting the drums. This is (underline) essential. I also started playing with the butts of my sticks, which is molto malissimo for cymbals, and molto bene for good drum tones.

Anyway, good luck

Over literally 20 years of drumming off and on, and fucking about with all sorts of fucking weird shit in terms of angles, heights, sticks, stands, and drums over that time, in the last five years been setting up the studio kit for myself in probably about as 'orthodox' manner as possible - 45 degrees knee angle on kick leg, snare at about three or four degrees towards myself with height that means my rim shot hits hit as my elbow angle also reaches about 45 degrees.

Hats are at 'boring' height. The higher you go with all cymbals the more you dig in and the more cymbal overbalanced your kit will be. The rest of it can be summarised simply as this; if you have to reach for it, it's too far away. Keep it close and ergomomic for power, clarity and balance.

Wear moulded earplugs. Use quieter cymbals. Buy the best hardware you can afford. Change the heads, and tune low.

I've never been a professional drummer, but I've been close to it.
And that's my advice.

these two steps won't specifically improve power when playing, persay, but is a good guideline to follow when setting up any kit. i didn't do this for years and then once i had, was shocked at how much more comfortable things were. this can be pulled off with one person but two makes it easier.1) move all of the kit pieces off to the side so that the only thing remaining in place is the throne. then adjust the throne so that your thigh is parallel or at a higher angle to the floor. whatever feels "correct" for you.2) with sticks in hand, close your eyes and start air drumming. where those "air drums" are is where you want to position the kit. the contact points of your imaginary kit is where you want the actual ones. this is where the second person becomes very helpful. if it's just you, start with moving the snare in to place. then kick. then tom by tom. then cymbal by cymbal. yep, that's it really. obviously some angles and heights will have to be adjusted but it's a great guideline to follow. if you try this, let me know how it works out for you.