How To Set Up Your Drum Set

Past DAVE CONSTANTIN

If you want to avoid injury, sound your best, and go the maximum efficiency and enjoyment out of your playing, you owe information technology to yourself to start with a properly bundled drum set. Keeping in mind there are most as many strongly held opinions on how to prepare upwardly your drums as at that place are drummers in the world, if you understand some bones principles, finding a setup that works with y'all rather than against you will exist much, much easier.

For this little ergonomics primer we're using a basic 5-piece kit with a crash, ride, and how-do-you-do-hat. Once yous get that core setup where y'all desire it, the sky'due south the limit for the ambitious percussive architect.

How To Ready Your Drums

THRONE

The first affair you'll want to do is get your throne adjusted to a comfortable height. This is your center of ability, so brand sure you feel centered and balanced at all times. A good place to start is with your thighs nearly parallel to the footing, with your knees just below the tops of your legs.

You'll find slight adjustments either upwards or down will state you in the sugariness spot for your particular comfort zone, while withal allowing you lot to stay well balanced as you move around the kit.

BASS DRUM

Side by side you'll want to anchor the bass drum in a primal spot, leaving plenty of room on either side to build out the kit, and enough space behind it for you to motion around freely without knocking your elbows into walls or guitar amps.

Go on in mind that your upper leg should be parallel with the drum, with a straight line running from your hip flexor all the way through to the resonant caput then that energy from your hip is focused straight downwards into your bass drum pedal. (Fig. one)

Use the spurs on the bass pulsate legs to keep the drum from sliding effectually if you're on carpet, and adjust the height of the legs so that the forepart of the bass pulsate is raised up off the flooring a hair to recoup for the elevator you're going to become on the concoction hoop when yous slide your pedal clench under it, and to let the bass pulsate to resonate freely. (Fig. 2)

back to basics drum set up stand — Fig. ii

SNARE

Adjacent you desire to place the snare drum in a comfortable position. The tiptop and angle will vary for everyone, but this may be the near crucial adjustment parameter on the whole kit since it'southward the drum y'all're going to be playing near often. Set up information technology too high and you'll be smacking the hoop all the time unintentionally; too depression and your thighs will become in the way of your down strokes.

Kickoff with something around belt-buckle meridian and arrange from there until you can hit rimshots and ghost notes comfortably and consistently at every dynamic. Traditional-grip players sometimes angle the snare away from the torso, drum corps–way (i.e., Steve Smith).

If you're playing matched grip, though, tilting the snare simply a petty toward you follows the natural bending of your sticks while playing, and is the default for most drummers. (Fig. 3)

BASS Pulsate PEDAL

Next yous'll want to attach the bass drum pedal to the bass pulsate concoction side. Most companies will include a hoop protector pad with a viscid bankroll that you can lay down on the hoop where the clamp grips on.

You want to attach the pedal clamp right in the centre of the hoop (Fig. 4) so the bass drum sits fully stable like a tripod betwixt the legs and boot pedal.

The beater height setting is an important and often overlooked consideration.

On any bass pulsate under 24″, the beater volition tend to hit the head above center — equally you tin can see on this 22″ kick (Fig. 5) — and almost expressionless middle on a 24″.

Y'all'll want to set the beater shaft in the clutch at its remainder indicate. Simply like when you pick up a pair of sticks and experience for the fulcrum, yous'll want to think in the same vein with the bass drum beater. Clamping it at the fulcrum will requite it a more responsive throw and rebound off the head.

At the same time, make sure the bottom of the beater shaft doesn't make contact with the head on the backswing or yous'll habiliment a hole into your caput before you know information technology, not to mention retarding the movement of the beater on each stroke.

Hullo-HAT

Side by side comes the hi-hat, which you want gear up with the same considerations for ergonomics as your bass drum pedal. Yous want a straight, straight line from the toe of your hi-hat pedal upwardly through your leg to your hip flexor.

The hi-hat pedal and bass drum pedal should be bundled in a symmetrical "Five" formation (Fig. 6), with y'all sitting comfortably at the apex, your snare drum directly between your legs without your thighs touching information technology.

back to basics hi hat and snare — Fig. 6

Hi-hat height is some other important but very personal choice, which depends a lot on your playing style.

If yous're playing a strictly open-handed style on the hi-lid and snare (Fig. 7), where your hands do not cantankerous over, then you can set your hi-hat quite depression.

Virtually players use a typical crossover technique, so you'll want to leave some room for your left hand to play the snare strokes comfortably. If you lot're an aggressive punk or metal drummer, y'all may want to leave a lot of room for the left paw, and place your hats upwards effectually chest height (i.e., Branden Steineckert of Rancid). Most drummers play some combination of open-handed and crossover playing, and and so the height of the hi-hats will be somewhere in between.

(Fig. viii) Remember that you want to be able to hands switch betwixt stick tip and shoulder on the bow and edge of the hi-hats, respectively, for accents and rhythmic variation.

Find the height that allows you to comfortably alternate those stick positions with alternating eighth-notes while playing a backbeat (beats ii and 4) on the snare. If yous can play everything easily and you don't find your hands getting tangled up, you've probably found your ideal hi-hat height.

Some other important thing to go on in mind at this bespeak is that you shouldn't exist overreaching for annihilation on your kit. While sitting upright and centered, your hello-chapeau and snare should exist easily reachable and comfy to play without overextending at all. This especially comes into play when nosotros add the toms.

TOMS

When arranging the toms, imagine a half-circle running from loftier tom to flooring, with the center of each tom caput bisected past that imaginary half-circle line.

(Fig. nine) If yous concur your sticks out so the tips strike the center of your high tom, yous should be able to but rotate on your throne without changing the bending of your elbows at all and be able to strike the eye of the other two toms.

This system allows you to practice fast, comfortable tom runs and reach every major part of your kit with a minimum of try and without expending whatever actress energy worrying about readjusting for accuracy.

Naturally, the height and angle of the toms are every bit important here. It helps to set mounted toms all to the same height and bending so y'all don't have to do whatsoever unnecessary or extraneous body movements on the wing. (Fig. 10)

Also, you desire to set up each tom then that its angle, like the bending of the snare drum, reflects the natural angle of set on from your sticks. (Fig. 11)

Setting the mounted toms at too steep an angle is a common error offset drummers make, and all information technology does is ensure you wear out drumheads faster and don't go the optimum rebound off the caput. Ready the drums so you can striking them at the correct angle and tiptop without raising or lowering your arm, shoulder, or wrist in some unnatural way. This is where your ain personal feel and intuition will dictate what works best for you lot. Besides, be sure the bottom hoops of your mounted toms aren't touching your bass drum, both for sonic and aesthetic reasons.

Every bit for floor toms, the aforementioned rules employ as for the mounted toms, but a good place to start is to mirror the elevation of your snare drum with the flooring tom angled in toward you merely a chip. (Fig. 12)

This way, at that place's minimal difference in positioning and body mechanics when you move back and forth betwixt the snare and floor toms.

CYMBALS

The last pace is calculation the rest of your cymbals. At bare minimum, you'll probably be using ane crash and one ride (or crash/ride) to outset.

A good position for a single crash (probably something in the 16″ range) is simply above the snare and loftier tom.

(Fig. 13)

Like the drums, you shouldn't accept to reach for the cymbal in any way that would compromise your center of gravity. Ideal cymbal height is, you lot guessed it, whatever feels well-nigh comfy to you lot, but keep in mind that the higher you put your cymbals, the greater the separation you'll become when you brainstorm to get into miking. The above the cymbal, the less cymbal bleed you'll become in your tom mikes.

The ride cymbal placement should be high enough and at an angle to where you can get to your low and floor toms easily, but close enough where y'all don't take to overreach when playing the bell with the shoulder of the stick.

Play with diverse heights and angles until y'all find something that allows for the greatest freedom of move and allows you to stay centered on the throne.

Remember, these are just suggestions to get you started. Yous'll see drummers playing any manner of extremes of kit setup, but you'll never go wrong if yous go on the basics outlined here as your guide.

In the end, it's all about your human relationship with your drums, and how your kit makes you feel, so when in doubt, go with what feels right.