In this post, I am going to talk about Drums Overview.

It is important to know all the pieces of a Drum Kit. The basic drum set can be a four-piece or or a five-piece set up. It consists of the:

• SNARE DRUM: It is the most widely used percussion instrument learnt to play first, used in a drum set and also used in marching bands and other applications. When tuned properly, the snare drum sounds very crisp something like “Pak” or “Tak” or like the word “Rattata” (excuse my skills in phonetics!).

• BASS DRUM: It is a large drum set in a central spot, a kick drum struck with a beater attached to a pedal seen on drum kits.

• CYMBALS: The cymbals are round plate-like objects that are made of various alloys. When struck it resonates. A basic Drum kit consists of a Ride cymbal, a Crash cymbal,  and a pair of Hi-hat cymbals. The ride cymbals do not provide much of an ‘accent’ (high-pitch) compared to the crash which produces a loud, sharp sound when struck. The Hi-hat shaped like a Hat is a standard part of the drum kit. It consists of two cymbals one on top of the other and a pedal which is used to hold the cymbals together, either for closing or opening. The upper cymbal can be dropped on the lower cymbal by using the pedal. There are many good cymbal-making brands like Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, Meinl, etc.

The difference between ride and crash cymbal is that ride cymbals are thinner and crash cymbals are thicker. A ride cymbal is used just like a hi-hat (left of the snare with two cymbals) and sounds “tink, tink, tink” when played soft. But when played hard, it can be played like a crash cymbal which will sound “tieshhhhhhhhhh!”.

• TOM-TOMS: There are three types of Tom-Toms: Low Tom-Tom, High Tom-Tom and Floor Tom. These are cylindrical drums with no snare sound. The Low tom and High tom are mounted on the bass drum left and right. The floor tom stands on the floor on three legs.

• THRONE OR STOOL: The Throne or the Stool is where you sit on it in an upright position with the left foot on the hi-hat pedal and right foot on the bass pedal with positive energy focused on the drum set. Make yourself comfortable at all times. The whole kit should not be too twisted or constricted in any way for you.

The above are the basic parts of a Drum Kit.

This is just an overview of a basic drum set. Many great drummers have a bigger drum kit sometimes, extremes. But a basic five-piece drum set will help you get started and help you progress.

Check out the next post on the series of  Knowing Your Drum Set Part II: How To Set Up A Drum Kit

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