Adding to my drum kit
Yesterday I my new(ish) kit had its first outing at a @theriverkicks rehearsal. That meant packing it all up. I have not got proper drum bags yet, so I improvised with a holdall and a grocery bag. The bass drum had to go 'naked'. The hardware mostly went in a large wheeled suitcase. I managed to get it down to six things I needed to carry. Luckily I could park near our venue in Hitchin. There were seven of us there including three other Hivers: @daniellemurray, @purplesinger and @anna-newkey.
Setting it all up again did not take too long. I have had the rug for a while. It is specifically for drums with a rubber backing and gives the spikes on some of the kit something to grip on whilst protecting the floor. You do not want things sliding around. I have a mount for my tablet on the microphone stand so that I can see all the tunes. Even when drumming I need to see lyrics and I can also keep track of how long the tunes are.
When I found this kit I was looking for something compact and I think it is ideal for our folk band as that does not require a big rock kit.
Hanging off the floor tom is my stick bag. I took a selection of implements with me, some of which are new.
I am still figuring out brush technique, but they can be good for some jazzy tunes. The soft mallets are good for atmospheric cymbals and there is one of our tunes in particular where that is needed. You can flip them around to use as regular drumsticks. Next are some 'rods' that are made from bundles of thin dowels. These are a bit quieter than regular sticks and that is a factor when playing in this situation as we cannot be playing really loud there. I do not want to drown out the other musicians. I am working on playing softer anyway. You may see that there are cushions in the bass drum that muffle the sound a lot.
The yellow circle is a Drum Honey. These are sticky gels that dampen the drums a little. I find the snare 'rings' a fair bit and the floor tom tends to resonate, so these help to control that.
When I bought the kit it came with some high hats and a ride cymbal that I suspect the previous owner had bought used. I felt I needed a crash cymbal too and so bought this fairly cheap one. I have to say the sound is not exactly what I want. It is more of a 'clang' than a 'tish'. I will look into getting something else, but I will probably have to spend a bit more. Cymbals can cost hundreds of pounds with some being mostly hand made. The material varies too with cheaper ones being brass and the better ones variants of bronze. The choice is vast, so I need to try some. I knew that I want going to have to spend more money to get a decent setup and I have a wish-list.
The session was great fun and I hope it sounded good to the others. There will be recordings, but I will have to see if the others are happy to share any of those. I found I was playing a bit louder than I do at home and I am finding lots of variations I can do with the high hats. By opening them to various degrees there are different sounds to be had and you can snap them closed to create accents. I am developing the ability to keep them going with my left foot whilst playing other parts of the kit.
I hope this is the first of many outings for my kit. I shall be looking for opportunities to play.
Rock on!
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I also play drums too. Some of your sticks I’m seeing them for the first time in my life. Bet your drum sounds better than mine😂
Have you posted about your drums on Hive? Put something in the Drumming community. What you have is not as important as how you play.
I’ve not posted about my drum.
Thanks for the idea I’ll do just that.
That's a lot of packing! I hope your kit gets to go out more in future.
Is the bass drum the largest one that is sitting sideways in your setup?
It's the one you play with your foot.
I'm glad to see you are picking up some new gear to round out your set! It looks like you are more than ready to rock!
Do you think I need a cowbell?
Only if you are going to start covering some Blue Oyster Cult songs :)
They are used in other tunes you know.
I know!
That's a good looking kit. Love the many sticks, you will have something for all occasions!
GAS is big in drumming as well as guitar. You can always add to a kit.
Very true!!!
Aaah your kit is all grown up. Went for it's first outing and everything. I really love the colour hey! Turquoise is my fav!
!PIZZA
I'm happy enough with the colour considering it's just what was available. I'm not that fussed about what instruments look like generally, but they can be really fancy.
!BEER
yeah i guess its just a bonus if the colour and aesthetics goes with your preference!
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Oh my. That sounds great fun and, even more so, that you get to play with other Hivers. What tunes did you play?
We play a mix of folky stuff from medieval to modern. I hope to get some recordings online fairly soon.
This is awesome! I don't play drums but how I wish I could have that for my home church
You’ve got so many drumming instruments that can help you achieve your aim
I’m sure you enjoyed the session
Didn't I say I did?
It's a really good little kit Steve. Ideal for the folk band sound. I thought you played very sensitively and the balance was good. The high hat in particular sounds great because it's got all those lovely jangly high pitches. Thanks for letting me try it out. I wish I had room for a real kit. I have missed playing real drums. The bounce of the sticks and nuances you can create with them are so far away from what you get on a standard electric kit.
Cheers. It's definitely a different beast to an e-kit. I'm still getting used to the feel and exploring the sounds.
!BEER
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BEER.It's been fun to watch you shift more into drums and sharing your learning experiences as you go.
This one section in your post took me back in time:
Packing and unpacking gear of any sort is the only downside to events. For me it has been audio and video equipment, but I imagine your musical equipment would be the same. You tear down your studio set, pack it up, put it in the car, unpack it at you destination. set it up, do the event. Then tear everything down at the end of the event, pack the car (again), drive back home, unpack your gear into the house. Then sleep and eventually resetup your gear in the studio. For me that was usually a few days later. After many events I wound up creating a travel set that would allow me to not have to tear down my studio every time.
I don't play out too often, but on guitar tends to stay in its bag ready for the next one. I have set the drums up again at home. It doesn't take too long. With my previous setup I had to pinch various bits from my electronic kit and needed a checklist as I managed to forget some for rehearsals. Messing around with cables each time can be tricky.
I wouldn't want to be playing gigs every week, but a few each year would be fine.
I've bought the same cables or adapters more times than I care to count because I misplaced them between tear downs and setups. Occasionally, a duplicate cable or adapter pops up.
Well you need spares if doing gigs. I have ordered a pack of cymbal fixings as I am bound to lose some of those. There are small things that can mess you up if they go missing.
I hope your bandmates will give you a-ok as I would really like to see your first outing with your drums. I have always loved them but balked at practicing with them in apartments and carrying them around if needed. I realize now that both were childish concerns :)
I love how your kit looks in photos. the first thing i though of when seeing the set up in you main photo of the kit is looks like a Beatles drum set once they allowed Ringo some toms :)
I took out my bass the other day after almost 5 years. Unluckily it did not work. not sure if my pickups are shot or something wrong with cable. Caught up at work at the moment. Probably next week will take it into a shop to check.
Having played a few gigs where I had to lug various gear it's not such a big deal to take the drums along. Some people think that the standard four piece kit is all you need and it worked for Ringo. The smaller bass drum makes it more portable plus there is a cymbal stand built in so you need less of those. It's all very practical.
I hope you can get the bass sorted soon.
Oh wow awesome! You have almost the same drumkit than me, in the same color!! :D
Can you tell me the size of your floor tom? And is it also by TAMA?
This is the Tama Club Jam set. Floor tom is 14"x7". It's all ideal for my needs. There will always be extra things I need though.