Free Deals and Offers

Best Drum Set | Buying Guide : Things to consider while buying a Drum Set

This guide will help you find the right drum sets and drum hardware. Whether the grooves you hold down are heavy metal, R&B, country, reggae, jazz, pop, blues, or good old rock ‘n’ roll, we’ve got the gear and know-how to hook you up with the right stuff.

From affordable starter drum sets to sophisticated, arena-worthy acoustic and electronic drum kits, we’ll help you choose the right combination of gear that matches your budget, music, and percussion skills. You’ll learn about all the elements that go into drum and cymbal making, and what to consider when shopping for drums. You’ll also learn about crucial accessories, drum hardware, plus the learning and practice tools to make you a better drummer.

Shells

The actual drum parts of a drum kit (snare drum, bass drum and toms) are called shells.

Different shells are made from different woods and the sound of the drums is heavily distinguished by what wood it is made of.

It is up to you to choose what wood you want that will suit your style of playing.

The several types of wood are as follows:

• Birch – Birch drums are loud. Birch is a hard, dense wood which contributes to its loudness and makes for a brighter sounding kit.
• Maple – Maple is very plentiful and commonly used for drum shells. It is very versatile and works well with all styles of music.
• Mahogany – Mahogany has a lot of low end power. This means your drums will give a ‘THUMP’ when you hit them.
• Poplar – Poplar is present in a lot of cheaper drum kits. The sound quality produced will not be as good as the other woods.

Hardware

Drum hardware refers to the parts of the drum kit that are used to position the drums.

This includes stands for the cymbals and tom mounts. Pedals also fall under the hardware category.

It is important to have good hardware as it will last longer and make you more comfortable as you play.

Cheaper hardware will not be as sturdy and will make your cymbals move around.

You will need to have cymbal stands and a hi-hat stand. These stands will either be single or double-braced.

Double-braced stands will give more support from the bottom of the stand which in turn will make it feel very sturdy.

The next pieces of hardware to look out for are pedals. The ones that you will start out with will be the kick drum pedal and the hi-hat pedal.

The hi-hat pedal will be attached to a hi-hat stand. You will get pedals with no base underneath and pedals that have a base.

The kick pedal with a base will feel much sturdier than one without a base.

The kit that you buy will likely come with stands to mount the toms, either on the kick drum or the cymbal stands.

Getting good hardware at the start is important because you may get a new kit in the future and keep the hardware that you already have.

Cymbals

Cymbals are essential to any drum setup. You’ll want to find cymbals that fit the style of music you play.

Cymbals have different qualities to them and each cymbal will sound different.

A general drum setup will have crash cymbals, a ride cymbal and hi-hats.

Crash cymbals range from 14” to 20”. It will be beneficial to buy two for your drum kit as having one on each side of the kit will make it easier to play the crash sound whenever you need to.

Ride cymbals are generally bigger. They range from 20” to 24”. Most drum setups will have one ride cymbal.

The hi-hats are arguably the most important cymbals on the kit. So, it is important to prioritize getting it over the other cymbals.

Drum heads

The membranes over the drum shells are referred to as drum heads. All drum kits will come with stock heads.

These stock heads will sound perfectly fine if you are buying your very first drum kit.

It is an option, though, to buy better quality drum heads. These will make the drums sound much better if you tune them properly.

You can get someone from your local music store to tune them.

Bass Drum Pedals

Nowadays, there is an astounding selection of bass drum pedals to choose from. They range from simple, inexpensive single-pedal models to the sophisticated double pedals favored by rock, metal, and fusion drummers. You’ll find pedals with double beaters for use with single bass drums, double pedals with single beaters intended for dual bass drum kits, and dozens of other configurations. Reading reviews by pro drummers as well as the many customer-written reviews on the Musician’s Friend website will help you hone in on the pedal that best matches your budget and music.

Drum Thrones

Most drum sets do not include a drum throne. It’s not advisable to use anything other than a drum throne to sit on, as thrones allow height adjustment, are compact, disassemble for easy transport, and include padding to make for a comfortable playing experience. A well designed drum stool can help you play better thanks to its superior ergonomics.

Drum and Cymbal Stands and Racks

There is a stand to mount virtually any drum, percussion instrument, or cymbal known to man. Choosing the best drum, percussion, or cymbal stand comes down to your drum kit’s configuration, components and your budget.

Some modern drum sets offer an alternative to mounting drums and cymbals on stands, employing a frame-like structure called a drum rack. Racks can also be purchased separately and offer a compact way to mount multiple toms and cymbals using the least floor space. Musician’s Friend sells hundreds of different drum and cymbal stands and racks to match up with virtually any drum kit setup and budget.

Snare Drums

The snare drum’s crisp, snappy voice cuts through any mix, keeping the groove moving, adding accents, and interacting with the soloists. This drum’s distinctive sound comes from the metal wires, or snares, that are held in place against the thin bottom head of the drum with a device called a strainer that’s mounted on the shell. The snares can be released for a high tom or timbale-like sound.

Snare drums are traditionally made of either metal or wood. Metal snare drums, made of steel, brass, aluminum, and other alloys, offer an exceptionally bright, cutting tone. Many drummers prefer the warmer, mellower sound that a wood snare offers. Snare drums are generally 14″ in diameter and range in depth from 3-1/2″ to 8″. That said, today there are a huge number of specialty snare drum sizes and materials available.

Many drummers buy additional snare drums to use in special situations. Piccolo, soprano, and sopranino snare drums are specialty snares that are progressively smaller-sized and higher-pitched than a standard snare drum. The popcorn snare is a 6″ x 10″ specialty snare drum with popping, high-pitched tone. These specialty snare drums are used by drummers who play modern electronica styles such as drum ‘n’ bass, trance, and jungle that require a higher-pitched snare sound.

Electronic Drums

An electronic drum set (occasionally referred to as electric drums) has some unique advantages. You can plug in headphones for nearly silent practice. In the recording studio, you can run a signal directly from the electronic drum module to the mixing board, making it easier and faster to get a good drum sound.

Another advantage with an electronic drum set is the ability to call up hundreds of different drum and percussion sounds. Electronic kits use rubber or mesh pads to trigger a variety of sounds contained in a digital drum module. Acoustic drummers who prefer an acoustic set but want to be able to produce alternative sounds may do so with the use of drum triggers. These small sensors attach to your drum heads and trigger sounds from an external electronic drum module.

Drum Sticks and Brushes

Drum sticks come in as many sizes and shades as the players who use them, and drummers often use different sticks for different styles of music. In general, heavier sticks such as 2Bs are favored for rock and R&B styles where more volume is needed. Lighter sticks like 7As tend to be favored for jazz, folk, acoustic, and other styles that require less volume. Experimentation is the key here, so try out a lot of different sticks to find the types that are right for you. Many drummers like using heavier sticks for practicing than for gigging in order to develop strength and stamina.

The numbers used in drum stick manufacturing, such as 5A, 5B, 2B, 3S, and 7A, come from the earliest days of drum stick manufacturing, when a number and letter were assigned based on the stick’s size and application. The numerical part signifies the circumference of the stick. In general, the lower the number, the larger the circumference and the higher the number, the smaller the circumference. For example, a 7A stick is smaller in circumference than a 5A which in turn is narrower than the 2B. An exception is the 3S, which has a larger circumference than a 2B despite the number.

As for the letter designations, “S” stands for “street,” as these large sticks were designed for street applications such as marching band. “B” sticks were intended for “band” applications like symphonic and brass bands. 2Bs continue to be recommended by drum teachers as ideal starter sticks. “A” refers to orchestral drum sticks, which are smaller in circumference than “B” series sticks and continue to be very popular with rock and jazz players. Why does “A” stand for orchestral? Reportedly this convention reflects the preference of William F. Ludwig of the Ludwig drum company, who simply felt it printed better.

Stick tips come in a choice of wood or nylon. Wood tips have a softer, warmer sound, while nylon tips offer increased durability and brilliant, focused cymbal sound.

Brushes are commonly used in place of sticks for playing ballads, quieter jazz tunes, and other acoustic music styles. Brushes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials. Configurations include telescoping and non-telescoping; metal bristles, plastic bristles, loop ends, ball ends; and handles of wood, rubber, aluminum, etc.

Lately a profusion of bundled sticks or “rods” have become available, marketed under a variety of names. They all consist of rods or dowels of various thicknesses bundled together for a sound that’s somewhere between sticks and brushes. Bundled sticks are ideal for low-volume playing and practice.

Drum set configurations

The configuration of a drum set refers to the number and size of the drums. Configurations often get named after the style of music they’re best suited for, but any good drum set is versatile enough to tackle many different styles. However, many drum companies offer a diverse range of configurations and drum setups. These are just a few of the most common types you’ll come across.

Standard

A standard drum set very often consists of a 5-piece shell pack featuring a snare drum, two rack toms, one floor tom and a bass drum. The toms are slightly larger in diameter and depth than the fusion configuration. You will most often find this configuration on complete drum sets aimed at beginner drummers. This configuration gives new drummers a good starting point to discover what sound they’re looking for and is versatile for many styles of music.

Fusion

A fusion kit is usually a 5- or 6-piece drum set featuring a snare, two rack toms, one or two floor toms and a bass drum. A fusion kit shares a similar configuration with a standard drum set, except the rack toms and floor toms are typically smaller in diameter, and, in some instances, have shallower depths as well. These shallow-depth toms are called “fast toms.” You’ll often find a fusion setup in funk, pop, hip-hop, R&B and rock music.

Rock

A rock configuration is usually a 4-piece kit featuring a snare, one rack tom, one floor tom and one bass drum. However, some rock kits include two floor toms. The sizes found in this configuration are usually larger, producing a lower overall tone that’s associated with rock music. They are not limited to just rock, though, and can be tuned to fit many different styles.

Bop/Jazz

A bop kit is also referred to as a jazz kit or a jazzette kit. This configuration is usually a 4-piece drum set featuring a snare, one rack tom, one floor tom, and a bass drum. The shell sizes are small and produce higher tones typically found in jazz and bebop.