April 10, 2006

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                    Odyssey  -  Pearlbamboo Takes on the Drumkit

              

  A vintage Pearl drum kit - One snare drum, a bass drum, two tom-toms  - plus cymbals:-  8" Sabian Hi-Hat Splash,10" UFIP splash,13" Sabian HHX Manhattan Jazz Hi-Hats,20" Sabian Artisan Ride, 20" Zildjian K Constantinople Ride, 21" Sabian Signature Fierce Ride, 22" Sabian Raw Ride.  You can see the foot pedals for the bass drum and for the hi-hat.  Ride cymbals on the right, the crash above the hi-hat on the left. Thread about this drumkit is here.

  And the beat goes on.  

  In its present form, the basic drumkit consists of a snare drum on a stand and a bass drum that rests on the floor and is played with a pedal, usually with the right foot.  There are two or three tom-toms, some raised and attached to the bass drum, the largest one resting on stand on the floor.  These have a full, resonant open sound, unlike the snare drum with its rattling metal snares.

  Then there are cymbals.  For basic stuff, three will do.  One needs a hi-hat, two smaller cymbals on a metal stand, placed usually to the drummer's left and played with the left foot on a pedal and/or with a stick, sometimes with both.  A crash cymbal does exactly that - it makes a loud and sharp crashing sound, as opposed to the rather dry sound of the hi-hats, of a short duration.  The ride cymbal rides the music, frequently keeps the rhythm.  It produces a shimmering, even purring sound that lasts, "sustain" is the drummer's word, unlike the crash cymbal's fast decay.

  This website has gold - mp3 clips of all the various cymbals he carries - hi-hats, rides, crashes, splashes, chinas, all played alone and with a drumkit. .

  If you listen - knowing the different sounds, the crash and the shimmering rhythmic ride sound, the somewhat dry tic of the hi-hat - you can begin to distinguish which is which.when you're listening to music. That's cool.  

  The drummer's chair?  Yes, it's called the throne.

  For more detailed information on drumkit componants, you can follow the links here.

  Layout?  The wiki article has a lousy picture of layout.  I've not yet found one I like that really shows things from the drummer's perspective AND labels the componants, but I'm not done looking.

  I can't get the drum kit sounds in the main wiki article to load. 

  But there is a neat home video here, in the first post in the thread by fourstringdrums (scroll down a little), that I found while cruising drum forums.  

  This drummer reverses the layout of his instruments to compensate for problems with his right leg, using his stronger left leg to play the bass drum, but the videos are so nifty, never mind.   He not only provides a diagram, but goes through each item in the drum kit to show its sound.  Right-handed drummers would normally have the hi-hat on the left, toms on the right with the ride cymbols.

  Some drummers add things - a second bass drum, a double bass drum pedal, more cymbals, sometimes lots more, more toms, roto toms tuned to a pitch, or embellishments like cowbells.   

  If this piques your curiosity, there is a forum with a section for posting pictures of one's kit here.  Many of the drummers have photographed their kits from above, the most helpful view for me, but don't label the parts, only list them.  If you don't know a crash from a ride visually, that makes it hard, but I still found the threads fascinating.  

  The drumkit didn't always look like this, nor did it boogie fully formed out of the mists of antiquity.  The next post will be on the history and development of the drumkit and the changes in styles that accompanied and frequently drove the changes, with as many links as I can find to players from the different eras.

  Spang a lang, spang a lang, (go ahead, google it) and so long for now. 

   

  pearlbamboo

   

  Here is some gravy. Tony Royster at 12. The tom-toms are the ones with the reddish brown drumheads, the snare the one just in front of him with the white drumhead. His hi-hat is just on his left, played either with the pedal, the sticks or both. Keep an eye when you can on his legs and listen for the sort of soft boom boom boom of the bass drum - he gets kind of fast on that - while his left leg plays the hats and his arms are in some other part of the beat or even a different rhythm. Limb independence, that's what they call it.

   

   

  • 8:04 pm
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