Drums & Drumming Glossary and Terms


 

 

 

   If you've found some unfamiliar terms used on this or another site ?.  Learning to play the Drums like any musical instrument can be really confusing at first, as their are a number of specialize terms, fellow drummers may be using that your not familiar with.  This is normal really, even for mature musicians, as their are new terms, techniques and products being developed all the time...  So, I'll try my best to cover some of the most common terms to the best of my knowledge.  Please Feel free to aid me in the process..

 

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 Drum Kit (5 piece) Snare Drum(s) The Snare Chains Free Floating Snare


 

 Drum Kit: (5 piece)      (also known as  Drum Set)

                The 5 piece Drum kit has become a popular standard throughout the last couple of decades.  Normally a 5 piece Drum Kit will consist of the following drums,

  •  Bass Drum (The Large Drum on Floor with the "Yamaha Logo on The Front" )
  •  Two Mounted Tom's  ( The Two Small Drums pictured front left and front right, connected to the bass drum)
  •  Floor Tom (Pictured rear left, partially hidden behind one of the mounted toms) 
  •  and a Snare Drum  (pictured rear right, almost completely hidden by the right hand mounted tom)

                As would have noticed a Drum Kit includes a variety of different drums, each of which have a difference function and sound too.   To count the number pieces any drum kit includes, you only count the actual drums. Cymbals and Stands are not included.

                The size or  diameter of each drum is still normally given in inches, rather than center meters.  During the 1980's a standard 5 piece Drum Kit included a 22inch bass drum, 14inch  snare drum, a 12 & 13 inch tom, and a 16inch floor tom.  It wasn't uncommon to see drummers throughout the 1980's using 7, 8 , 9 , 10 piece drum kits.  Double bass Drum sets were particularly popular. These sets suited 80's music scene well.  They were designed to give a deep rich sound, and they did that perfectly.

                The 90's saw a new trend evolve, a sidestep away from the larger drum sets towards a downsized & easily portable 4 piece drum set.  A four piece kit would generally include a 22inch bass drum, 14inch snare, 12inch tom & a 16inch floor tom. 

                 As with all trends in music the public's taste and popular music is again changing. Thus, today we are seeing the 5 piece return to favor.  Although, In a more modern configuration.  Today's 5 piece kit  still includes a 22inch bass drum, 14inch snare but this time is more likely to have different sized toms, i.e. 10 & 12 inch toms and 14 or 15 inch suspended floor tom.  These kit's are designed to produce a better range of sounds for the player.   These give a higher, brighter sound and are more generally suited to today's, pop and rock players.   A 20 inch bass drum has also become a popular option among drummers.

                 A Drum kit will also include what's called Hardware, this refers to the bonus stands, tom mounts, clamps (if any) and pedals.  Normally a kit will include a Hi Hat stand, one Cymbal stand, A tom Mount and a bass drum pedal.  A stool and cymbals are generally NOT included.  

 


Snare Drum:

                 Since the Snare Drum is the most prominent and important sound on the drum set, there are any number of different types a drummer might wish to use.  It's quite common for a drummers to have various types of snare drums to suite the particular demands of the music they play.

                 Changing the Size of your Snare drum will alter the pitch and sound, other variables that can change the sound character of your snare, are the type of material it's made from.   Snare Drums can be made from Steel (pictured),  Brass,  Maple, Birch and various other specialized wood products.  

                 Snare Drums made from wood materials are either made from rounded ply wood or are cut from a large single Solid piece of wood.  Generally speaking, the solid one's produce the better quality sound and are a lot more expensive also.

 


The Snare Chains:

                 The snare is the most used and prominent sound on the drum set.  In the 90's snare drums are normally tuned to a high bright pitch, it gives a short sharp 'pop' sound.(.    The Snare is also quite a unique drum too, as the sound it produces isn't purely made from the drum itself.. On the underside of the Snare Drum, are the 'Snare' chains, these are firmly tensioned against the bottom drum skin. When the snare is hit the vibrations produce the  "ka" sound. 

                  A drummer can choose to use the snare drum with or without the Snares turned on.  On The side of the snare there is a tension level, that once enabled pulls the snares firmly across the bottom drum skin, or if they disabled it removed them completely. And thus reverts the drum to it's original sound.

 


Free Floating Snare:

                Pictured above we have a free Floating Brass Snare Drum as Made by the Pearl Drum company.   Click on the picture to view the larger version... Examine it and return.... Done it ?... Well read on.

                If you checked  the picture closely you'll see that the tension rods, the silver rods that hold the Skins on the drum are actually suspended in mid air, and make no contact for the Brass Snare Drum Shell at all.  This gives various benefits to the drum and the drummer. Firstly, it normally makes the drum much easier to tune,  and enables a drummer to completely change his snare drum, via only a change shells.

                The biggest benefit is Sound quality though.  Since the shell doesn't have the Tension rods attached to it,  it's allowed too resonate naturally. Rather than having it's sound muted or interfered with by the tension rods.. 

 

 

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