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Shopping Advice for Drummers

General

• The Drum Tuning Bible by Scott Johnson, better konwn as Prof. Sound, explains, beside the tuning process, also the sound shaping components of drums. I am not saying you should read this before buying a drum set, but just in case you are interested ...

• Beside that you find a lot of superficial statements articulated in discussions, forums, or social networks. Some of those might be true, others are wrong; some even contradict each other. Many self-proclaimed experts do not base their statements on experience, but just parrot what they read or heard from other doubtful sources. Unfortunately this sometimes even applies to skilful drummers or even music dealers that tell you what they have heard or sounds logical to them.

• Of course I can recommend all of my own instruments to those who have similar sound preferences as I.

Selecting Drums (general)

• The type of wood has a subtle impact on the sound of a drum, but that should not be over-estimated. Don't hesitate to pick a drum set that is not made of maple.

• Poplar wood is a bit special: The poplar sets that I have played seemed not to support open sounds with a lot of sustain and projection. That includes also the much praised Sonor Force 2000. This is not to say they are bad drums. Apart from the price advantage, they are rather easy to tune for a beginner and easy to handle in a live or studio context.

• Some drum brands have a very specific sound, no matter what series you pick. I know that is a bold statement, but in my ears Sonor and DW drums come with these brand specific sound elements, and I guess that this is the case for some other brands, too. I met experienced drummers who share this opinion.

• Good drum heads (and appropriate tuning) can help the cheapest drum to produce a decent sound. No drum set is too bad for good drum heads, provided that the bearing edges are ok and it is not a toy (e.g. a new kit at 150 EUR). But entry level drum sets (like what you get at >350 EUR in 2022) deserve good heads and proper tuning and will pay back with a sound that suffices for rehearsals and concerts.

• When the drum you consider to buy reverbarates or booms, do not consider this a bad thing: Too much tone can be controlled by tuning or (not my preference) by some muffling. Thus, I rather get disappointed when a new tom with standard tuning and without muffling sounds »pretty dry«. Beginners like that, but for the experienced drummer it indicates that the shell absorbs the tone and does not give it back. It just kills too much of the vibration you produced on the drum head. From such a »naturally dry« sounding drum you cannot get an interesting sound and projection. On the opposite side of things: When a new drum welcomes me with long sustain, boom, and singing, it just shows its potential. The drum key allows to control that in case it seems too much. And if it is still more than the sound engineer can handle, muffling (moongel) comes to the rescue.

• Evaluating a drum's sound has its pitfalls. In addition to the drum itself you hear many more sound relevant elements like the drum stick and the room in which you are trying it out. The challenge is to find out what sound is achievable with it. That is: How will this drum or drum set sound once I put on the heads that support the desired sound, tune them accordingly, and play them in the target environment (home, rehearsal room, stage, studio, ...).

  This leaves a lot of room for surprise. Listening to the (unmicrophoned) drum set of other drummers might help you to build an oppinion on the direction to look. When testing and taking decisions, I recommend to consult professional drum techs or experienced drummers. Their support in selecting drums may include a visit to music stores once you found a favorite. Don't forget to ask them if they charge for that, to give them a tip or invite them to dinner once the deal is done..

Bass Drum

• The diameter of bass drums is often 20" or 22", but it should be noted that these sizes are not always appropriate. Many drum dealers just ask »20 or 22 inches?« Many drummers select 18" bass drums just to simplify transportation. Think about sound first when selecting the bass drum diameter. In many cases, bigger bass drums (like 24" or 26") support the desired sound much better. The surface of a 24" (26") bass drum head is 44% (69%) bigger than that of a 20" head. Kicking a bigger drum head moves more air, plus the bigger head can be tune deeper. Make up you mind by thinking and asking around. Discuss with drummers who have consciously chosen their bass drum dimensions. Bigger bass drums do not only support the hard & heavy guys, but even in brass bands the lower tone and the extra push potential of a bigger bass drum would be a real asset. Did you ever hear how poor a 20" bass drum sounds in a concert waltz?

  The bass drum depth has less impact on the sound than the diameter, but still matters. Some drummers just follow the trends, which go back and forth between »depth is power« (18", 20"), medium (16"), and »old school« (14"). Experts say that shallow bass drums produce a quicker, deeper, and more powerful sound.

  Once you know what bass drum size supports your sound preference, also consider transportation. If 26"x18" do not fit into your car, reduce the depth and if needed also the diameter a bit. Life is a compromise.

• Big bass drums can challenge playing ergonomics.. If you prefer two rack toms and a relatively low seating (or if you are not too tall), a big bass drum diameter can make it difficult to hit rack toms that are mounted over the bass drum. Make sure you can easily access all drums with the drum sticks. If the bass drum height does not allow to mount the rack toms deep enough, consider a smaller bass drum diameter or a different tom setup. In case you use only one rack tom, move that further to the side so that it is no longer over but rather beside the bass drum. In case you use two rack toms you move one to the side (as just mentioned) and move the second tom to the other side, beside the floor tom. That gives you more a »one up two down« setup, i.e. like having one rack tom and two floor toms - quote popular these days.

• If you want to use your new drum set for live performance, buy also spare bass drum heads. In case a head breaks it can take days until you get a new one from your local or online shop.

Snaredrum

There is an enormous number of different snare drums on the market. So much variety is confusing. The good thing is that drum sets are usually delivered with a snare drum that matches the overall charcteristic of the set.

• Material groups: Snare drums can be made of wood, metal, or plastic.

  Wooden snare drums are usually made of maple, birch, beech, mahogany, basswood, poplar, or other woods. I don't hear a lot of difference between the different types of wood, so I would say it does not matter too much which wood the snare drum is made of. The sound of wooden snare drums is very popular; warm and with a wide frequency spectrum. Via tuning you can get a wide range of sounds out of a wooden snare drum.

  Metal snare drums are made from steel, brass, bronze, alluminum, or other metal, and all of them come with their distinct sound. I would say metal snare drums sound more aggressive, project well, and allow a really high sound.

• Shell construction:

  Wooden snare drums may be constructed as a number of plies. Modifying the number and thickness of the plies determines the thickness of the shell. Combining different types of wood has further subtle impact on the sound. As an alternative to shells composed of layers some manufacturers apply barrel construction techniques, building a segmented snare drum from segmental arcs of wood.

  Metal shells might be constructed from seamless or welded sheet metal, or even casted. The shell can be with bead(s) or just flat.

• Diameters: For a long time almost everybody was playing 14 inch snare drums. In the meantime many are playing also 13" as their main snare drum; less people go for 15". Small diameters like 10" or 12" are often used as side snare or for special effects.

• Shell Depth: Typical snare drums are in the range from 3" to 8". Shallow snare drums, often called piccolo snares, are more suited for high pitch; 6.5" to 8" support a deep, dry sound (some call it vintage rock sound).

• Snare Wires and Hoops: Hoops are manufactured from steel, die cast, and sometimes wood. Snare wires are avaiable for each snare drum diameter and in differnt widths (i.e. different numbers of snares). These hardware components have an impact on the sound, but to be honest I never cared too much and just took what the designer / manufacturer mounted to my snare drums.

Now, in case you have to select a snare drum - like after you bought a drum set without a snare drum - you wonder what to look for. Take it easy: Unless you are looking for a very exotic sound, the following specifications will get you an instrument that allows a modern sound and versatility:

• Any wooden or steel shell is ok. Steel often sounds more aggressive and louder, thus wood would be my first choice. What wood? Any wood should be ok.
• Pick a diameter of 14" or 13". Note that smaller diameters can support ergonimics, especially if you use a double bass drum pedal. The 14" in return offers more power and depth.
• Heights from 4" to 6.5" are appropriate for most styles and sound preferences. For old school rock pick a 6.5".
• For hardware like hoops or snare wires you may not be able to choose but rather pick what the manufacturer has pre-selected for you. Usually those components work well.

Cymbals

• You do not need too many cymbals. Hi-hats, a ride cymbal and one crash cymbal suffice for professional playing. You may even combine ride and crash by one crashable ride (often called Medium or Crash-Ride).

• Buy quality cymbals! If you cannot afford them, look at the second hand market. Buying cheap cymbals is a waste of money because you will replace them soon and nobody will buy your cheap old cymbals second hand.

• Testing cymbals is not easy once you got used to the sound of cheap cymbals. When I bought my first mid-priced cymbal and tried it out at home I was shocked: It sounded bright, loud, aggressive and with a lot of sustain. I had gotten used to playing on cheap »brass discs«, so they became my sound reference; with their narrow frequency range, almost no sustain, and very limited dynamic range.
  Advice 1: Involve your teacher or an experienced drummer in the selection process.
  Advice 2: Don't buy any cheap cymbals in the first place. Start with less cymbals and buy those on the second hand market to keep the cost under control.

• A new cymbal is suppoed to fit to the existing cymbal set and extend the sound of the drum set. To see if it is the right cymbal for your current setup, you need to try it out together with the other cymbals or even with your complete drumset. Taking the existing cymbals to the music allows to check if the new candidate is a good fit. It happened to me that a new 20" crash cymbal turned out to have the same pitch as the 18" I owned already. They were made from the same material, but the 18" was thin and the 20" was of medium thickness. Such effects are not uncommon. If you are really lucky, the dealer allows you to take one or a few cymbals from the store to your practice room and try it with the full drum set. If that is the case handle the cymbal(s) with care and don't abuse the dealer's gesture: Never try locally and order online! Always buy where you were advised and/or where you tested!

• About cymbal material:
  Most cymbals are made of bronze or brass. Bronze consists of copper (Cu) and tin (Sn); brass is made of copper and zinc (Zn). Apart from that, the manufacturers' recipies might involve small amounts of other elements for the alloy.
  Brass cymbals are easy to process, thus qualify for manufacturing cheap cymbals. I have not heard any great sounding brass cymbal.
  Bronze cymbals range from cheap entry level to highly priced high-end quality. The most used alloys are B20 (CuSn20 with 20% tin) and B8 (CuSn8 with 8% tin); other compositions exist as well.
  B20 is used for many high quality cymbals, although the selection of this material does not automatically lead to good cymbals.
  B8 is easier to process (sheet material) and is often used for entry level or mid-range cymbals. Nevertheless, there are excellent cymbals made of B8. Paiste found ways to produce professional level cymbals like their 2oo2, Rude or Giant Beat lines, made popular by rock drummers like Ian Paiste or John Bonham. These cymbals were designed to add treble to the sound of a band, staying out of the way of other instruments and to cut through in a loud band context.

• Small crash cymbals (diameter of 14"e; or below) are not my taste at all. While they may sound ok in the music store, they get lost in a real life band situation. Either they do not cut through or they fade away as fast as a splash cymbal. For beginners, I recommend crash cymbals of 16 or 18 inch diameters. A pro in a drummer forum stated that he has »never heard a good 14" crash cymbal except the K-Custom Dark Crash, but even that serves only in the studio. Live or during rehearsals such a cymbal is not heard or it breaks«.

• Large crash cymbals (diameter 19"e; or more) can have a wonderful sound. However, if they are heavy (thick) they often have gong like sound elements with endless sustain. I do not like this effect and thus prefer large crash cymbals thin or even paper-thin. A good example is the Istanbul Mehmet 20" Paper Thin Crash. It responds quickly, sounds brilliant, cuts through and fades out without being too aggressive.

• Hi-hats most often have 14" diameter, but depending on style, sound preference, and expected volume a drummer should also consider other diameters. A fast, bright 13" or a fat 15" can be an interesting alternative to the mainstream 14".

Hardware

• Hardware shall be as stable as required and as light as possible. The difference between a 40kg hardware case and one of 25kg is measured in back pain.

• Cymbal boom stands for one single cymbal are in many cases a bad choice. Often a straight cymbal stand serves the purpose. In case you need a boom stand for one cymbal, go for something light-weight like the Yamaha 600 or 700 series. They do not break or fall when playing hard.

• Double-braced snare stands do not make sense to me. The snare does not tilt over when mounted on a solid but light single-braced stand.

About Specific Products

• The Yamaha Hipgig Al Foster does not only sound incredibly good, but it is a wonder in logistics. Imagine travelling to a gig by bus or tube: It is possible (though not very convenient. I have carried this 4-piece set including hi-hat, ride and crash cymbal plus hardware all at once. It is not my recommendation to carry all at once - with the 25kg back-pack (bassdrum, snare drum and two toms) you may not want to have also carry the cymbal bag in one hand and the hardware bag in the other, but it is possible. However: You will not walk more than 3 times to carry everything including the carpet for the floor. And: You will mount everything within ten minutes.

• The Sonor Force 2000 and (at least some of) its successors have a good reputation, especially amongst Rock drummers. Fair enought, but just note that these poplar shells produce that 1970s »cardboard box« sound. If that is what you are looking for - get one second hand. If you want more sound options, e.g. a more open tuning, you might get disappointed.

• The Sonor Prolite is a fantastic drum set; actually my main set is Prolite. Some people say that it is the same - or at least the same quality - as the corresponding Sonor SQ2 configuration, but I do not fully agree: Having owned both series, I learned that in some technical details the SQ2 is better. Nevertheless, for me those details were not worth the price difference, which is why I eventually went for the Prolite.